Is crème brûlée just egg custard?

Crème brûlée is a fancy dessert for a fancy affair—it's finicky, delicate, and arguably not the easiest dessert to make. The base for ice cream is the same as the custard for crème brûlée. Both are made with heavy cream, sugar, egg yolks, and salt. Ice cream is then churned and frozen, while crème brûlée is baked. For this shortcut crème brûlée, a couple more egg yolks are added to help thicken the ice cream as it bakes. Make the custard: Pour the melted ice cream into a medium bowl and whisk in the egg yolks until smooth and fully combined.