Pumpkin Creme Brûlée with Maple Syrup
Every once in a while, as a food blogger, you discover something new that you just can’t help fall in love with.
I should say up front that I am in no way being paid to endorse this product. I just think it’s the bomb.com, and I wanted to tell you about it.
A few months back, I was attending the EAT Vancouver trade show. I love going to trade shows, because I kinda feel like it’s my job, as a food blogger, to be up on the latest trends, and trade shows are a great way to be on top of what’s new.
While there, I met these fabulous peeps from Nova Scotia. Now, meeting anyone from the Maritimes is, in and of itself, a treat for me, because I’ve spent a lot of time in that part of the world, and I miss it. These peeps, though, had a brand-new product I’d never seen before–flavour-infused maple syrups.
Maple syrup is one of those things I simply can’t live without. In my younger days, in university, when I was super poor, did I buy Aunt Jemima? Yep, I did. But now that I’m a grownup, I won’t have that stuff in my house. It’s pure Canadian maple syrup all the way, and damn the cost.
I use it a lot, too, as both a source of sweetener, and a source of flavour. What I love about Pure Infused Maple Syrup is that they take maple syrup to the next level. Maple syrup goes so well with so many things–and what these folks have done is add companion flavours to our old friend.
There are 5 different flavours, like Vanilla, Cinnamon and Star Anise, which I, quite frankly, could drink in my coffee every single day. There’s also Lavender and Chai, which I’ve added as a sweetener to chai tea, and it rocks. The have a very traditional Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cloves, which adds the most amazing flavours to anything with apples. Finally, there’s a savoury Chipotle & Lemongrass, which would make your salmon sing, and a gastrique (which is a kind of sweet-sour vinegar), flavoured with ginger, which would be wonderful in any homemade salad dressing.
Here in Vancouver, it’s available at Ayoub’s Dried Fruit and Nuts.
I use this stuff in so many things–it was hard to choose just one to write a post on.
I actually asked my FB friends for suggestions, and I got about 100. But I settled on this Pumpkin Creme Brûlée from my friend Melissa at UpBeet. Because pumpkin. Fall. Maple Syrup.
I have taken this recipe to the next level by using a maple-infused sugar to brûlée it with.\
Pumpkin Creme Brûlée
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup half and half cream or evaporated milk for a lower fat version
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup maple syrup I used Pure Infused Maple Syrup, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cloves
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2 eggs
- pinch of salt
- For the maple-infused sugar: 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 tbsp maple syrup, 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients, except for the ingredients for the maple sugar, into the blender. Blend until well combined.
- Place four ramekins (you can also use mason jars) in a 8" x 8" square pan. Carefully pour the creme brûlée mixture into each of the ramekins, about 2/3 or 3/4 full.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the oven has reached temp, place the pan with the ramekins on the oven rack. Fill the pan up (around the ramekins) with boiling water, about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and place in the fridge to cool, a couple of hours or overnight.
- Meanwhile, make the maple sugar. In a mason jar, place the granulated sugar, the maple syrup and the vanilla bean paste, and shake well to combine.
- When ready to serve, spread a layer of the maple sugar on top of each of your puddings and use a brûlée torch to "burn" the sugar.