Home › Home & Kitchen › Kitchen & Dining › Bakeware › Ramekins How to Use Ramekins Published: July 9, 2026 · Updated: July 9, 2026
Ramekins are small oven-safe dishes for individual baking — crème brûlée, custards, soufflés, molten chocolate cakes, baked eggs and pot pies — and they double as prep bowls for measured-out ingredients. Grease them for cakes and soufflés so they release and climb, and set custards in a water bath so they cook gently and stay smooth.
Recommended Use them for single-serving baking — grease for cakes and soufflés, water-bath for custards — and as prep bowls the rest of the time — A ramekin is a small, straight-sided, oven-safe dish (usually glazed ceramic, porcelain or tempered glass), and its shape is what makes it useful: it bakes and serves one portion, and its straight walls help soufflés and cakes climb. The classic uses are all individual desserts and dishes — crème brûlée, baked custards and flan, chocolate soufflés, molten lava cakes, baked eggs (oeufs en cocotte), single pot pies, dips and small gratins. How you prep depends on the dish: for anything that needs to release or rise, like cakes and soufflés, butter the inside well (and dust soufflé dishes with sugar or flour) so the batter grips and lifts cleanly; for custards, crème brûlée and cheesecakes, bake the filled ramekins in a water bath — set them in a roasting pan and pour in hot water halfway up the sides — so the gentle, even heat sets them without curdling or cracking. Away from baking, ramekins are handy as mise-en-place bowls for measured spices and chopped aromatics, and for serving sauces, nuts or condiments. Check yours are oven-safe and to what temperature before broiling or torching (most ceramic ramekins are fine; thin glass may not be), let a hot ramekin cool before washing to avoid thermal shock, and remember the dish stays hot well after it leaves the oven.
