While we love following in our grandma’s footsteps and making recipes from scratch when our schedules allow, we’re not shy about fully embracing culinary shortcuts. (Hey, Ina Garten and Kristen Kish do that too.)
Whether it’s rotisserie chicken, boxed cake mix, or frozen pie crust, we love to start with a store-bought classic and transform it into something new.
It’s hard to go wrong when remixing Sunny Anderson’s “Nunya Business Crème Brûlée” with a commercially available staple. This is the recipe that Sunny Anderson shared on a recent episode. kitchenproves it.
Anderson’s crème brûlée is part of the Food Network star’s “Nunya Business” recipe collection. Dozens of dishes centered around the hidden secrets of store-bought cooking. When friends asked him what made the food so delicious, Anderson casually replied that it was none of their business. (Other delicious examples include Noonya Business Meatloaf with French Onion Soup Mix, his Noonya ’93 Business Class Square Cheese Pizza made on bakery focaccia bread, and Noonya with Fresh Mango Salsa Business includes his baked beans.
According to us, and our test kitchen, Anderson’s sweet and simple crème brûlée might be her best semi-homemade recipe yet. The secret is melting ice cream.
How to make an easy ice cream creme brûlée recipe
“I love a good shortcut, and I love sharing it even more,” Anderson explained while sharing the recipe. “This is an easy home-cooked version of the crème brûlée that’s been going viral online. I put my own twist on it for flavor and appetite. Voila! You won’t know how easy this dessert is unless you tell me. No one knows.”
To follow her method, all you need is vanilla ice cream, egg yolks (the whites are used in meringues, angel food cake, soufflés, and mousses), and white sugar. Yes, that’s all you need to make her homemade creme brûlée.
Making Anderson’s easy dessert recipes is as simple as the ingredient list. Melt 2 cups of vanilla ice cream and whisk with 4 large egg yolks and a pinch of salt. Place four 3-inch ramekins in a deep baking dish and pour this custard evenly into each. Using a liquid measuring cup, pour boiling water around the ramekins to about halfway up the sides. Be careful not to let hot water get inside the ramekins. Cook in the oven at 325°F for 45 minutes or until the custard looks set but jiggles slightly near the center.
Let the custard cool in the water bath until it reaches room temperature, then cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight to chill the filling. One hour before serving, remove the cooled custard from the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Spray two 3-inch ring pans with nonstick cooking spray. Place parchment paper on the surface of the frying pan and spray it in the same way.
Place the rings on a greased cookie sheet and pour 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar into each ring mold. (This will be the caramelized sugar topping; just like crème brûlée pie, you won’t need a cooking torch.) Cook until the sugar turns an amber color. This will take approximately 2 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the heat, wait 2 minutes, then carefully transfer the parchment paper and mold to a sheet pan. Let cool for another 3-4 minutes, then gently push each sugar disk out of the mold. Repeat the same steps to make two more, placing a disc of sugar on top of each ramekin. Garnish with fresh berries, if desired.
Thoughts on this easy crème brûlée from Test Kitchen
We made the call after Anderson came up with the recipe after seeing him demonstrate it on TV. better homes and gardens Test kitchen brand manager Sara Brecke (Mississippi) and get an expert opinion on your strategy.
“I really like this concept for an easy crème brûlée hack. I haven’t personally tried it yet, but after watching a lot of TikToks and reading other recipes, this really makes sense. I thought there was,” she says. My mind is racing thinking of all the different flavor variations that might be delicious. The chocolate ice cream crème brûlée would be lovely. ”
This isn’t the only party trick you can do with melted ice cream. It’s essentially the same thing as crème anglaise, “a classic custard sauce made with milk, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla,” Brekke explains.
Crème Anglaise is typically served on top of cakes and desserts or with fresh fruit, but Brecke says it’s also the starting point for many recipes. Ice cream can be included to achieve similar effects and flavors, as ice cream provides “the perfect combination of fat, liquid, and sugar” for a variety of uses.
“We encourage our readers to buy high-quality ice cream. Better ice cream has higher-quality ingredients. Additionally, less air is incorporated into the mixture, and guar gum and There are also fewer additives and stabilizers such as carrageenan.”
Special ways to use melted ice cream
In addition to melted ice cream crème brûlée, Brecke recommends:
- ice cream bread. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of melted ice cream and 1 1/2 cups of self-rising flour. Transfer to a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. “I like to sprinkle rainbow sprinkles on top before baking to make the final look more fun,” suggests Brecke.
- Ice cream tiramisu cake. In a large bowl, make the cake batter by combining 1 pint of melted coffee ice cream, 1 box of vanilla cake mix, and 3 eggs. Pour this mixture into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes until it passes the toothpick test. For the topping, add coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua) to the cream cheese frosting and mix to a spreadable consistency.
- ice cream fudge. Melt 1 1/2 pounds of finely chopped semisweet chocolate and let cool slightly. In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate and 1 1/2 cups of your favorite ice cream (the ice cream should be mostly melted and soft, but not completely liquefied). Pour this mixture into a foil-lined, greased 8 x 8-inch baking pan. Let the fudge cool at room temperature for at least 4 hours, or at least 1 hour before cutting and serving.
- Ice cream french toast. A classic homemade French toast recipe involves soaking bread slices in a mixture of eggs, milk, vanilla, and sugar. Sound familiar? “High-quality vanilla ice cream can be melted and used as a liquid mixture for dipping bread and making French toast,” Brecke says. Try it as a shortcut to one of his 21 French Toast Recipes to Satisfy Every Craving.
