Pumpkin Crème Brulee is the perfect alternative to Pumpkin Pie on your holiday table. Sadly pumpkin everything season is almost over. : ( I truly do love baking with pumpkin flavors there are so many options and ideas in my head but not enough time to execute on them before Thanksgiving!
Crème brulee has to be one of my all time favorite classic desserts and adding pumpkin to it just seemed like a delicious and right thing to do! Now personally I always thought that Crème Brulee was such a difficult dessert to make, and in some aspects I was right others not so much. I think I went through three interations of this recipe until I finally got it to set properly and not be just a ramekin of delicious soupy custard.
There are a few tips I am going to share so you do not have to go through as many delicious failures as I did. The first critical thing I learned while making this batch was you have to warm the cream up gently so that it does not burn and ensure that it is steaming hot when you remove the pan from the burner. For some reason I thought that warming it up fast and not so much would not matter, but boy was I wrong. My first batch looked good coming out of the fridge from chilling but not 3 minutes after turned into a thick soupy consistency. It tasted great but was more of a crème anglaise than a crème brulee.
Second item of learning improvement was do not cover the pan tightly with foil. I did that with the second batch and the steam could not escape hence more delicious soupy custard.
Once your Pumpkin Crème Brulee has set and chilled now comes the fun part, making that decadent burnt sugar crust! There is nothing like the feeling you get from taking your spoon and cracking that delicious burnt sugar to reveal the silky custard below. I know, totally a food geek thing to say! Using a kitchen torch is the best way to get a nice even sugar coating. Some people state that you can place the Crème Brulee under a broiler to produce the crust but for me I wanted to go the traditional torch route, plus it was just fun!
Now that the hard part of making the Pumpkin Crème Brulee is finished, you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Enjoy your holidays my friends!
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Cups Heavy cream
- 1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 tsp. Ginger
- 3/4 tsp. Nutmeg
- 5 Egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 6 Tbs. Pumpkin puree
- 1/3 Cup plus 4 tsp. granulated sugar
- 1 Tbs. Firmly packed light brown sugar
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 325°F. Have a pot of boiling water ready.
Pour the cream into a small saucepan and whisk in the cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg. Set over medium-low heat and warm the cream mixture until steam begins to rise from the surface, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes. This step is imperative otherwise your custard will not set properly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, salt, pumpkin, the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar until blended. Slowly pour in the cream mixture as to not cook the egg yolks, whisking until thoroughly blended.
Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl.
Divide the mixture evenly among six ramekins and place in a large rimmed baking pan. Add the boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Make sure not to get any water in the ramekins themselves as this also will cause the custard to not set properly. Lightly cover pan with foil.
Bake until the custards are just set around the edges, about 30-40 minutes.
Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days. This allows the custard to set or firm up.
Just before serving, sprinkle 1 tsp. granulated sugar evenly over the surface of each custard. Using a kitchen torch, move the flame continuously in small circles over the surface until the sugar melts and lightly browns.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Pin this Pumpkin Creme Brulee to your favorite Dessert or Holiday cooking board in Pinterest!
- 1 1/2 Cups Heavy cream
- 1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/2 tsp. Ginger
- 3/4 tsp. Nutmeg
- 5 Egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 6 Tbs. Pumpkin puree
- 1/3 Cup plus 4 tsp. granulated sugar
- 1 Tbs. Firmly packed light brown sugar
- Preheat an oven to 325°F. Have a pot of boiling water ready.
- Pour the cream into a small saucepan and whisk in the cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg. Set over medium-low heat and warm the cream mixture until steam begins to rise from the surface, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes. This step is imperative otherwise your custard will not set properly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, salt, pumpkin, the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar until blended. Slowly pour in the cream mixture as to not cook the egg yolks, whisking until thoroughly blended.
- Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl.
- Divide the mixture evenly among six ramekins and place in a large rimmed baking pan. Add the boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Make sure not to get any water in the ramekins themselves as this also will cause the custard to not set properly. Lightly cover pan with foil.
- Bake until the custards are just set around the edges, about 30-40 minutes.
- Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days. This allows the custard to set or firm up.
- Just before serving, sprinkle 1 tsp. granulated sugar evenly over the surface of each custard. Using a kitchen torch, move the flame continuously in small circles over the surface until the sugar melts and lightly browns.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!