Mango Creme Brûlée

Mango Creme Brûlée

In the midst of everything that has been going around in the world, my focus lately has been to concentrate on the positives around me. Celebrate every little win, or small milestones in our life. 

My daughter turned 6 months old last week, and I wanted to make something sweet to make this occasion. 

With Ramadan going on, and keeping our socializing to a minimum, we couldn't share this occasion with many of our close family and friends, but I still wanted it to be a little celebratory. Hence, came the idea for Mango Creme Brûlée. We had a half birthday dessert, and also gave her a little taste of it. And by the looks of it, she seems to like Mango too, much like her parents. 

Makes 6 servings (ramekins) 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream 
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk (can be substituted with regular milk, or half and half)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup mango pulp ( I usually buy the canned alphonso mango pulp)
• 1/3 cup sugar, some more for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 325 degree Fahrenheit 
2. Mix the egg yolks and sugar and keep aside. I used 1/3 cup sugar only, since my mango pulp was sweetened as well. If making Vanilla creme brûlée, increase the sugar quantity to 1/2 cup
3. In a heavy bottom pan, heat the cream, milk and salt on medium heat. As soon as it begins to simmer, take it off the heat and mix in the vanilla extract
4. Now add 1/2 cup of the cream to the egg mixture. Ensure to whisk the egg yolks in a slow and steady stream, to avoid scrambling of the eggs
5. Now pour the remaining cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, still stirring slowly but continuously to avoid scrambling
6. Place the ramekins in a large baking pan. Divide the custard mixture evenly, filling to the top
7.  Carefully fill the pan with enough hot water to reach half-way through the ramekins
8. Bake until the edges are set and centers are a little shaky. The time usually depends on the depth of the ramekins. For my 1-inch ramekins, it takes about 30 minutes. But since I decided to use 1 large glass dish, I baked the custard for 40 mins.
9. Remove once done, and cool it for about an hour before refrigerating. 
10.  I'd suggest refrigerating for at least about 4 hours or more before starting on sugar topping
11. Using about 1/4 tsp of sugar for a ramekin, sprinkle an even layer of sugar on the ramekin. 
12. Broil for about 10 mins in an oven or use a kitchen torch to caramelize. 

Notes & Tips:

• We prefer to enjoy the creme brûlée without the caramelized sugar layer, hence you can see I skipped that step in the picture. Traditional creme brûlée does have a caramelized layer, that is very easy to create. 
• You can substitute the evaporated milk with heavy cream as well, that will just make the creme brûlée a little denser. This is just a preference on how dense you like your custard
• I have noticed that my creme brûlée stays perfectly fresh and tasty for upto 3 days in the refrigerator. So can definitely be one of those make-ahead desserts. 
• For the water bath, make sure the water level is low enough so that any bubbling doesn't spill into the ramekins

I hope you guys give this easy and yummy dessert a try in your kitchen as well. Also, to make the desert look a little festive, I printed and cut out a 1/2 sign on card stock and placed it on my creme brûlée along with a happy birthday sign. And decorated with sliced strawberry. 

Keep safe dear friends and until then, Live, Love, Laugh and Eat.. Oh Yes, EAT!