Crèmes brulées are my mother-in-law’s pêcher mignon, which literally translates to ”cute fault” in French (which means guilty pleasure). I keep telling her that these custard desserts can be flavored with anything and she keeps challenging me. She brought home a whole case of blackberries from our local market and asked if I could make her favorite dessert cups with them.
So after flavoring crème brulée with lemon, cherry, butterscotch, matcha green tea and masala chai, I was able to prove to her that I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. It has occurred to me though that maybe her ”challenge” is just an excuse to get me to make more crèmes brulées. As long as I can come up with more flavors, I’ll keep playing along. After that, she’ll have to come up with a better reason!
1. Info for Blackberry Creme Brulee
- Cook Time: unavailable
- Total Time: unavailable
- Servings: 6
- Calories: unavailable
2. Ingredients for Blackberry Creme Brulee
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons superfine sugar (or granulated sugar)
- ½ vanilla bean
- 1-½ tablespoons blackberry extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup white baking chocolate (4 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for caramelizing
- 6 blackberries
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, for dusting
3. Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Break up the white chocolate bar and finely chop it using a chef’s knife. Set aside.
- In a saucepan, combine the cream and milk. Bring to a near boil. Turn off the heat and immediately add the chocolate chips. Using a spatula, keep stirring until the chocolate is fully incorporated (see tips).
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with superfine sugar until they become pale yellow. Add the blackberry extract and salt.
- Using a paring knife, scrape and gather all the grains of the vanilla bean. Add the grains of vanilla to the egg mixture.
- Combine the dairy liquid with the egg mixture by slowly adding a ladle of the dairy liquid at a time to prevent the yolks from curdling (it’s called tempering).
- Strain through a fine mesh and discard all the solids.
- Fill 6 (2-ounce) ramekins with the crème brulée custard. Place them in a warm water bath in a deep baking pan. The water should go half-way up the side of the ramekins (at least a 1-½-inch-high level of water). Loosely cover the dish with a sheet of aluminum foil and place in the oven for 30-35 minutes. The texture of the crèmes brulées should be a little jiggly but not liquid (the custard will get firmer and creamier as it chills in the refrigerator).
- Allow the crèmes brulées to cool completely first, then plastic-wrap each individual cup and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. The fat from the cream may pick up other food odors from the refrigerator if the cups are not sealed properly.
- When serving, unwrap the cups and sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of sugar in each cup, then caramelize with a culinary torch.
- Pat the blackberries dry with a paper towel to ensure no juice is in contact with the sugar crust; otherwise it will turn the bruléed-sugar crust soggy.
- When serving, top each ramekin with a blackberry. Finish with a little powdered sugar using a fine mesh shaker or a strainer.
- Serve immediately.
- Bon appétit!
