Yellow Pepper Crème Brûlée
Yes, you did read that correctly, it does say yellow pepper crème brûlée. And that is indeed yellow bell pepper. The vegetable (that’s actually a fruit). But for everyone who likes to roast peppers, you’ll know that they are sweet when cooked and can therefore turn a regular crème brûlée into culinary deliciousness.
The yellow variety is pleasantly subtle in this recipe, which is great if you’re not sure you’re totally on board with this whole idea. But if you’re feeling adventurous, try a red pepper. And go on, add some red pepper flakes to the mixture. This would be amazing spicy.
Okay, let’s get down to it.
This recipe makes six nice-sized ramekins, but you can double or adjust the recipe as needed for your preferred amount. The batter can also be refrigerated for up to a week if you’re not ready to bake it right away.
Ingredients
1 yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups heavy cream
Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
Roast the pepper, whole, on a sheet pan for 30 minutes, then deseed and purée it. It’s not necessary to remove the skin.
Turn the oven down to 325˚F.
Place a folded kitchen towel in a large glass baking dish, making sure the towel makes a flat surface. Put 6 medium-sized ramekins on it. (This will allow for proper heat circulation around the ramekins when you add hot water to the dish and put it in the oven.)
In a medium or large bowl, whisk together the pepper purée, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and salt. (Make sure the yolks and sugar aren’t in contact too long before mixing them or the sugar may burn the yolks and crystallize little pieces of them).
In a small pot, bring the cream to a boil and then gently pour it into the pepper-sugar mixture, whisking constantly to cool it down. This will prevent the egg yolks from getting cooked too soon. Transfer the mixture into a liquid measuring cup for easy pouring (this can be done in batches), and fill the ramekins about a quarter to halfway (or as desired).
Boil enough water to fill the baking dish halfway up the outsides of the ramekins (and fully soak the kitchen towel). I fill up my electric kettle and usually use about three quarters of its contents. Make sure to place the baking dish on a counter right next to the oven when you add the hot water. That way you won’t have to go far and risk sloshing water everywhere.
Place the baking dish on the middle or lowest oven rack and bake the crème brûlées for about 25-35 minutes (depending on how full they are), until they are just set. They’ll wiggle a little, but only a little. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and allow to cool, preferably on a wire rack. Very carefully pour out the water from the baking dish and let the towel cool in the sink.
Serve the crème brûlées at room temperature. They can be refrigerated for several days, possibly up to a week, if you don’t want to eat them right away.
To complete the burned sugar topping, pour a couple tablespoons of fine granulated sugar into a ramekin and swivel the ramekin around to fully coat the surface. Pour out the excess sugar. Now add a few teaspoons of fresh sugar to the ramekin and gently shake so that the sugar forms a complete even surface. This will allow for optimal caramelization. With your kitchen blowtorch, burn the sugar until it achieves that lovely caramel color.
Allow to cool and solidify, then, attack with a spoon!