Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée

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Would you eat Creme Brulee Sweet Potatoes?! 🤯

This dessert is out of this world. I first discovered them from a shop called Imo Pippi in Asakusa in Tokyo, Japan. Since I can’t get there without hopping on a 9 hour flight, I thought I’d try making them at home! Tokyo has so many incredible desserts. If you’re into Japanese sweets, my homemade dango recipe is another fun one to try at home.

Typically you’d use Japanese sweet potatoes, but I used regular ones and they still turned out amazing. And if you love sweet potato desserts as much as I do, also check out my Korean sweet potato bread (goguma ppang) for another incredible way to use them.

If you love the creme brulee part of this recipe, my Creme Brulee Toast gets you that torched caramelized sugar top and creamy filling all on crispy toast.

Get Recipe Ingredients

The full recipe is below, and be sure to let me know what you think if you give it a try! 🙌

Is this a Japanese creme brulee?

Sort of. This is a sweet potato creme brulee inspired by the roasted sweet potato desserts you find in Tokyo, where the custard is built right inside a baked Japanese sweet potato instead of a ramekin. If you have had a Japanese creme brulee or a brulee sweet potato in Tokyo, this is the easy at-home version, with that same torched, crackly sugar top.

How to Make Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium/large Japanese sweet potatoes
2 egg yolks
2.5 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1.25 cups heavy cream

Equipment

• Baking Pan
• Aluminum Foil
• Mixing Bowls
• Whisk
• Sauce Pan
• Plastic Wrap
• Chef Knife
• Kitchen Torch

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare the sweet potatoes

Preheat oven to 425. Brush the sweet potatoes with olive oil, poke holes in the skins with a fork, and put them on a foil-lined baking pan in the oven for 40-50 minutes, depending on their size.

2. Prepare the custard

1. While the potatoes are baking, start making the custard. Put the egg yolks, sugar, corn starch, and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl and whisk it all together. Then, pour in the heavy cream little by little, whisking in between pours.

2. Pour the mixture into a small sauce pan over low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens up, then pour it into a clean bowl. Cover with saran wrap, making sure the top of the custard is directly in contact with the saran wrap (this minimizes the “skin” or kind of dried out, hard layer that would otherwise form on the top of the custard). Put in the fridge for 30-40 minutes, or until it’s about room temperature.

4. Fill the sweet potatoes with custard

Once the Sweet potatoes are done, take them out and let them rest for 5-10 minutes. Take the custard out of the fridge and remove the saran wrap. Make a cut, lengthwise, across each sweet potato and gently open them up a little. Don’t cut all the way through! Spoon in some custard until they’re completely filled. Sprinkle sugar on the custard, and use a kitchen torch to caramelize it. If you don’t have a torch, you can use a broiler.

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