Raspberry Brûlée

July 23, 2014 at 4:45 pm | Posted in pudding/mousse, sweet things | 9 Comments
Tags: baking, dessert, fruit

The promise of a blueberry pie made my husband finally agree to drive me out to the country for some berry picking last Saturday. It’s good to know that bribes do work, although I still haven’t made good on my end…this is obviously not blueberry pie. We came with a quart of U-pick raspberries, too, so using those delicate jewels became my first priority. Not turning on the oven became my second priority.

You may see the words “raspberry brûlée” and think immediately of Prince, or you may see them and think of crème brûlée…I assure you this is far less fancy than either, even though it looks and tastes like a million bucks. In fact, apart from straight-up fresh fruit, this might be one of the easiest summer desserts out there. It’s simply whipped cream folded with fresh raspberries and given a torched sugar top. It’s fresh and light as air, but with but with a sweet crunch.

A lot of times the broiler works as a reasonable alternative to a kitchen torch. I’m not sure how it would do in this case though, since whipped cream is not as sturdy as a custard. You want a bit of runny, melted cream just under the crispy brûléed top, but I suspect the boiler may take melting the cream a step further than a torch would.

Raspberry Brûlée- serves 6-8
adapted from Saveur Magazine, Issue 94

Steph’s Notes: The dish can also be made with tayberries (which I have never seen here before) or blackberries, and I’m sure diced peaches or nectarines would be tasty, too.

1 ¼ cups heavy cream
¼-½ cup powdered or superfine sugar (depending on how sweet you like it and how sweet your berries are)
splash of cassis or frambiose (optional)
2 pints raspberries
⅓ cup demerara sugar

– Put the heavy cream into a large bowl and beat until medium peaks form. Add the powdered or superfine sugar and the booze (if using) and continue beat to stiff peaks.

-Add the raspberries to the whipped cream and fold gently to coat. Carefully transfer raspberries to a wide serving dish or divide them between 6-8 individual gratin dishes and liberally strew the top with demerara sugar. Using a kitchen torch, evenly caramelize the sugar until it gets bubbly and darkened in some spots. A bit of the top layer of cream will start to “run” in this process, but if you don’t hold the torch too long in one place, what’s underneath will stay whipped.

-Refrigerate brûlée for about 15 minutes to let the sugar harden. If you’ve used one large serving dish, scoop servings into bowls, making sure that each scoop includes some of the crunchy sugar topping. If you used individual gratin dishes, just grab spoons. Serve immediately.

9 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

This is just fabulous and yummy looking I must say! Beautiful.

Comment by Teresa Blackburn— July 23, 2014 #

Reply
Isn’t berry picking in the summer simply the best?! Loving your recipe – especially because you don’t need to go anywhere the oven to make this 🙂

Comment by Anna | One Prickly Pear— July 23, 2014 #

Reply
I love bruleed anything and this looks so easy and perfect for a summer dessert!

Comment by Chaya— July 24, 2014 #

Reply
Looks Beautiful !

Comment by vegashungrygirl— July 24, 2014 #

Reply
Nice! A wonderful summertime dessert. My favorite time of year for desserts because of all the wonderful berries!

Comment by tinywhitecottage— July 24, 2014 #

Reply
Lovely summer dessert!

Comment by sarahjmir— July 24, 2014 #

Reply
What a fantastic idea. I had never thought of adding fruit like this. So quick too. A perfect solution to my gardening glut!

Comment by Urvashi Roe— July 24, 2014 #

Reply
Fabulous! Gorgeous!!! Love your desert!!!

Comment by chef mimi— July 29, 2014 #

Reply
How gorgeous and summery. Those berries look amazing!

Comment by saffronandhoney— July 30, 2014 #

Reply