Give This Classic Custard Dessert A Bourbon-Inspired Spin

Anyone obsessed with pairing food and alcohol knows that sweet treats go well with bourbon, and while it's hard to beat high-quality whiskey served with chocolate cake or pecan pie, adding the liquor directly into desserts lets you taste that flavor harmony without getting too tipsy. Bourbon pairs particularly well with creamy custards like crème brûlée — a combo approved by professional chef Michael White. Tasting Table spoke to White at the Nassau Paradise Island Wine & Food Festival, where he gave us tips on using bourbon to make this French dessert even more luxurious.

While classic crème brûlée always includes vanilla, Chef White recommends letting the whiskey be the star. "Taking the vanilla out of it and adding bourbon as the predominant flavor would be very cool with me," he said. Since the most common tasting notes for bourbon include vanilla as a big one, plus sweet, nutty, and spiced notes, you can see how the crème brûlée will gain rather than lose complexity, while retaining its essential vanilla-forward character.

Different types of bourbon also have more unique tasting notes, from the distinct spiciness of high rye bourbon to the smokiness of straight styles. This makes the spirit a one-way ticket to a custard with incredibly deep flavor, and one of the best ways to elevate your crème brûlée. But as awesome as it sounds, you shouldn't just glug in as much bourbon as you like, or the dessert will taste overly alcoholic. Chef White told us how he would personally approach the job.

Michael White recommends mixing just a splash of bourbon into your crème brûlée base, or ideally, "I would even take some off the side and reduce it and then fold that into it as well." Reducing bourbon through slow simmering concentrates the flavor, but whiskey fully cooks out of a dish within minutes, so to retain a slight kick, do as Chef White would and use a reduction plus a splash of bourbon straight-up. This can also help the alcohol's more delicate notes come through. Just never pour whiskey into a pan set over an open flame or straight from the bottle into the pan, or you could start a fire. Pour the bourbon into a cup, add it to a room-temperature pan, then gently heat over the stove.

Bourbon crème brûlée recipes commonly use 2 to 3 tablespoons of whiskey per 2 cups of dairy. When choosing bourbon to cook with, follow the wine rule: Don't use a bottle you wouldn't drink. You don't have to reach for a super expensive label, but use a rich-tasting, middle-shelf bottle that will add flavors you love.

Sporting a glassy sugar shell over boozy custard, your finished crème brûlée will be spectacular as-is, but you can have fun with extras like maple syrup, the pantry staple that belongs in crème brûlée. The woodsy, sweet syrup, bold, caramelly whiskey, and creamy dairy will combine into utter bliss. A smoky aged bourbon would also complement a deep, chocolatey mocha crème brûlée.