Mini Pumpkin Brûlée
If you’re looking for a perfect dinner party dessert that doubles as a conversation starter, this mini pumpkin brûlée fits the bill like no other dish. This vegan dessert is both gorgeous and delicious!
The most unique thing about this recipe is the eye-catching presentation. This mini pumpkin brulee is served inside an entire pumpkin, albeit a miniature one.
As someone who hates wasting food, I was really taken aback when I learned about the sheer amount of pumpkin that ends up in the landfill every year. Many people only use pumpkins (including mini ones) as decoration that ends up in the trash after Halloween.
In an effort to reduce that number, I love developing recipes that use the parts of produce that ususally gets discarded, down to the seeds. In fact, I had enough Scrappy Cooking recipes or an entire cookbook!
With 150+ amazing vegan recipes accompanied by a helpful ingredient infographic, you’ll learn how to utilize food scraps, raid your kitchen at the end of the week, and preserve produce.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This mini pumpkin brûlée is probably the most classy dessert I’ve ever made. If you’re trying to elevate your dinner party, this recipe is for you.
- Just because it’s fancy, doesn’t mean it’s difficult to make. The recipe itself is fairly quick and requires minimal equipment.
- If you’re someone who grows their own pumpkins, this mini pumpkin brûlée is a cool way to deal with a surplus. Smaller pumpkins often get overlooked because they don’t provide enough yield for a hearty recipe but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be used for a cute dessert.
- This is such an essential fall recipe… It is creamy, earthy, and warm. Perfect for sweater weather!
What is Brûlée?
“Brûlée” refers to a culinary technique where a layer of sugar is caramelized on the surface of a dish using intense heat. This is usually achieved with a kitchen torch or broiler. The term brûlée is French for “burnt” or “scorched,” which perfectly describes the caramelized, crispy top layer.
The most well-known dish featuring this technique is Crème Brûlée, a classic French dessert. It consists of a rich custard base (usually flavored with vanilla), topped with a layer of sugar and then caramelized to create a crunchy, sweet crust.
However, the term “brûlée” can also be used more broadly to refer to other dishes. For example, you might come across savory dishes like “onion brûlée” or “tomato brûlée”.
in a culinary context, it generally signifies a dish with a caramelized or burnt sugar top layer. This technique enhances flavors and provides a delightful contrast of textures.
This mini pumpkin brulee takes inspiration from crème brûlée, incorporating pumpkin flavor into the custard. It is also served inside miniature pumpkins for great visual satisfaction.
How to Make This Recipe
Start by making a flat cut all the way through the small pumpkins, slicing the top off. Make sure to use a sharp knife as pumpkin is usually tough to cut.
Scoop out the seeds and pulp with a spoon until the mini pumpkins are hollow. Separate the seeds from the pulp.
In a high-speed blender, combine pumpkin pulp, coconut milk, maple syrup, spices and cashews. Make sure to either pre-soak teh cashews overnight or quickly boil them for 10 minutes to soften them up.
Pour the creamy custard mixture into your empty pumpkins, and transfer them to the fridge to set. I would recommend leaving them for a few hours.
Just before serving dessert, arrange your mini pumpkins on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each serving with half a tablespoon of sugar.
Place the makeshift pumpkin “ramekins” on the top shelf of your oven and broil on high for 1-2 minutes, until the sugar is caramelized and hard on top. Another sign of caramelization is the beautiful brown color. Enjoy immediately.
Hack It!
- This recipe contains cashews to create a creamy custard texture. If you’re allergic to nuts, you could use soaked sunflower seeds instead.
- This recipe can actually be adapted even if you don’t have access to small pumpkins. If you’re using a larger pumpkin for a different meal, you can use the innards for the custard and broil it in ramekins.
- The sugar for the top can be regular sugar, brown sugar, or even coconut sugar. The refined sugar varieties tend to caramelize differently to one another so be sure to keep a close eye on your brulee while it’s in the oven.
- Pumpkin pie spice is usually widely available in the stores this time of the year. However, you can create custom spice according to your preference, adding some cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and clove.
Pumpkin Stats
It’s well-documented that a significant amount of pumpkins are discarded after Halloween. In the United States alone, over 148 million Americans planned to carve a pumpkin for Halloween celebrations in 2022.
Out of about 1.9 billion pounds of pumpkins grown each year in the US, 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins end up in landfills.
Efforts to reduce pumpkin waste include promoting the use of edible pumpkins for cooking and encouraging composting or other forms of organic waste management. Additionally, some communities organize events like pumpkin recycling or encourage residents to turn their pumpkins into compost rather than sending them to landfills.
Other Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love
- Pumpkin Pie Bites
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice Creamer
- Pumpkin Spice Latte Brownies
- Taylor Swift’s Pumpkin Cookies
- Oat Flour Pumpkin Muffins
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The Recipe: Mini Pumpkin Brulee
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight or boiled for 10 minutes
- ¾ cup coconut milk, canned
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- pumpkin pulp, from inside mini pumpkins
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- First, prepare the pumpkins. Using a sharp knife, make a flat cut all the way through the small pumpkins, cutting the top off.
- Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds and pulp to hold them out. Separate the seeds from the pulp. You can make crispy pumpkin seeds with those.
- To a high speed blender, add the pumpkin pulp, coconut milk, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spices and soaked cashews. Combine until completely smooth.
- Pour the custard into the four empty pumpkins, and place in the fridge to cool and set. Just before serving, add the pumpkins to a baking sheet, and sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon of sugar each. Place the ramekins on the top shelf of your oven and broil for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar is brown, caramelized and hard on top. Enjoy immediately.
