Pumpkin Creme Brûlée
A while back my sister-in-law Amanda said something on my Facebook page about making pumpkin creme brûlée, I thought to myself, yes please! But Amanda lives 12 hours away from me so I had to make my own and here it is, in all it’s glory and sweet, sugary goodness. I love creme brûlée, it is so creamy and just the right amount of sweetness to make me completely and utterly happy. Then you put that crunchy, burnt sugar on the top and oh my goodness. Then…you add pumpkin. I actually made this creme brûlée using goat milk, mostly out of curiosity. I LOOoooove making it with heavy cream, as it makes is so thick and creamy and delicious. But, I pretty much always have an abundance of fresh goat milk so I like to use it where I can and if you are looking for a lower fat but still deliciously creamy dessert – this would be it. You certainly could use cows milk or heavy cream for the goat milk and it will still work out great. Well, the only thing for you to do is to make it. I is actually not a difficult dessert to make, but it does need to chill for at least 6 hours in the fridge before you can eat it – overnight is best – so plan ahead.
- 2 cups milk or heavy cream
- 4 whole cloves
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup pureed pumpkin
- sugar for caramelizing the top
- First thing is to infuse the milk with the flavors you want to accompany the pumpkin. So gently heat the milk to a gentle simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the cloves, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick. Set aside for about 20 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 300˚ and boil a kettle of water.
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the pumpkin, egg yolks and vanilla extract, until smooth.
- Slowly pour about ½ cup of the milk mixture into the pumpkin mixture, whisking while pouring.
- Then pour the pumpkin mixture slowly back into the milk mixture, whisking while pouring.
- Once the mixtures are fully mixed together, gently heat over medium heat until gently simmering.
- Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes.
- Carefully divide the mixture between 6 ramekins, then place the ramekins in a rimmed baking dish (I used 2 9x13 pans). Place them in the oven and then pour the boiling water from the kettle into the rimmed baking dish so that it comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Close the oven and bake until set, about 20-25 minutes.
- Once set, turn the oven off and open the door a little until the dishes are about room temperature.
- Once they have cooled enough to be easily handled, you can remove the ramekins from the baking dishes and place them into the fridge to chill.
- Chill at least 6 hours but I prefer overnight.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle an even layer of granulated sugar over the top of a custard, then use a kitchen torch to burn the sugar. Do one at a time and then immediately serve.
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