# Why would creme brulee not freeze hard?



## annieskitchen (Sep 18, 2015)

Yesterday evening I lined a muffin tin with paper liners and filled each cup three-quarters of the capacity with creme brulee mixture.

I expected to find them frozen solid this morning, but they are still creamy.

There is nothing wrong with my freezer and the other foods are frozen solid.

Any idea why they would not freeze hard?

The ingredients are:

eggs

heavy cream

erythritol (natural sweetener)

stevia glycerite

vanilla

and topping made of:

butter

almonds

erythritol

stevia glycerite

Doesn't dairy freeze ok? I have cheesecake in the freezer with basically the same ingredients and they are frozen solid.

I am stumped. Please help.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Sugars and alcohol will prevent solid freezing depending how much is present in the mix. Part of why they're used in ice cream. And your erythritol is a sugar alcohol as is the glycerol your stevia is extracted in.

You're probably going to have weeping problems as well if you do get it to freeze and then thaw it. Freezing will disrupt the protien web holding the creme brulee together.


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## annieskitchen (Sep 18, 2015)

I found that the refrigerator control setting had somehow been turned to the lowest setting. After adjusting, the creme brulee is hard.

But I will watch them when defrosting to see if there is a deterioration in quality.


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## annieskitchen (Sep 18, 2015)

Well, it didn't freeze hard. A portion from a previous batch had frozen hard but the latest batch was still soft. Apparently I used a different amount of erythritol between the batches.

SO

In the soft "unfrozen" state, is creme brulee preserved (assumed to be frozen) the same as a hard-frozen item would be? Will it perish as though it was not in the freezer?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

To my knowledge, the temperature provides the protection, not being frozen hard.  Though there are some physical protective features of being frozen hard too. Doesn't spill for example.


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