Pumpkin Creme Brûlée
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream divided
- 3 tbsp golden brown sugar
- 5 tbsp white granulated sugar, plus more depending on your pumpkin filling, see Notes
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 8 egg yolks, save the whites for another time, see Notes
- 1 cup pure pumpkin purée
- 6 tsp granulated or demerara sugar or a combo of both Use more sugar if needed to cover the surface of your custards.
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 300F. Place a tea towel into a baking pan with sides high enough to hold the six ramekins you are using to bake the custards in. Have the baking pan near the stove, and place the six ramekins inside. Depending on the size of your baking pan, you may need to use two.
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Place half of the cream into a small pot and set it on a burner. Add the sugars and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once warmed through, take the pot off the heat, and add the vanilla and all the spices. Stir to blend. Let it all steep together in the residual heat. Then add the remaining milk and stir through.
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Place the egg yolks into a large bowl, set over a damp dishcloth. This will help keep the bowl stable as you whisk and pour the cream into the bowl at the same time. Slowly pour in just a little of the cream mixture, whisking constantly to temper the egg yolks. Once they are tempered, continue streaming in the remaining cream and whisking all the while. Add in the pumpkin puree and whisk together to a smooth consistency.
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Transfer the egg and cream mixture to a pouring vessel, a pitcher or gravy boat will do fine. While you are doing this, have a kettle of water come to a boil.
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Divide the mixture evenly between the six ramekins. If the baking pan you are using is large, now is the time to place it onto the centre rack of the oven. Pull the rack out a bit for the next step.
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Gently pour the boiling water around the ramekins onto the tea towel. The water should come up half way up the ramekins.
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Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the sides are set, and the centres are ever so slightly jiggly. Depending on the size of the ramekins you are using, and how wide they are, this may take less time. Start checking after 30 minutes.
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Remove the ramekins from the water bath and place onto a wire cooling rack. Once cooled down they can be transferred to the fridge to continue setting for at least two hours, or up to two days.
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When ready to serve, sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of sugar evenly over the surface of each custard (depending on the width of your ramekins), tilting the ramekins to move the sugar around.
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Use a torch to brûlée each custard. Serve. See Notes
Recipe Notes
If making homemade pumpkin or squash purée, it may have a different sweetness from canned pumpkin. Feel free to taste and adjust the amount of sugar for your custard filling.
If you don't have a kitchen torch to create the sugar crust, you can place the ramekins onto a baking sheet an proceed with the sugar layer. Place the baking sheet under the broiler. The sugar will start to bubble and brown, but not necessarily as evenly as a torch can create. But the effect will be there. Cool down before serving, as the sides of the ramekins will be hot.
For an alternate dessert, for when you don't want to pull out the torch, or if you don't have one, why not whip up the remaining egg whites with creme of tartar and a bit of sugar, and create a lovely meringue to top each custard. Or make up a batch of my Forget Me Not Meringue Cookies and serve them on the side. In this case, I would serve the custards with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.