Crème Brûlée is a must-have dessert in French cuisine, known for its creamy texture and crunchy caramel. But where does this sweet treat come from? Rians invites you to discover the history of crème brûlée, a delicious dessert made for sharing. Let yourself be tempted by Rians’ expertise, which passionately keeps traditional recipes alive for the greatest pleasure of your taste buds.
Who invented the Crème Brûlée recipe?
Several legends are told about the invention of Crème Brûlée. One of them seems to stand out: it’s the one we chose to share with you. Back to the 17th century, at the table of Philippe d’Orléans, the younger brother of Louis XIV. A fine palate, the future Regent complains to the famous chef François Massialot that his custard is too cold. The officer in charge of the kitchen then has the idea of using a hot iron to warm the sweet cream. And there you have it: the sugar on the surface turns into crunchy caramel without heating the cream underneath. Crème Brûlée was born. They say this dessert pleased Philippe d’Orléans so much that he asked for another…
Although Spaniards sometimes claim the origin of Crème Brûlée, which they find very similar to their crema catalana, it was in fact the French chef François Massialot who created this dessert and was the first to mention it in one of his famous recipe books.
With its values of passing on traditions and togetherness, the Rians dairy continues today the iconic Crème Brûlée recipe by selecting quality ingredients and using traditional know-how to offer you a deliciously smooth and flavourful Crème Brûlée.
Rians Crème Brûlée, a family story
As is often the case at Rians, the creation of Crème Brûlée was a family story. In 1991, it was under the leadership of Hugues Triballat (3rd generation at the head of the company) that the idea of adapting his sister’s recipe, Odile Triballat’s, took root. At the time, Rians produced cheeses, faisselle, and fromage blanc—but no desserts!
Back then, Crème Brûlée wasn’t a widely available product like it is today. Crème Brûlée was above all a dessert crafted in high-end food service (such as Michelin-starred restaurants). Rians Crème Brûlée then became a major innovation : it was completely new to offer a dessert to brown under the grill—especially in black packaging.
A recipe between tradition and innovation
A year and a half—that’s how long it took Rians to develop its innovation. Even though the recipe is still very close today to the one Odile Triballat used when she cooked for family meals, it took a lot of work, many tests, and fine-tuning in research and development to adapt the recipe to large production volumes and achieve the product that was ultimately sold in stores and quickly embraced by consumers.
As we know, what everyone loves most about Crème Brûlée is this unique play of textures : a crunchy caramel on top that gives way to a melting, velvety cream underneath. It’s this contrast in texture that required the most work during product development and helped build its reputation. Initially, Rians Crème Brûlée was intended to be sold already “burnt” and ready to serve. However, after several tests, it turned out it wasn’t possible to offer consumers a completely “finished” product, as moisture from the lower cream layer would melt the top layer that was meant to be crunchy.
From this drawback, Rians managed to create an advantage. This challenge was overcome with the idea of making Crème Brûlée a dessert “to finish yourself”, with a sachet of brown sugar provided separately. Nothing has more of the hallmarks of a “homemade” dessert than a dessert finished by the consumer themselves in their own kitchen!