Dia de los Muertos Creme Brulee

Crème Brûlée for Dia de los Muertos

This recipe is a traditional French Crème Brûlée with a Dia de los Muertos twist.  It’s so creamy and smooth, it’s like falling in love or fantastic sex.  Food does not get more sensual than this.

(Recipe  adapted from James Peterson)

2  small sugar pumpkins, seeded and scraped out, wrapped in tin foil

1 ½ cups heavy cream, brought to a simmer in a heavy sauce pan

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg yolks, room temperature

¼ cup + 2 TBSP sugar

1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375. 

Lightly but briskly whisk the egg yolks with vanilla, nutmeg, and sugar until they begin to fade to a creamy yellow.  Into this goes the hot cream added gradually with a vigorous whisking.  Careful not to cook the eggs.  Pour the mixed custard into the pumpkin shells (tops off) and put them in a bain-marie (hot water bath) in the oven.  Seal with more tin foil over the pan. 

The trickiness of this recipe is learning to judge when the custard is done.  It should ripple loosely on top when shaken. Begin checking your custards at 45 minutes, but don’t be surprised if your recipe needs twice as long.  Cooking times will vary according to pumpkin size and thickness.  Once you get the hang of it though, like so many other worthwhile things, you will go back again and again.

Cool and then chill the pumpkins thoroughly (at least 2 hours).  To finish:  Either sprinkle with sugar and either torch or broil to make a brûlée  or (my favorite), caramelize sugar in a non-stick pan by dissolving ¼ cup sugar in 2 tbsp water.  Bring to a boil, brushing down the crystals that form on the sides.  If the mixture solidifies, you’ve managed to boil crystals into the mixture-- simply add a bit of unsalted butter, a dab at time until the mixture liquefies.