november breakfast

I do not know why my camera will not focus at the moment, so I apologize for the blurriness of these shots.  These are the jeweled pomegranate seeds that I shelled out.

Pumpkin creme brulee, hanging out with an icon of its ancestry.

This is a serious contender for the honour of being my birthday cake this year.  For those who are unacquainted with my taste buds, I absolutely loathe cake and substitute other baked goods for my annual celebration of my birth.  I received a mini-butane torch a couple of years ago and enjoy torching many things in my kitchen.  Unfortunately, this week it was my finger that got sugar molten onto to the tip.  Not a good maneuver!

Here's the recipe from the Bonjour book on creme brulee:

Mellow Pumpkin

Ingredients

1/4 cup          pumpkin

1/4 cup          sour cream

3                    egg yolks

1/4 cup          firmly packed brown sugar (either light or dark)

2 T                granulated sugar

1/8 t              allspice

1/8 t              cinnamon  (yeah right, I used more like 1 T)

pinch            nutmeg

pinch            salt

1/2 cup         heavy cream

Method

Preheat oven to 300 F.  In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the cream.  Stir the pumpkin mixture with a small whisk for a full minute.  Set aside.

Put the cream in a saucepan and stir while heating, just to the point of boiling.  Whisk the cream into the pumpkin mixture in small amounts until all is blended, stirring for a full minute.

Pour the mixture through a fine strainer.  Place 4 (4 oz) ramekins in a bain marie.  Fill with the pumpkin mixture (I have to laugh at recipes--what else would you be pouring in there?  Cheerios?) and place on an oven rack slightly below the middle of the oven.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or less if centres are softly set.

Cool the ramekins until comfortable to handle.  Cover with wrap and refrigerate from 1 hour to 2 days before using.  When ready to serve, remove from the fridge and sprinkle sugar on each ramekin and torch to carmelize.

 Bon appetite!