Weekend Wokking: Pumpkin Coconut Creme Brulee

There’s really nothing to say about this dessert, except that it’s absolutely fabulous! Everybody who tastes it will sing your praises. They’ll tell you that you’re a genius. They’ll tell you that your pumpkin coconut crème brulee is probably the best they’ve ever tasted. You’ll even have the die-hard-vanilla-only-crème-brulee purists wrapped around your finger. It’s that good.




Note: I used garam masala because this dessert was destined for an Indian food potluck. You may choose the more traditional spices found in pumpkin pie or Emeril's suggestions.

Pumpkin Coconut Crème Brulee
adapted from Emeril’s recipe

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 cup mashed pumpkin
• 8 egg yolks
• approx 2 tbs raw sugar for the top (I hear granulated works fine too)
  

In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut milk, heavy cream, sugars and garam masala just to the boiling point, stirring frequently.

While the cream is heating, in a large glass or non-reactive bowl, whip the egg yolks until they are pale, about 2 minutes.

Temper the eggs by adding about a cup of the hot cream slowly with vigorous whipping. Add the remaining cream and mashed pumpkin. Whisk well to mix thoroughly.

Strain the mixture through a semi-fine sieve. Don’t skip this step because the pumpkin may have some coarse or gritty bits in it. Divide the custard among eight ½ cup ramekins or a casserole dish that can hold about 4 cups. Place in a water bath (use boiling water), making sure the water goes at least halfway up the sides of the ramekins or casserole. Bake at 300F. The ramekins will take about an hour. It took me 1.5 hours for the larger casserole. These times are approximate. The custard will not be firm like a quiche, but it shouldn't appear runny either. It’s best to use your judgment. If it still looks too wobbly, leave it in for longer, checking every 10 minutes or so.

Once the custard is done, remove it from the oven and place it on a rack to cool to room temperature before sticking it in the fridge to set overnight.

To serve, put the custard in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before caramelizing the sugar on top. If you are going to use a broiler for the job, freeze the custard for 45 minutes to 1 hour, otherwise the custard will be warm and loose, rather than thick and creamy. Trust me, it won’t freeze through. Serve immediately after caramelizing the sugar.


This is my submission to Weekend Wokking (just in the nick of time!), created by Wandering Chopsticks. Precious Pea is hosting this month. Check out the round-up at her site this coming Wednesday to see the other submissions and to get the next secret ingredient. To find out who’s hosting or if you’re interesting in hosting, click here.

What's Your Christmas Dessert?

I made out like a bandit this Christmas! But I feel kind of bad because I only got Hubby a book. We agreed we weren’t going to do anything big, so I didn’t. He got me a gift certificate to my favorite clothing store, this awesome stainless steel roasting pan and Morimoto’s AWESOME new book (click the thumbnail in the sidebar to check it out). From my mom I got McCormick & Schimick’s Seafood Restaurant Cookbook, slippers, gloves and a scarf. My Danish in-laws got me an ice cream machine!!! Brother-in-law- wrote me a cookbook. Just joking. He sent me the cookbook he wrote and published showcasing seasonal Danish ingredients. It’s a modern take on classic Northern European ingredients. The presentations look delicious. Between the cookbooks and ice cream making, I expect I’m going to be busy in the kitchen in 2008.

Sonny made out too!

After a leisurely morning of opening presents and watching the snow fall, we had a leisurely brunch with Girlfriend M and family. Did I ever mention she’s an amazing baker? She is the one who taught me to make the world’s most awesome chocolate cake (I promise to post the recipe one day). Today she made monkey bread, which is kind of like one big sticky bun sans nuts but oozing with caramel and cinnamon. She baked it in a ceramic mold. When she flipped and un-molded it, I almost passed out. It looked and smelled that delicious. She says it can be made in a regular bundt pan, so I will definitely have to try.

I have no idea why they call this monkey bread. If anyone knows, please chime in. Don't it look yummy?

My contribution to the dessert table was a Thai tea crème brulee. If you like green tea ice cream and crème brulee, you will definitely like this dessert. I like it so much, I've made it twice in less than a week! It’s quite easy to make and you can use any other tea that you would add milk and sugar to. I’ve used green chai tea and I imagine it would be great with chamomile tea or Earl Grey.

I used tea bags, but you could use loose tea as well. But be careful because loose Thai tea can be very fine. A regular tea infuser won't hold it. You'll need to use fillable teabags or filter the cream through a clean kitchen towel. I think even cheesecloth will be too porous.

Thai Tea Crème Brulee

• 1 egg
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 to 5 Thai tea bags
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Using a small knife, split the vanilla bean. Scrape out the inside and put it in a saucepan along with the pod, heavy cream and tea bags. Bring to just boiling. Turn off the heat. Cover and allow the tea to steep for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, whisk the egg, yolks and sugar together in a large mixing bowl.

After the tea has steeped, remove the bags (squeeze out all the liquid from the bags) and vanilla pod. If necessary strain the cream mixture into a large bowl to remove any remnants of the pod.

Using a large wooden spoon (or the like), stir the egg mixture quickly while slowly (!!) adding the hot cream. Pour the mixture into individual ramekins (it’s enough for 8 ½-cup ramekins) or a shallow 1½ quart ovenproof dish (which is what I did this time). Bake in a water bath until the center is set, about 35 minutes for ramekins and 55 minutes for the large dish. When done, allow the custard to come to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and chilling in the fridge. For the large dish, it will take at least 4 hours.

To serve, caramelize some granulated or turbinado sugar on top with a kitchen torch or under the broiler. If you do it under the broiler, I recommend freezing the custard for about 30 minutes beforehand to keep it from getting too warm in the oven.

The crust should be warm and crackly while the custard stays chilled.

Ode to the Coconut: Vanilla Coconut Custard

I have something to admit, but I know if I admit it, people will think I'm strange: when it comes to chocolate, I could take it or leave it (except chocolate cake, and even that has to be a specific chocolate cake). Don’t misunderstand; I don’t hate chocolate. Not at all. But if you gave me a choice of something chocolate (even chocolate cake) or any Thai candy or dessert, I’d pick the Thai stuff every time.

I know, I know. I'm strange, right?

If you need to blame someone for my apathy towards chocolate, I would point the finger at my mom. She didn’t allow us to eat chocolate (or other sweets) very often. She never baked, so we didn’t get brownies or chocolate cake (unless it was our birthday). The only form of chocolate we got with any regularity was Ovaltine. So please don’t blame me, the victim.

Instead of chocolate sweets, I’m a big fan of sweets that contain coconut (milk, flakes, rum). Just about everyone who enjoys Thai food has tried sticky rice with mango in coconut sauce and liked it. However, most people haven’t tried the dozens of other Thai desserts containing coconut because they usually don't serve them at restaurants here in the US. To find them you need to frequent a Thai-Viet market. Many of these markets sell stuff made by women in their home kitchens local producers.

These are the types of sweets I grew up on. They contain coconut, sugar, and tapioca flour in some combination. The red one is dusted with finely shredded coconut and filled with something that tastes like mochi. The green and yellow one is a layered candy that tastes like coconut and is sticky and gummy. It was my favorite. The cake-like one also tastes like coconut and has a texture like a brownie.

Making my childhood sweets may be a little ambitious for me right now, but there are still dozens of desserts to be made using coconut. I’ve been wanting to try to make a coconut crème brulee-type dessert for a while. I tried once and it didn’t set. Then I thought I’d try using a regular crème brulee recipe and experimenting until I came up with something I liked. Luckily it took only one trial! Click here to see my inspiration recipe (FYI, you should download or print it now because they say it’s only going to be available for a limited time).

Coconut Crème Brulee
Serves 8

• 1 egg
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups coconut milk (not lite)
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (use the pod for something else)
• 1 tbs fresh lime juice
• ¼ tsp kosher salt

In a large bowl or a KitchenAid mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the egg, egg yolks and sugar until combined.

In a saucepan, heat the coconut milk, cream and vanilla just to the boiling point. If there are extra large flecks of vanilla or some of the pod bark, strain the mixture through a mesh sieve. Then add the cream mixture to the egg mix, stirring (or paddling) slowly but thoroughly. Don’t add the cream too fast, or you may get scrambled eggs. I don’t recommend using a whisk because bubbles will form and when you bake the custard, the top won’t be smooth. After you have added all the cream mixture, add the lime juice and salt.

Pour or ladle the mixture into ramekins or other oven-safe glass/ceramic bowl (volume capacity about 1/3 to ½ cup). Bake the ramekins in a water bath in a 300° oven for 35 to 45 minutes. You’ll know the custard is done if you give the pan a little shake and the centers of the custards are set. ( Getting a sense for what “set” means takes a lot of practice. Since I don’t dabble in the sweet kitchen very often, it took me a long time to learn. Basically if the custard is somewhat giggly but not liquid, it’s set.) Take out of the oven and cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge. I recommend chilling overnight, covered with plastic wrap.

To get a smooth top when you bake, don't use a whisk to mix the cream mixture with the eggs. If only I knew then...

Fill the pan with boiling water to about half way up the cups.

These custards should be served chilled. No need to embellish but sprinkling with a little toasted coconut or serving crème brulee-style, with burnt sugar on top, gives it a finished look. If you want to go the creme brulee route, I recommend putting the ramekins in the freezer for about 15 to 30 minute before torching. This will keep the custard chilled after you torch the top.

For creme brulee, I always use washed raw sugar, also known as turbinado sugar. I'm sure regular ol' granulated sugar works just fine.

If you go the creme brulee route, you'll get the best results with a kitchen torch. I used my broiler but I took it out a little early so as not to warm the custard too much. The custard should be chilled while the top barely warm and crackly.

Edited to add: I'm going to submit this to Sugar High Friday being hosted by Kochtopf. Why not?