Plum Creme Brûlée Recipe
This Plum Crème Brûlée Recipe is a delicious twist on the classic baked custard. We roast some tart plums and then top with a creamy, silky smooth baked custard. We then cool the baked custard and top with a glorious caramelised sugar top that makes a satisfying crack as you dig in and provides a lovely crunchy texture to balance the velvet textured custard. If you can’t get your hands on plums or don’t like them, there are a bunch of other fruits you could use for this, think berries, rhubarb, apple, peaches, apples, cherries etc. Check out my Gooseberry Creme Brulee Recipe if you are interested!
So how do I make this Plum Creme Brûlée from scratch?
This delicious Creme Brûlée recipe can be broken down into 3 steps;
- Roasted Plums
- Creme Brûlée Mix
- Baking the Creme Brûlée
Roasted Plums
To make the roasted plums, simply toss the sliced plums with some brown sugar. Transfer these to a deep baking dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the plums have started to soften. Leave to one side to cool.
Creme Brûlée Mix
This Plum Crème Brûlée starts with a custard base. We make this by adding the cream, sugar and vanilla to a small/medium saucepan. Heat until just barely boiling. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks until slightly pale. Carefully pour the hot cream over the egg yolks, continuously whisking. Continue whisking the mix until everything is combined. Pour through a fine mesh sieve or chinoix into a container or bowl. Place cling film directly onto the surface of the custard mix. Allow to cool at room temperature and then place into the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight preferably.
Baking the Creme Brûlée
Preheat oven to 120°c (240°f) or 110°c (220°f) if fan assisted. Once both elements have cooled adequately, place a large heaped tablespoon or two of roasted plums into each ramekin. Carefully pour over the custard to just under the top rim. Place the ramekins into deep sided trays. Carefully pour water into the trays, being careful to not add any to the ramekins until about 1/2 way up the ramekins.
Carefully place the trays in the oven and bake for 50-60 minutes. We know the Crème brûlée is cooked when you jiggle the tray and the custard moves, but it has a more solid wobble to it. It should wobble like a thick set jelly, not like liquid. Allow to cool fully and remove the ramekins from the trays. Place into the fridge to chill completely.
Once completely cold and ready to serve, sprinkle a large teaspoon of caster sugar onto the surface of the brulee. Using a blow torch, evenly melt and caramelise the sugar all round. Serve and eat immediately.
Frequently Ased Questions
Personally, I like to use fine white caster sugar. This is because it melts easily and you can control the caramelization a bit better as you can see how dark the sugar is getting. Some people prefer brown sugar however it’s easier to burn or under caramelise brown sugar due to it’s colour.
Yes, absolutely! Usually, I like to add the fine caster sugar on to the Crème Brûlée and gently tap the ramekins so the sugar covers the surface evenly. I then hold the ramekin at an angle, with the ramekin tilting downwards. I then begin torching at the top of the brulee. When the sugar starts to caramelize, I slowly rotate the ramekin, allowing the liquid caramelized sugar to move around the surface of the custard. This ensures a nice even coverage.
The best, easiest and fastest way to caramelize the ugar really is a blow torch. If this is a dessert you enjoy, I would highly recommend investing in a blow torch. They are relatively inexpensive for small kitchen friendly blow torches. However, if this is completely out of the question, you can caramelize the sugar by placing the sugar covered custards under the grill. Use a medium heat, and keep a very close eye on them.
As Crème Brûlée are baked custards, they contain egg yolk and don’t have a super long shelf life. The custard mix before baking can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days before baking. The baked custards can be kept for up to 3 more days if wrapped and refrigerated. If the Crème Brûlée has the caramelised sugar on top, they will only last about an hour maximum until the sugar begins to melt and become sticky. If they have been kept cold, you can remove the melted sugar on top and brulee again if desired.
For more Gluten Free Recipes, check out my Gluten Free Category, here.
Interested in more Dessert Recipes? Check out my Dessert Category, here.
Have a bunch more Gooseberries to use? Check out all my other Gooseberry Recipes, here.
Plum Creme Brûlée
Equipment
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Whisk
- 1 fine mesh sieve or chinoix
- 4-8 ramekins
- 1-2 deep sided baking tray
- 1 blow torch
Ingredients
Roasted Plums
- 400 grams plums, stones removed and slices into wedges
- 30 grams brown sugar
Creme Brûlée
- 500 grams cream
- 50 grams caster sugar
- 100 grams egg yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla paste or extract
- 8 tsp caster sugar 1 tsp for each Creme Brûlée
Instructions
Roasted Plums
- Preheat oven to 180°c(360°f) or 170°c (340°f) if fan assisted.
- Add the sliced plums to a mixing bowl along with the brown sugar and mix together until the plums are coated.
- Transfer into a baking dish and cook for 10-15 minutes until the plums have softened.
- Leave to one side to cool as you prepare the brulee mix. Once cold, you can store in an airtight container overnight.
Creme Brûlée
- Add the cream, caster sugar and vanilla to a saucepan or large pan.
- Heat on medium heat until the cream is just about to boil.
- In a bowl, add the egg yolks and whisk together very briefly.
- Pour 1 ladle of hot cream onto the egg yolks and whisk well.
- Pour the hot egg yolks into the saucepan with the hot cream and whisk immediately until well combined.
- Place a sieve of chinoix over a large mixing bowl and pour the brulee base through the sieve to remove any egg yolk.
- Place cling film directly on to the brulee mix surface to prevent a skin forming.
- Allow the mix to cool down at room temperature. Once cooled, place into the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours to completely cool.
- Preheat oven to 120°c (240°f) or 110°c (220°f) if fan assisted.
- Once the mix has completely cooled. place 1-2 tbsp of roasted plums into the base of each ramekin.
- Remove the brulee mix from the fridge, remove the cling film and whisk together. Transfer into a jug for eacsy pouring.
- Pour the brulee mix into each ramekin, on top of the roasted plums until they are about 4/5 full.
- Carefully place the ramekins into a deep tray and pour water into the tray, taking care to avoid splashing any into the ramekins to about 1/2 the height of the ramekins.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes until the brulees have set. This means that if you carefully jiggle the tray, they should not appear liquidy.
- Remove from the oven once cooked. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing the hot brulees from the water. Place onto a cold or room temperature tray or surface and allow to cool slightly.
- Once the brulees are cold enough to place into the fridge, cover each with a small piece of cling film and place into the fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours.
- Once the brulees have all cooled completely, remove from the fridge.
- Sprinkle 1 tsp of white caster sugar over each brulee and using a blow torch, melt and caramlise the sugar all over the top. To help spread the sugar, you can tilt the ramekin as you burn the sugar. Be careful not to burn your fingers while doing this.
- Serve immediately once you have caramlized the sugar.
- Un baked brulee mix can last for up to 3 days in th fridge in an airtight container, as can the baked brulees, before the sugar topping.
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