Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A custard with a crust of caramelized sugar.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
dessert ofcustard , covered by abrittle layer ofbrowned sugar .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French, burnt cream : crème, cream + brûlée, burnt, feminine past participle of brûler, to burn.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Borrowing from French crème brûlée (literally "burnt cream").
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word crème brûlée.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
inkhorn commented on the word crème brûlée
The world's most sinful dessert.
January 4, 2007
treeseed commented on the word crème brûlée
Crème brûlée (French for "burnt cream"; pronounced /ˌkrɛm bru�?ˈleɪ/ in English) is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill, or with a blowtorch or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins.
The custard base is normally flavoured with just vanilla, but it can be enhanced with chocolate, a liqueur, fruit, etc. Sometimes the hardened sugar on top will be given a Maillard reaction, or caramelization, by igniting a thin layer of liqueur sprinkled over the top.
_Wikipedia
February 13, 2008