Sasha's Kitchen: Papaya Glazed Creme Brulee - Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm going out for dinner with my husband for Valentine's Day tonight, but first wanted to share our dessert from last night's home cooked dinner.  I've been doing a lot of creme brulee torching lately, and as you can see, I am not quite ready to be done yet.  It occurred to me that in addition to flavoring the creme brulee custard, like I have done with my other brulees, I could create a fruit sugar glaze on top of the creme brulee and caramelize the glaze, as long as it had a sufficient sugar content.  Thus, I decided to create some fruit glazed creme brulee desserts.  

This dessert is perfect for a simple Valentine's Day dessert, as long as you have a creme brulee torch.  If you want to be especially romantic, you could even use heart shaped creme brulee dishes like these.  I don't have the heart shaped dishes, so I made mine using my regular creme brulee ramekins.  It's been so cold and snowy here on the east coast, that I wanted to create a Valentine's Day dessert with a taste of the tropics, so I went for a papaya glaze using fresh diced papaya from my local market.  I also flavored the creme brulee with my homemade amaretto, rather than vanilla.  I made such a large quantity of amaretto that I expect to continue to find new and fun uses for it in my desserts.

Sasha's Valentine's Day Papaya Glazed Amaretto Creme Brulee (Makes 4)

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar (for custard)

1/2 cup fresh papaya (or the fresh fruit of your choice - strawberries would be great too)

3 T amaretto liqueur

1/4 cup sugar (for the fruit glaze)

First, prepare the custard by mixing the sugar and the heavy cream over medium heat until all of the sugar is dissolved and bubbles form around the edge of the saucepan.  Take off the heat and beat in the egg yolks and the amaretto.  Place in ramekins.  Put the ramekins in a broiling pan surrounded with hot/boiling water going up halfway on the sides of the ramekins.  Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes until just firm in the tops (you can test with a toothpick).  Chill for several hours.

To make the fruit glaze, puree the papaya and mix with a quarter cup of sugar.  Heat for about five minutes on medium heat until the sugar melts and it thickens to a jam-like consistency.  Coat the chilled custard in the ramekins with a layer of the glaze (don't make it too thick or you will have to brulee forever) and sprinkle the tops with fresh sugar.  Use your creme brulee torch on the tops until caramelized.  This will take a bit longer than with a conventional creme brulee, but is totally worth it.  Enjoy this taste of the tropics while you cope with the snow this Valentine's Day.

Other Fun Creme Brulee Dishes on A Kitchen In Brooklyn

Banana Brandy Creme Brulee

White Chocolate Creme Brulee

Pumpkin Creme Brulee