Pawpaw Creme Brûlée

We’ve talked about pawpaws many times here at Timber-2-Table. They’re North America’s largest native fruit, with a flavor that’s often described as a mix between a banana and a mango. For a large portion of the upper South and Midwest, now is the time to harvest pawpaws before just about every other animal in the woods devours them.

Pawpaws are North America’s largest native fruit and, for the folks who know about them, are approaching peak ripeness right now. Images by author

Pawpaw trees grow well in creek and river bottom areas, but they can also be found higher up on ridges. Look for the distinctive large leaves and large, often fist-sized football shaped fruits. The information in this recipe will help to explain the fruit, how to harvest, and what to do with the pulp once you find some. A ripe pawpaw is soft, almost mushy. Firm flesh means the fruit needs some more time. Much like an avocado, a pawpaw can go from not quite ready to overripe in what seems like hours. That is the main reason they aren’t grown, shipped, and sold commercially. They need to ripen on the tree, and they don’t keep for more than a few days once picked. If you only find a few at a time, you can harvest the pulp and refrigerate or even freeze it until you have enough for a recipe.

These creme brûlée desserts are the perfect way to use ripe pawpaws.

What recipe is best? You can do all sorts of things with pawpaws. One of my favorites is this pawpaw creme brûlée. It looks and tastes like something straight off the dessert menu at a fancy restaurant, but it's easy to make at home. You will need about a cup of seedless pawpaw pulp for this one. Three to four large fruits or six to eight smaller ones should be enough. Fair warning, the brûlée needs to chill overnight after baking, so plan ahead and start these the day before you want to serve them. You will also need some 3-4 inch oven safe bowls or ramekins for this one. You will want to serve each guest an individual brûlée. This recipe uses a touch of your favorite whiskey for flavor. The Realtree Crown Royal works well.

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Pawpaws are full of large seeds. You will have to separate those seeds from the pulp before you can eat it. Slice the pawpaw in half, lengthwise. Just work your knife in from the sides and go around the hard seeds. Use a spoon to remove the pulp and the seeds from the skins, and then pick out the seeds. A handy tip is to use a food processor with a plastic blade or dough hook to help loosen the pulp from the seeds. Spoon the pulp and seeds into the processor and give it a whirl or two. The seeds will soon loosen from the pulp, making them much easier to remove. You can freeze the seeds and plant them next spring to start your own pawpaw grove.

The first step to eating or cooking with a pawpaw is to remove the many seeds found inside the fruit.

Move the seedless pulp to a food processor and process until smooth. Set it aside. Combine the cream and whiskey in a saucepan over medium-low heat and bring it just barely to a simmer. Whisk to prevent scorching. Remove it from the heat as soon as the first bubbles appear, and set it aside.

While the cream comes up to temperature, whisk or blend the sugar and salt into the egg yolks until smooth and light yellow in color.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together.

Temper the eggs by adding a small ladle full of the hot cream to the egg/sugar mixture, then stir to blend. Repeat the process a few more times. During this process, you are slowly bringing the temperature of the eggs up so that the yolks don’t cook and form lumps. If you add too much of the hot liquid at once, it cooks the eggs and the brûlée won’t be smooth and creamy.

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Once you have about half or a little more of the cream added to the egg/sugar mixture, you can start adding it a full ladle at a time until all of it is combined.

Add the hot cream slowly so that you don’t cook the egg yolks and cause lumps.

Stir in the smooth pawpaw puree.

Slowly stir the pawpaw pulp into the custard mixture.

Pour or ladle the custard into the ramekins. Place the ramekins into a baking dish and carefully add water until the level reaches about ⅔ up the side of the ramekins. Take care not to get any water inside the ramekins on top of the custard. You can do this on the oven rack if you are concerned about transferring the dish to the oven without splashing the water into the custards.

Fill the ramekins and then place them into a baking dish.

Carefully slide the baking dish into a pre-heated 350-degree oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the custard is set, but still slightly jiggly. Remove the ramekins from the baking dish and allow them to cool on the counter.

Bake until just set, then chill overnight.

Move the cooled custards into the refrigerator, preferably overnight but for a minimum of four hours. Just before you are ready to serve, sprinkle the top of each custard with a teaspoon or two of raw cane sugar.

Spoon cane sugar over the chilled custard.

Use a kitchen torch to melt and caramelize the sugar. Don’t overdo it and burn the sugar, just hit it long enough to melt it into a rich caramel glaze.

Use a propane torch to melt the sugar into a thin, crunchy topping.

Give the custards a few minutes for the sugar to set up into a brittle top that contrasts nicely with the smooth custard below. Your dinner guests will love these, especially when you tell them that you picked up the main ingredients from the forest floor.

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