Crème Brûlée Pudding Cake Slow Cooker

Crème Brûlée Pudding Cake Slow Cooker. This easy slow cooker dessert tastes like a creamy, old-fashioned custard with a sweet, crackly caramel top. Just four simple ingredients come together to make something that looks fancy but is totally simple to make!

This 4-ingredient slow cooker crème brûlée pudding cake is my little secret for Mother’s Day. I want something that looks really special but doesn’t keep me stuck in the kitchen all day. It tastes like a mix between a creamy baked custard and a soft, gooey pudding cake. The top gets golden and caramelized, and when you tap it with a spoon, it cracks just like a real crème brûlée. The slow cooker does almost all the work while you go about your day. The heavy cream makes it extra rich and cozy, like something from an old church cookbook from the 1970s — but way easier to make on a busy day.

How to Serve

Serve this warm, right from the slow cooker, with the lid off so everyone can see that pretty golden top and the soft, creamy inside. It tastes great all by itself, but you can add some fresh berries or sliced strawberries on the side to make it feel a little lighter. A small scoop of vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of whipped cream makes it feel extra special, especially for Mother’s Day. It goes really well with a cup of coffee, a warm latte, or hot tea. If you’re doing a brunch, this dessert looks lovely next to a fruit salad and a simple egg dish.

Servings: 6

Ingredients

Use 1 cup of white sugar. Divide it into two equal parts.
2 cups heavy cream
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crème Brûlée Pudding Cake: Directions

Rub the inside of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker with a little butter or spray it with nonstick cooking spray. This helps the pudding cake come out easily and keeps the sides from getting too brown or sticky.
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and half of the sugar (½ cup) together until the mix looks smooth, a little thick, and light in color. This takes about 1 to 2 minutes by hand. Whisking it well helps the sugar melt in so the custard turns out silky and soft.
Pour in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together until it looks smooth and creamy all the way through. Set the bowl aside for a minute while you get the slow cooker ready.
Sprinkle the other half of the sugar (½ cup) in an even layer over the bottom of the greased slow cooker. Try to spread it out as flat as you can so it melts evenly and turns into a nice caramel layer.
Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn it to HIGH, and let the sugar sit and heat up on its own for 10 to 15 minutes. You want it to melt and turn a light golden-brown color around the edges. It might not melt perfectly even, and that’s totally fine! Those darker little spots give it that yummy, old-fashioned caramel look.
Once the sugar has melted and turned a warm golden color, slowly and carefully pour the egg and cream mix right on top of the hot caramel. Pour it slowly and keep the bowl close to the surface so it doesn’t splash. The caramel will sizzle a little when the cream hits it — that’s normal!
Lay a clean kitchen towel flat over the top of the slow cooker, then put the lid on top of the towel. The towel soaks up the water drops that build up inside the lid, so they don’t fall back down and mess up the pretty top of your pudding cake.
Cook on HIGH for 2 to 2½ hours. It’s ready when the edges look set and puffed up a little, but the middle still jiggles softly when you gently shake the slow cooker. If you stick a thin knife near the edge, it should come out mostly clean, but the center should still feel soft and creamy like pudding.
Turn the slow cooker off. Carefully lift the lid and towel away from you so the hot steam doesn’t burn you. Let the pudding cake sit in the open slow cooker for 20 to 30 minutes to cool down a little. As it cools, the top will sink a tiny bit and get some small cracks — that’s the caramel doing its thing! You’ll see little puffs of steam rising from the creamy inside.
To serve, use a big spoon to scoop out portions right from the slow cooker. Make sure to scoop all the way down to the bottom so each serving gets some of that golden caramel layer. The top should look shiny and golden with a few crackly spots, and the inside should be soft, creamy, and easy to scoop.
Enjoy it warm for the best, most dramatic look — it’ll still be a little steamy! Or let it cool all the way down, then put it in the fridge for a firmer, more traditional custard. If you want even more caramel flavor, sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar over each serving and use a kitchen torch to melt the top just before you serve it.