Eggless Banana and Cardamom Crème Brûlée
Firstly, I’d like to apologise to the French for this recipe. I can only imagine the kind of chaos an eggless banana and cardamom crème brûlée would cause. It’s not even the cool sort of chaos. I’ve been working on this recipe for eggless crème brûlée for a while now and I think it’s about time I unveiled it before your hungry eyes. You’re probably thinking that this dish is notorious for being laced with eggs and I’m a total nutcase for thinking otherwise. But trust me… It can be made beautifully without. Otherwise I wouldn’t be typing this right now. Eggs add a certain richness to crème brûlée which I reinterpreted as ‘banana’. Cute. I mean that I replaced the eggs with pureed banana which adds a velvety texture to the custard, along with a subtle banana flavour. I added cornflour to act as a setting agent just as eggs help set the custard in a usual crème brûlée. So you don’t have to worry about your custard turning into scrambled eggs when making the custard for this dessert, due to the lack of… uhh… eggs.
Total Steps
12
Ingredients
9
Tools Needed
9
Ingredients
- 600 ml double cream
- 200 ml whole milk
- 3.5 tablespoons cornflour
- 250 grams banana, peeled and sliced
- 1 pod vanilla pod, scraped of its seeds
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150 grams caster sugar
- 0.25 teaspoon cardamom powder
- Yellow food colour(optional)
Instructions
Step 1
<a href="/H3S4YV46">Preheat </a>your oven to 120 degrees Celsius.
Step 2
Place the milk, cornflour and banana <a href="/3JDX2Q84">slices </a>in a <a href="/S6W4FR7F">blender </a>and pulse until <a href="/HGX4TB7D">pureed.</a>
Step 3
In a large saucepan <a href="/XZFHRHHF">heat </a>on a very low <a href="/3J4YNDT6">flame </a>the double <a href="/R3P5MM3Z">cream,</a> banana <a href="/HGX4TB7D">puree,</a> sugar, vanilla <a href="/QQBJYYGF">extract </a>and the vanilla <a href="/FYFCQVPR">seeds </a>along with the whole pod. Gently <a href="/3CYMY2D7">whisk </a>this from time to time.
Step 4
Once the mixture begins to <a href="/LXP6HLBF">thicken,</a> <a href="/3CYMY2D7">whisk </a>it more often to ensure it doesn’t settle at the bottom. <a href="/GFSF4J5F">Simmer </a>gently until it is thick enough to <a href="/6BTCX64M">coat </a>the back of a <a href="/NX588QBK">spoon.</a>
Step 5
Remove from the <a href="/XZFHRHHF">heat </a>and add take out the whole vanilla pod (wash it and <a href="/RF7SRX43">dry </a>it and add it to a jar of sugar, et voila… Vanilla sugar!) Add the cardamom powder and food colouring if using and <a href="/7S3QCKWK">mix </a>thoroughly.
Step 6
<a href="/W7VKDJHH">Boil </a>the kettle. Not for a cuppa chai. For the <a href="/Y8FLVD37">bain marie </a>(water bath).
Step 7
Pour the mixture into ramekins about 2/3 of the way up.
Step 8
Put the ramekins in a large <a href="/P5CFVDV7">roasting </a>tray with high sides and place the tray in an oven. Pull the oven rack out and pour the <a href="/W7VKDJHH">boiled </a>water into the tray (not into the ramekins) until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Step 9
<a href="/RNT367Z2">Bake </a>for around 45 minutes until the custards are just set but a little wobbly in the middle. Did I just say ‘wobbly’?
Step 10
Remove the ramekins from the oven and take them out of the <a href="/P5CFVDV7">roasting </a>tray (be very careful because they will be hot). If you’re making these ahead of time, at this point you <a href="/TPWNYF5L">can </a>cover these and <a href="/ZSSVQ6FG">refrigerate </a>them (and follow step 11 when you’re ready to serve). If you want to eat them straight away then follow step 11 now.
Step 11
<a href="/R34ZSY3M">Top </a>the custards with 1 level tsp of caster sugar and place them under the <a href="/2V2PRWTZ">grill </a>until they caramelise.
Step 12
Carefully remove from the oven and <a href="/Y6MVNCHX">serve </a>hot.