At Moss Mountain Farm October brings autumn leaves, brilliant blue skies and the colorful blooms of aster, salvia and goldenrod. In the vegetable garden pumpkins are ready for harvest. I’m a big fan of pumpkins for decorating and for cooking so I make sure to have plenty around. It’s amazing all the ways you can prepare pumpkin beyond the traditional pumpkin pie. There’s pumpkin soup and pumpkin martinis, and recently I had the pleasure of preparing this pumpkin crème brûlée at a Viking Cooking School demonstration in Greenwood, MS.
- Category: Dessert, Sense of Place Season 1
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup sugar, plus 4 teaspoons
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
- 1 pinch ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 300˚ F
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 whole eggs and 1 cup sugar until well blended.
- Heat 1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream in a sauce pan, almost to a simmer; stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
- Slowly add hot cream while whisking (Adding it too quickly can result in scrambled eggs)
- Whisk in 1 cup pumpkin puree and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
- Divide the mixture into 8 (4 oz) cups
- Add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake until the custards are just set in the center but not stiff, about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and refrigerate until chilled or overnight.
- Cool to room temperature then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Note: don't caramelize until ready to serve.
- Put 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar on each custard, swirl to spread evenly. Torch the tops moving in a circular pattern until the whole surface is caramelized and sugar turns a rich amber color