Crème Brûlée gets an exotic twist with the addition of ackee! The fruit’s creamy texture melds perfectly with this custard for a silky, decadent dessert.
Unique Twist on a Classic Dessert
Brûlée is a classic dessert and for good reason. It is so versatile that there could literally be thousands of variations.
Many restaurants in fact will have a creme brûlée on their dessert menu with the flavor changing with the season. But you don’t have to go out to eat to enjoy creme brûlée, it’s easy to make at home!
Creme Brûlée, the perfect make ahead dessert
Looking to be the stress free host at your dinner party?
Creme brûlée is the perfect dessert for entertaining as it can be made up to four days ahead and finished on the day of your party. Plus who doesn’t love the excitement of playing with a little fire? You can even get your guests involved and they can torch the tops of their own brûlée.
No kitchen torch? Don’t despair! Though arguably a little less fun, you can still make caramel and pour it atop the brûlée.
How to make Caramel using the “Dry Method”
To make caramel using the dry method simply place a few tablespoons of sugar in a heavy saucepan (I’d estimate a scant tablespoon for each brûlée you plan to top).
Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar melts and begins to brown. Be careful and keep an eye on it as the sugar caramelizes quickly, usually most quickly when you’re not looking.
To ensure the sugar melts evenly, you may gently swirl the pan but do not stir as this will cause the sugar to crystallize.
When the sugar reaches the right colour (amber is good, too dark a colour and it will be bitter) remove the pan from the heat and submerge the base of the pan in cold water to stop it from cooking. Use the caramel right away since it will reharden as it cools.
Flavour Variations for Ackee Creme Brûlée
My first version of this ackee brûlée was flavored with fevergrass which was well received by my guinea pigs (mom and grandfather). To infuse the fevergrass flavour, I first heated the cream just to the point of simmering then added the washed fevergrass. Covered the pot and allowed it to steep overnight in the fridge. The following day I strained the cream and proceeded with the recipe. (You could also do a cold infusion of flavour, by adding the flavoring ingredient but not heating the cream, let it steep chilled for at least a day for next flavour).
For the recipe given below, I’ve intentionally kept it very simple using the ackee as the only flavoring. I always want you to think of a recipe as your canvas. Of course there are certain techniques and ratios that you want to keep the same so the recipe can work but when it comes to adding flavours, let your imagination run wild.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- 1 to 2 tsps of vanilla extract/paste or seeds from one vanilla pod
- A pinch of cinnamon or steeping a cinnamon stick in the cream overnight;
- A pinch of cardamom or steeping a few of the pods in the cream overnight;
- Lemongrass stalk steeped in the cream overnight
- Ginger steeped in cream overnight
- Zest of a lemon or orange rubbed into the sugar before being added to the yolks
- Lemon zest and basil steeped in the cream overnight
If you want to skip the eggs and cream all together, check out this Vegan Ackee Almond Creme Brûlée, it’s amazingly creamy and even has the signature brûlée jiggle that I love so much. Best of all you don’t even have to bake it! Say whaaaat?!
What kind of Ackee to Use for Baking
I used canned ackees in this recipe, if you are using fresh ackees and happen to have “cheese ackee” you may need simmer the ackee with a bit of baking soda to make it very soft and silky when pureed. For more on this and a little chuckle, check out: Butter & Cheese Ackee.
What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. If you try this or any of the recipes on this site be sure to #amazingackee and @amazingackee so that I can see your posts across social media.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by 😊
Ackee Crème Brûlée
Ackee in dessert? Why not?! Try this recipe for a silky brûlée . It can be made ahead and kept up to 4 days in the refrigerator and finished before serving
Ingredients
- 5 yolks
- 115 g Granulated sugar white
- 150 g Parboiled ackee
- 350 g Heavy Cream
- Water as needed
- Demerara or Raw sugar as needed;
Instructions
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Preheat often to 325F. Place ramekins* on a rimmed baking sheet or shallow baking dish. (*The recipe makes about 650 mL/22 fl oz of custard. How many ramekins you need will depend on the volume of the ones you have)
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Combine yolks and sugar in medium bowl and whisk well to combine. Set aside.
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Place cream and ackee in a saucepan over low heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and using a stick blender, puree till smooth.
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Place a strainer over the bowl with the yolks and sugar then pour the warm mixture over the yolks through the strainer
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Whisk the yolks and ackee mixture well.
- Pour custard into ramekins then fill the roasting pan with water to come up half way the sides of the ramekins. I like to pull my oven rack out and put the roasting pan down and then pour the water, that way I’m not worrying about spilling the custard or the water all over the floor or myself. Many recipes will tell you to use boiling water and you can feel free to do so, but I’ve not found a huge difference in the result and generally use warm water from the tap.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until set around the edges but still wobbly in the centre;Remove from water bath and place chill for at least 2 hours or overnight
- When ready to serve. Sprinkle the top with the demerara sugar and gently shake and tap the ramekin to distribute the sugar evenly, pour off the excess sugar into the next ramekin and repeat until all the brûlées are done.
- Now the fun part: using a kitchen torch, evenly heat the top of the brûlée to caramelise the sugar
- Let the brûlées stand a few minutes for the caramel to harden before serving
- Enjoy!
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