Winter Forest Creme Brûlée has the essence of a forest, using sage and juniper berries steeped into the cream and sugar base, before adding the egg yolks.
A rich cream custard (dairy or non), with a burnt sugar topping flavored with juniper and sage, dusted with mastic sugar; all three flavors are known for their winter forest scent and flavor.
Winter Forest Creme Brûlée
Chefs, as with all artists, are inspired by some of the most peculiar things. I like to call this creation, “Winter Forest Creme Brûlée”! Let me tell you how this luscious winter creme brûlée came into being.
Starbucks Inspiration
I walked into a Starbucks shop one day and a strange, weird new drink caught my eye. Juniper, sage, latte with a sprinkle of pine sugar on top!
Someone must have fallen over in the forest while cutting down their Christmas tree, having forgotten to drink their morning cup of joe to start their day!
Starbuck new holiday drink, some say it tastes like dirt while others say it’s like a walk in the forest.
This was the Christmas of 2018. Fast forward several years and I don’t believe they ever served up the Juniper Latte again.
Lucky for me, I moved on and created the most delicious creme brûlée from the concept I encountered that year.
Winter Forest Scent and Flavor
The flavors were all coming together in my mind. I still had a pot of sage growing in my greenhouse. Sage is a flavor you will find often in my recipes; sauces, sweets and breads:
- Sage Chestnut Sauce – a very Italian sauce made to go over homemade pasta.
- Sage Lemon Tea Cake – a delicately sweet cake made with spelt flour, oats and olive oil.
- Sage Rolls – I make every year for most of the winter holidays.
For some weird reason I always have juniper berries in my spice rack. Juniper berries are what go into the making of gin; add to that some cream, egg yolks, and sugar and you’ve got a spectacular custard.
The pine sugar? I knew exactly what I would use. Mastic, is one of my favorite flavors for Greek pastries. It’s a resin from a type of evergreen tree, (easy to find on line or a Middle Eastern Market), that has the most exotic flavor and smell.
Okay. I was all set to go into the kitchen and explore this exotic, woodsy, wintery dessert!
Creme Brûlée
What’s not to love about the simplicity of a three ingredient baked custard. At its basic form, it is cream, sugar and egg yolks. Anything else can be added but basically that’s it.
So what’s the big deal about those three ingredients? Fire! With a dusting of sugar across the top of the custard and a torch, suddenly what is creamy on the inside, just became a sweet brittle crust on top!
Winter Forest Creme Brûlée Flavors
While the classic creme brûlée is made with vanilla, which of course tastes amazing, why stop there?
Making this winter forest essence for my creme brûlée, ignited the idea for so many other flavors to use.
Turn this classic into the flavor of a Snickerdoodle by adding cinnamon to the sugar before it’s torched.
A lovely summertime option would be to extract the essence of ‘in season’ lavender flowers into the cream and created a lavender/sugar dust for the top, as in the delicious Lavender Shortbread Cookies.
What Else Goes With Creme Brûlée?
Chocolate, of course. Of course a dark rich chocolate can be added into the cream, sugar and egg yolk mixture and baked to a decadent chocolate brûlée.
Bourbon would also be lovely. Drizzle a little bourbon across the custard after it has baked, sprinkle the sugar on top and torch it. Oh!
Do be careful though. Maybe it would be safer to light a match to it first and let the alcohol burn off and then torch the sugar to create and crust.
How To Make Winter Forest Creme Brûlée
It’s too bad the original coffee creation at Starbucks didn’t take off, but in truth, it just had one too many conflicting flavors.
Coffee is already a dominant flavor. Add to that cream, sugar, sage and juniper berries? Nah! Not good. It did taste like dirt.
Remove the coffee from that combo and you’ve got something really beautiful in both scent and flavor.
Crushing a few juniper berries and chopping fresh sage, slow simmering in a little cream, then turn off the stove and allow the cream to steep… absolutely spectacular!
Crushing a lump of mastic, yes it comes in a small lump of clear resin, mix it with sugar and you’ve got more winter forest scent and flavor to create the pine dust brûlée brittle on top.
Ingredients Needed
- Full cream
- Juniper berries
- Sage
- Egg yolks
- Sugar
- Mastic
Equipment Needed
- Ramekin cups
- Mixing bowl
- Hand mixer
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Spatula
- Butane torch
- Mortar and pestle or spice grinder
- Bath pan
- Oven
Winter Forest Creme Brûlée
Ingredients
- Full Cream – 2 cups, or full cream coconut milk
- Juniper Berries – 1 tablespoon, crushed
- Sage – 1 tablespoon, chopped
- Egg Yolks – 4, room temp
- Sugar – ½ cup, reserve 1 tablespoon for sprinkles
- Mastic – 1 teaspoon, crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325
- Place the crushed juniper berries and sage in a small pot with the cream and bring to a slow boil. Turn off. Let it cool and steep for about 30 minutes. Strain
- Place egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, and whip until light in color. Slowly pour in cooled cream mixture while stirring.
- Pour this mixture into ramekin cups. Place the cups in a baking dish and pour enough water into the baking dish to create a bath for the ramekin cups, about half way up the cups.
- Bake about an hour or until the center of custard looks fairly firm. It will firm up completely once chilled.
- Cool for 30 minutes. Place in the fridge for 2 hours.
- When ready to serve, mix the reserved 1 tablespoon of sugar with the crushed mastic and sprinkle across the tops of the custard.
- Torch the tops to glaze the sugar, or simply place under the broiler for a short moment, but watch closely so it doesn’t burn.
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
I love that you shared this with us!! Interesting flavors for sure… anxious to try! I like your site and how you categorized your recipes, so easy to navigate. Thank you Robin for sharing such decadence!!
Thank you Linda, the flavors were spectacular together and now I am trying to see what else I could put them in! 🙂