Crack into the hard caramelized sugar topping of these Pumpkin Spice Crème Brûlées for a little taste of fall heaven. Made in an Instant pot, recipes don’t get much easier than this!
As soon as that first leaf of the season hits the ground I’m like “Bring me the Pumpkin Spice!”. Haha, not really. Over the years of living here in the States I have developed a sort of liking to Pumpkin & Pumpkin Spice flavored stuff. It wasn’t love at first taste, but rather the fact you can’t seem to escape Pumpkins/ Pumpkin flavored stuff between the months of September- November in the U.S unless you lived under a rock and never came out. And I don’t live under a rock, although sometimes I think that might be rather nice (but, I’d miss my family and friends too much). Plus, I’m not one to ever turn down giving new “to me” food/ flavors a fair shot…so I tried the Pumpkin stuff….and I sorta liked some of the pumpkin stuff. Pumpkin Spice Latte’s …now that’s a train I can jump on-board on, Pumpkin Donuts….yea sign me up! Pumpkin Bread with Pecan Streusel Topping…I made it and I’m not ashamed to say I loved it! Pumpkin Spice Roll With Maple Cream Cheese…I’d roll with it. Pumpkin Pie….now that’s where I draw the line. Pumpkin spice yogurt pretzels…no thank you. Pumpkin spice Pringles…are you kidding me? Pumpkin Spice Hummus…now this has gone too far. Pumpkin Spice Salsa….Make it stop, please!! Well, you get the idea of my pumpkin tolerance. Not obsessed…but grown to like it if done tastefully. Like these cute little Pumpkin Creme Brulees.
I received an Instant Pot from my brother & sister-in-law for my Birthday (Thanks Verity & Daven) in July and have enjoyed trying it out and experimenting with new recipes in it. I’m not new to pressure cooking, as any Indian will confirm its a staple utensil in every household there. However, I have always used a stove top pressure cooker which involves a lot of guess work on timing things and depends on how high your heat is. We usually count the number of times the whistle (pressure release valve) goes up as an indicator for how long something needs to be cooked. With the Electric pressure cooker however and today’s technology…it takes a lot of the guess work out and makes it super simple with different mode pre-sets like, rice, meat, stew etc. Any way…I am not trying to sell or endorse a product (If they would pay me I might! 😉 ) …the point is…I am loving the new Instant Pot addition to my kitchen and have been trying out all sorts of recipes in it.
I tried creme brulees the other day in my instant pot and couldn’t believe how simple they were. No heating up the cream…making a custard and praying you temper the eggs correctly in the pressure cooker method. Simply mix everything well together (the only part to remember is you don’t want to whisk and incorporate to much air in the mixture as you want it dense and creamy), pour into ramekins, pressure cook, cool and serve. It really doesn’t get more simple than that. You end up with sophisticated little desserts that when you crack into the crunchy caramelized sugary topping it’s like tasting a little bit of fall heaven. The pumpkin is not too overpowering with just a subtle hint of spice. Enough with the chatter…here’s how you make them-
Watch Recipe Video:
- * 4 Egg Yolks
- * 1 Cup Heavy Cream
- * 1/4 Cup Sugar + 4 Tbsp for bruleeing
- * 1/2 Cup Pure Pumpkin Puree
- * 1/4 tsp Pumpkin Spice
- * 1/2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste/ Extract
- * Pinch of Salt
- * 4 Candied Pecans (optional garnish)
- - Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
- - Add the heavy cream, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, vanilla bean paste/extract and a pinch of salt.
- - Gently mix until combined without incorporating too much air into the mixture.
- - Strain the mixture with a fine mesh strainer to make it smooth and silky.
- - Pour the mixture evenly into 4 ramekins
- - Add 2 cups of water to the bottom of your instant pot/ electric pressure cooker & place a trivet on the bottom of the pan.
- - Cover the ramekins with tin foil to avoid condensation dripping into them and place them on the trivet. You can also carefully stack them if they don't fit.
- - Close the lid and set the vent to the 'Sealing' position.
- - Set on manual- high pressure- 6 minutes & let it fully Natural Release (about 15-20 mins)
- - Carefully remove the ramekins from the pot and allow them to cool on a cooling rack
- - After they are cooled, refrigerate them and allow them to set for a minimum of 2 hrs to overnight.
- - When you are ready to serve the creme brulees, simple spoon some raw cane sugar or demerara sugar in a thin layer on top and torch with a creme brulee torch until the sugar crystallizes.
- - Garnish with a candied Pecan or whipped cream.
- If you don't have creme brulee torch: You can stick it under an oven broiler for a few minutes watching it closely, until the sugar crystallizes and browns on top.
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Hi, these look wonderful. Can you please let me know what size ramakins you used. I don’t see it in the instructions. Thank you!!