Corn. Maple Sugar. A candy top? What is she thinking?
We only had crème brûlée once when I was a kid. My mom did a great job of preparing and baking the little custards, and carefully covering the top with sugar. She commandeered my father’s blow torch to do the brûlée part, and promptly set a dish towel on fire. Abandoning the effort, she finished them off under the broiler, and brûléed they were indeed. She stuck to plain custards after that.
Now a regular appearance
Needless to say, it took me quite some time to attempt them on my own, but when I did, they became a regular dessert in our home, one that can be made well ahead of time and offered up to your guests with a flourish! Traditionally made with heavy cream, canned evaporated milk can easily substitute. However, this version uses full-fat coconut milk for the dairy challenged in the family. The lite coconut didn’t work well, but this is a treat and not healthfood! There are not a lot of ingredients, so use really good ones here.
It’s fun to light food on fire
My grandchildren all had their first experiences with a torch while making these, and of course their parents were not invited to the initial firing!
And dish towels were tucked well out of harm’s way.
When I mentioned I was working on a dairy-free Crème Brûlée a blogger friend suggested adding corn. It was a great suggestion, so I fiddled with my recipe until it was the right balance. The corn flavor was phenomenal with the maple! Definitely a New England match made in Heaven. However, if you don’t want to use the corn, decrease the egg yolks to four, and increase the sugar a bit; the corn adds a lot of sweetness.
Dairy Free Corn & Maple Crème Brûlée
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 1/2 cups pureed corn, from fresh if in season
- 1 plump vanilla bean, split
- ¼ cup granulated maple sugar
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 tsp. cornstarch
- ¼ tsp. pure maple extract
- 4 tbsp. more maple sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and put a kettle of water on to boil. Place ramekins in a roasting pan.
Place coconut milk in a saucepan over medium along with the pureed corn. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk. Add the pod to the milk while it warms to just below the boil with small simmering bubbles on the side.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, yolks, and cornstarch until well blended. Add the maple extract.
Slowly, very slowly at first, drizzle the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking all the while to gently temper. You don’t want to make scrambled eggs, so be patient here,
Once everything is combined, put the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the corn bits and any particles of egg. Put the mixture in a large measuring cup with a spout and pour into the ramekins. That’s the easiest way to transfer without sloshing.
Place the pan in the oven, and add the boiling water to go halfway up the ramekins.
Bake for 40 minutes and check. They should be set with just the slightest jiggle in the middle.
Let cool, then cover and place in the refrigerator, overnight if possible.
When ready to serve, place a tablespoon of maple sugar on each ramekin, evenly with no custard showing, and use a blowtorch to “burn” or caramelize to candy this sugar. Let set a few moments. The sugar will be a hard candy at this point, that will be cracked with the back of the spoon when eaten, a lovely combination of creamy and hard, sweet and slightly bitter.
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You took me back to my college years when my roommate, recently back from France, made this for us using a tiny blowtorch made for the dessert. I love your spin on it and will keep it in mind for my lactose intolerant grandson.
I have little blowtorch that was a Christmas present a few years ago. I like the big one better though, it’s much faster, albeit a bit more dangerous!
You have now reminded me of all those flaming desserts of my youth. Bananas Foster! Yum.
And cherries jubilee!
I knew there was another but I just couldn’t remember it. Thanks. I remember the thrill of getting that as a kid with my parents.
It was really trendy for a while, and my mom loved cherries. And setting things on fire!
Now I am remembering Baked Alaska which amazed us although I don’t remember if it too was set ablaze.
It is usually set ablaze with brandy, and magic!
Ok. Thanks. I wasn’t sure if I had imagined the flames and the ice cream.
It really was magic that the ice cream didn’t melt!
The closest we came to such drama recently in a restaurant was in a scented liquid in a bowl into which was dropped dry ice. It was fun to smell the light fragrance and be surrounded with “smoke.”
That sounds really cool!
I love smoking desserts apparently.
I’m with you!
Thanks! U was really pleased how these turned out !
I admire your inventive streak. I benefit from it.
What a lovely thing to say! Thank you.
Yummy! Thanks for sharing, also the tipp with the egg whites, Dorothy! Have a beautiful week! xx Michael
Thank you! I haven’t wasted an egg white in ages!
Mmmmmm! Mmmmmmm! I love crème brûlée but I only have it on a cruise. And then I only eat it once as it is fattening. But boy, oh boy, it is such a delightful treat! Sweet man and I always say we are going to give it a try at home. Now with your step by step recipe… we can do it!! Thank you!
Merry, Merry to you Dorothy!
It really is a special treat!
Quite beautiful and though work, your steps make it sound less complicated! I confess, it is easier to buy them at Fresh Market deli and just caramelize them at home!
In that case, it’s equally as dramatic!
But probably not as tasty!
I love reading all about this but I will never attempt it myself. I’m sending it over to my son-in-law Nic, he’s a fabulous cook, and so daring in the kitchen. He will love this. Me, I’ll love to eat it! Thanks Dorothy, hugs, C
Just to notify you, that there seems to be a problem with posting comments here. I hope this one will go through.
This is a great version of Crème Brûlée. Love the addition of corn in it. It reminds me of Indian pudding. 🙂
I don’t know what is going on with WP again! Thank you for your comment, and your perseverance!
A totally new dish for me. I love crème brûlée but never heard of it prepared with corn. Thank you for once again opening my eyes to new recipes.
Thank you Diane! The corn and maple were wonderful together!
I love Creme Brulee, and how clever you are to come up with a non dairy version, it sounds wonderful!!
Jenna
Thanks Jenna, necessity is always the mother of invention!
A unique creme brulee that looks delicious.
I love this recipe Dorothy, it looks so yummy! I tried to comment yesterday but it wouldn’t go through.
Well, thank you so much for trying again Jan! WP is having its usual problems, I guess.
I love creme brulee but eat it out so I have never made it. I could not have imagined making it with corn. Applause to the chef I will never be. 🙂
Someone mentioned a corn creme brulee to me, but I thought it needed something else, and since I had been working on a maple version, I just combined them. Perfect together, and now I’m thinking of other ways to use corn and maple.
Ok so my husband has a fascination with the small torch for cooking, seriously! He uses it on whipped cream on french toast, for example. I would be like your mom lighting dish towels on fire 🔥 So instead I’ll just stick to tasting what hubby makes and reading your delightful recipes!
LOL! She was good at setting fires.
She once almost burned the kitchen down putting her cast iron frying pan with oil on to preheat. She forgot about it until the flames were climbing the walls.
She taught me to always have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen…
Looks fabulous! Thanks for the many great ideas!🔔❤️☕️☕️
Thank you for stopping by!
There is nothing like a good creme brulee after a great meal – intriguing ingredients.
Thank you! I’d never combined these before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.
The corn was a surprise, and definitely worth the experiment. I’ve made it twice now, and everyone has loved the combination with the maple.
Yum! I think I’d love this dairy-free version of creme brulee! 🙂
Thanks! It turned out remarkably delicious.
Looks yummy–and it IS fun to light food on fire 🙂
I tried posting a comment here a couple of times, but it just didn’t go through. Maybe this time…
I really like this version of Crème Brûlée. The addition of corn reminds me of Indian pudding. 🙂
Success!
The corn and maple together were really delicious! I haven’t thought of Indian pudding in a while, perhaps I should experiment!
Original take on this classic with the corn, coconut, and maple. You are right to sieve the pureed corn to get a silky texture. I also put used vanilla beans in the sugar jar.
It’s really amazing how much vanilla flavor is still in those beans even after steeping and removing the seeds!
Plus, the sugar is also perfect for igniting desserts!
Wonderful to know that crème brûlée can be made with a plant milk! The corn and maple combo sounds like a winner. I have used sweet corn in an ice cream and it’s amazing how well the natural sweetness makes it appropriate for dessert. This sounds great.
Did you ever make corn flake ice cream, oh queen of the home ice cream factory?
Your foods are always an inspiration.😋 YUM!
Thank you so much my friend!
Your blog post had me hooked from the very beginning!