The tastiest cinnamon rolls you will ever eat – soft and fluffy buns topped with creamy custard and bruleed sugar. You’ll never go back to regular cinnamon rolls after tasting these!
Cinnamon rolls are definitely my top three desserts. There is really nothing better than soft fluffy buns filled with cinnamon and brown sugar. At least that’s what I thought, until I tasted these creme brûlée cinnamon rolls.
If you’re thinking what creme brûlée cinnamon rolls are, let me introduce you to the best thing you will ever put in your mouth.
Thing of your regular soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls; delicious, right? Now top them with a silky smooth, creamy, and delicious pastry cream, sprinkle some sugar on top, and brûlée the sugar with a blow torch to form a crispy sugar shell.
And there you have it, your new favorite dessert.
What are we waiting for, then? Let’s get into it.
The Cinnamon Rolls
The cinnamon rolls are made with my classic cinnamon roll recipe. It’s the ultimate recipe that guarantees perfect, fluffy cinnamon rolls every time.
The dough is made with only six ingredients – butter, sugar, flour, yeast, milk, and salt and comes together very easily.
You can find the detailed steps and methods in my full cinnamon rolls guide here.
Love cinnamon rolls? Check out these cinnamon roll-inspired recipes.
The Pastry Cream
The custard (or pastry cream) is also made with my go-to classic custard recipe. It’s made with egg yolks, caster sugar, cornflour, milk, and vanilla, and comes together quickly and easily.
Here are the steps for making the custard.
- Boil the milk and vanilla in a saucepan. Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks, cornflour, and caster sugar in another bowl until fully combined. You should have a thick egg batter.
- Once the milk starts boiling, carefully pour half of it into the egg mixture while whisking. This process is called tempering the eggs and is done to ensure that the eggs don’t cook when transferred to heat.
- Reduce the heat and transfer the egg and milk mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining boiling milk and keep whisking continuously until the custard starts to thicken, about 2-3 minutes.
- Once the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove from heat and mix in the butter. Make sure not to overcook the custard or it will become sloppy.
- Transfer the custard in a bowl and cover it with cling film, making sure the cling film is touching the surface of the custard to avoid a milk film forming on top.
- Refrigerate for at least two hours before using
How To Assemble The Cinnamon Rolls
You can bake the cinnamon rolls in advance and assemble them just before serving so that the sugar shell remains crisp. Here’s how to assemble the creme brûlée cinnamon rolls.
- Top each cinnamon rolls with 2-3 tablespoons of the cold custard and spread it around evenly.
- Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of white granulated sugar on top of the custard evenly.
- Use a blowtorch to caramelize the sugar, forming a crisp sugar shell on top of the custard. Serve immediately before the sugar shell softens.
If you love cinnamon rolls, you MUST try this recipe cause it’s just that good.
So let’s get started!
Creme Brûlée Cinnamon Rolls
Take your cinnamon roll game to a whole new level with these fluffy cinnamon rolls topped with creamy custard and a crisp bruleed sugar top
Equipment
- Electric or stand mixer
- Rolling Pin
- Baking tray
- Baking paper
- Cling film
- Blowtorch
Ingredients
Dough
- 92 gs granulated white sugar
- 78 gs unsalted butter softened
- 7 gs salt
- 1 large egg
- 454 gs all-purpose flour
- 6 gs instant yeast
- 255 gs full-fat milk lukewarm
Filling
- 100 gs packed brown sugar
- 20 gs cinnamon powder
- 30 gs unsalted butter softened
Custard
- 50 gs egg yolks
- 60 gs caster sugar
- 25 gs cornflour/cornstarch
- 250 ml full-fat milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence or vanilla pod
- 25 gs unsalted butter
- Extra sugar (for brûlée)
Instructions
Dough
- Cream the butter, sugar, and salt using a whisk attachment until fully combined, for 3-5 minutes. Add the egg and mix for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the flour, lukewarm milk (35-40 degrees Celsius), and instant yeast and mix using a spoon or spatula until the dough starts to come together.
- If you are using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook attachment. If not, use your hands to start kneading the dough. The dough will be sticky and wet at first but should become smooth, soft, and not sticky by the end. The kneading process can take up to 20 minutes if done by hand. If the dough is still very sticky after 5 minutes of kneading, add 15 to 20 grams of flour to the dough, a little at a time.
- Test if the dough is done by doing the windowpane test – cut a small piece of the dough and stretch it using your fingers. The dough should be able to stretch to paper thinness and be translucent without breaking. If the dough breaks during the test, knead it for a few more minutes.
- Lightly oil a bowl, place the finished dough inside and turn it around so that all sides of the dough are lightly coated with oil. Cover with cling film and let it rise in a warm place for 1.5 to 2 hours until it doubles in size.
- Punch the dough, then place a baking sheet on the surface and transfer the dough to it. Lightly flour the rolling pin and roll the dough into a rectangle (around 14×18 inches). Don’t roll the dough too thin; keep the thickness to around 2/3rd inch. If the dough is too thin, the rolls will be tough and chewy rather than soft and fluffy.
- Spread a thin layer of butter on the dough, then mix the brown sugar and cinnamon and generously sprinkle it on top of the butter.
- Roll the dough horizontally (breadth-wise) slowly, making sure you are tightly tucking it in, and roll it all the way through until it forms a cigar shape. If it does not work in the first go, unravel it and do it again.
- Place the roll seam side down and slice it with a string of floss. Mark the dough with roughly equal sizes across the roll, then place the floss string underneath the roll, making sure there is enough overhang on both sides. Bring the overhang up using both hands, then cross it across the dough roll the way you do while trying a string. (For make-ahead instructions, check the notes at the end to follow after this step)
- Place the cut rolls in a baking pan, making sure to leave enough space between each roll for them to rise. Cover them lightly with cling film, and let them proof and rise for another 1.5 to 2 hours until they are doubled in size.
- Once the rolls have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 160-170℃ and bake for 15-20 minutes. Don’t let the buns turn golden brown, take it out while they are still a little blonde.
Custard
- Bring the milk and vanilla to a boil in a saucepan on medium heat. While that boils, whisk the egg yolks, caster sugar, and corn flour in a separate bowl until they’re pale and creamy.
- Once the milk starts boiling, temper the egg mixture by adding half of it to the egg yolk mix and whisking it continuously. This introduces eggs to some heat before they are transferred to the saucepan, reducing the chances of them scrambling over the heat.
- Transfer the egg yolk and milk mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture on medium heat. Keep whisking continuously until the custard starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Once the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, remove it from the heat, add the butter, and whisk until properly combined. Transfer the custard into a bowl and cover it with cling film, making sure that it directly touches the surface to avoid a milk film forming on top. Let it chill for at least 1 hour before using.
- Assembly: Before serving, top each cinnamon roll with 2-3 tbsps of the custard and spread it evenly. Spread 2-3 tsps of sugar on top of the custard and use a blow torch to brûlée it and form a crisp shell. Make sure to serve the cinnamon rolls immediately before the sugar softens.
Notes
Make-Ahead Instructions
These cinnamon rolls can be prepared ahead and baked fresh before serving.
- To make ahead, follow up till step 9 of the dough recipe, then place the cut cinnamon rolls (without rising them) into the fridge.
- Remove the buns from the fridge 3-4 hours before baking to help them proof and rise. Bake as mentioned in the recipe once they have doubled in size.
- The unbaked rolls can be stored in the fridge for up to two days.
- The cinnamon rolls can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. Make sure to heat them before serving.
- The custard can be stored in the fridge for up to two days.
- Use instant yeast: This recipe uses instant yeast instead of active dry yeast. This is because active dry yeast has to be pre-fermented in water (this recipe does not use water). Instant yeast is easier to use and does not require pre-fermentation as it absorbs moisture quickly during the kneading process.
- Use warm milk: Make sure that the milk is warm (around 36 to 40 degrees Celsius). If it’s not warm, the yeast will not activate properly. If it’s too hot, the yeast will die and not activate at all.
- Kneading the dough: As this is an enriched dough, it requires quite a lot of kneading. The end result should be a smooth and soft dough ball. Make sure to do the windowpane test, and if you have any doubt, knead a little more because it’s very hard to over-knead a bread dough by hand. If you have a mixer with a dough attachment, use it!
- Use extra flour if needed: If the dough remains very wet even after 5-10 minutes while kneading, add extra flour, a little at a time. Make sure not to add more than 20-30 grams of extra flour. The dough starts out as very wet but comes together as you keep kneading it, so make sure to knead it for 5-10 minutes before adding the extra flour. The end result should not be sticky.
- Fermenting the dough: Make sure to ferment the dough in a relatively warm place. If your house always has air conditioning switched on, I would recommend placing it inside a warm place like a cupboard or the microwave. The fermentation time will vary depending on where you live, so keep an eye on the dough between the one to two-hour mark and let it rise until it doubles in size.
- Rolling the dough: When rolling the dough into a rectangle, use baking paper underneath to avoid the dough sticking to the surface. Lightly flour the rolling pin to avoid sticking to the dough. Make sure not to add too much flour during the rolling process, as the dough will not be sticky. Don’t roll the dough out too thin; keep the thickness to around 2/3rd inch. The thickness will make the cinnamon rolls fluffy and soft. If you roll out the dough too thin, the rolls will be hard and chewy instead.
- Forming the cinnamon roll: When rolling the dough into a cigar shape, make sure to keep the roll tight. If the roll does not seem tight, unravel it and roll it again.
- Cutting the cinnamon roll: Do not use a knife to cut the cinnamon rolls, as the metal will squish the dough. Instead, use an unflavored string of floss to cut it through swiftly. Alternatively, you can cut strips of the rectangle dough instead of rolling it into a cigar shape and roll each strip individually to form the cinnamon buns.
- Placing the cinnamon roll: When placing the cinnamon rolls in the baking tray before the second rise, make sure to leave some space between each roll, giving them space to rise as much as possible.
- Baking the cinnamon rolls: Bake the cinnamon rolls at 160 to 170 degrees Celsius and no higher. If your oven gets very hot, keep the temperature in the lower range. Bake the buns for 15 to 20 minutes only; no longer. The buns will look blonde, but that’s what we want. If they start to brown, the dough will toughen. You want them to be JUST cooked to get that soft, fluffy texture.
I am so excited for my fellow cinnamon roll lovers to try this life changing recipe! If you give it a try, don’t forget to let me know how you liked it in the comments. And of course, share it with me on Instagram.
Until next time!
I love the uniqueness of this recipe. Combination of two most loved desserts <3