But even if it fails to make me a household name, it was such a fun opportunity and I think Molly has a great segment on nutrition and making over traditionally bad-for-you fare. She and the Swerve crew contacted me recently about a few recipes they wanted to overhaul and wondered if I would be up for the challenge. One was creme brulee, and she wanted it to be made with Greek yogurt. Now, you know I don’t shy away from heavy cream and other full-fat delights, but I do realize that much of the population is still on the low-fat craze. So I could appreciate her idea of making a rich, creamy dessert like creme brulee, with a protein-rich replacement like low fat Greek yogurt. As long as it doesn’t contain sugar, I think it’s definitely a step in the right direction!
I was a little stumped on how to swap in the yogurt for the cream. I’ve made my fair share of brulee before, with cream and milk, and it’s a rather arduous process, slowly bringing the cream up to temperature and whisking in the egg yolks without cooking them. And then finally putting the custards in a hot water bath in a low temp oven. My biggest worry was that heating the yogurt would make it separate out and curdle…not exactly the texture brulee should have. So I decided to do a little Google research, and lo and behold, there was a great recipe for Greek Yogurt Creme Brulee from a dear blogger friend, Brian of A Thought For Food.
He really did the heavy lifting for me here, I have to confess. Turns out that since Greek yogurt is already quite thick, it doesn’t need to be cooked into a custard first, so that saved a huge amount of time. I had to make sure that the whole recipe would work with Swerve, but I was pretty certain it would (and it did). I lightened up a bit on the vanilla, because I like the tanginess of yogurt and I wanted that to come through. And brulee-ing the Swerve on top does take a little more time and a little higher heat intensity. It doesn’t caramlize quite as quickly as sugar, so if you want that brown, crispy top, you need to get in there with that kitchen torch and let her rip!
For your enjoyment, here is a clip of Molly’s segment that includes the Creme Brulee, as well as a healthified sugar-free apple crisp (not low carb, but it can be made gluten-free). I am not physically in this one, but you do hear them talk about me and All Day I Dream About Food. Does that make me famous?
Get The Skinny on Swerve Sweetened Desserts
Greek Yogurt Creme Brulee
Ingredients
Custard:
- 2 cups plain 2% Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Topping:
- 4 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and place 4 ramekins in a large baking dish.
- For the custard, place yogurt, Swerve, egg yolks, vanilla and cinnamon in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth.
- Divide mixture evenly among ramekins in baking dish. Fill baking dish with hot water to within 1-inch of top of ramekins.
- Bake 25 minutes. Custards should still be quite jiggly, and not at all puffed up. Remove and let cool in pan, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Just prior to serving, sprinkle 1 tbsp Swerve over each custard. Use a kitchen torch to melt and caramelize Swerve.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
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The yogurt custard curdled, it was so gross. I have made creme Brulee many times, and it has always been delicious. I had high hopes for this one but it was a massive disappointment.
It did for me too, but it was still delicious – just a bad texture. I wonder if I let it in the oven for too long?
Try adding crushed Cardamon to this and it becomes like a Bhapa Doi.
I am a THMer and have been trying to get my diabetic father to consider THM over the 1200 calorie rabbit food diet his endocrinologist put him on.
His favorite dessert is Creme Brûlée….
I just made this for him while we are here on Easter weekend….he is VERY VERY resistant to anything new or different.
HE ATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! And liked it!!!!!
I used Pyure because that’s what we had in our stores here.
Hi Carolyn,
I just came across this recipe when searching your website for yogurt recipes. I am going to try it with my homemade yogurt. I am not sure if you are still checking comments for this post but just in case, I thought i would share my low carb yogurt recipe. I know there is some debate on how many carbs are actually in yogurt because the cultures consume the sugars during incubation but I figure if i start low carb, it has to end even lower carb. I make yogurt using 1/2 Fairlife whole milk (50% less carbs) and 1/2 heavy cream. I use a nut milk bag to strain the yogurt to make a thick, custard greek yogurt. I have used both powdered yogurt starter and Fage 2% yogurt as a starter and the powdered starter produces a tangier yogurt.
I am wondering if you have used Fairlife milk and/or you have any info on actual carb count of yogurt?
Diana
Congrats on the feature! I think I’d be gushing like your kids, too…it’s VERY cool! What’s just as cool are these. What a great idea =)
This sounds tasty, Carolyn! Big fan of swapping in Greek yogurt when I can, and I love that it cuts down on prep time.