Sweet Potato Creme Brûlée
If you’re on Pinterest, don’t forget to use that little button above so you can find this recipe easily later!
Every now and then I surprise y’all with a short and sweet post, where I don’t go on and on about life, happiness, learning to find joy, or surviving raising kids. Every now and then. If you enjoy those posts or if you just like to get to cooking, today is your lucky day because I’m trying to clean my house for Thanksgiving so I don’t have the time I’d like to visit with you all proper-like.
I just had to bring you this dish though. Diehard Sweet Potato fans will fall in love when their standard dish is topped with a decadent brûlée, and single guys and gals who make this will end the meal with a marriage proposal, possibly more than one!
This recipe is going to seem long and drawn out, especially compared to my usual ones, but it really is simple if you just look at the steps. I make this a day ahead of time and then just sprinkle the topping on and put it under the broiler just before serving, so it’s even easier.
…and don’t ask me how I know this, but if there is just a smidgeon left, it makes a great breakfast eaten cold right from the baking dish. A little birdie told me 
You’ll need: Two large sweet baked sweet potatoes, melted butter, vanilla, cinnamon, light brown sugar, whipping cream, sugar, and eggs.
You won’t need this many eggs but they’d made friends in the fridge and I hated to separate them until I absolutely had to. Some of these eggs spent their last moments together. ~sniff~
I bake my sweet potatoes a day or so ahead of time and stick in the fridge. Doing it that way, the skin just pulls right off easily and sweet potatoes that are baked in the oven, in their skins, have more flavor than when you peel and slice them and cook them in water..
Either way, get the skin off and place in a large mixing bowl with cinnamon, sugar, melted butter, and two eggs.
If you just got done cooking your sweet potatoes before this step, make sure they’re cool because if they are really hot when you do this, they’ll cook the eggs.
Mix that up really good with an electric mixer until well combined and no longer lumpy.
Spread into the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish and set aside.
Combine your egg yolks, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in a medium heavy sauce pot.
Note: You’ll have some egg whites left over from this recipe. I just put those in a mason jar and stick it in the fridge because if you’re making Thanksgiving dinner you’re sure to need them to make meringue on a pie
I suggest Lemon Meringue Pie or Peanut Butter Pie.
Whisk your ingredients together really well until combined and smooth.
Place this post over medium low heat and whisk constantly just until warmed and your sugar is dissolved, about five minutes.
Or, as I always say, until you’re tired of fooling with it.
It will look like this and still be very very runny.
Using a measuring cup, gently scoop and pour the cream mixture over your sweet potatoes.
Place your 8×8 in a larger dish and fill it with water until it is at least one inch deep.
*You can use a metal 9×13 inch pan for the larger dish or any type of oven proof pan that is big enough to accommodate your 8×8 pan and an inch or so of water.
Bake this at 325 for about an hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean. This won’t be set in the center by then, but most of the dish will be set except for the middle, meaning there will just be a little bit of a jiggle in the center.
Carefully remove from oven and allow to cool by placing dish on heavy dish towels or a wire rack.
Once cool, cover with foil and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight.
I make this the day before Thanksgiving.
*I always get compliments when I use these dishes so I’ma go ahead and tell ya that I got them at Sam’s Club for $19.99. The set came with a 9×13, 8×8, and a loaf pan. Some places still have them but mine was sold out last time I went there. They featured them in their Christmas flyer though, so they may be getting more in.
About half an hour before your meal, remove from fridge and let sit on your counter for about 30 minutes.
Turn your oven to low broil and sprinkle brown sugar over the top.
Place in oven, about 5 inches from your broiler, for 5-7 minutes, or until most of the sugar is melted.
Watch this constantly as different ovens cook at different speeds on broil but it will always go faster than you think!
Allow to sit for five minutes before serving to allow sugar to harden. Enjoy!! I sure do!
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes, baked at 425 for one hour, or until soft, and completely cooled.
- 1/2 cup sugar or splenda
- 1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups whipping cream (sometimes labeled Heavy Cream, no substitutes)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 4 large egg yolks (save whites for a meringue on a Thanksgiving pie!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Place sweet potato filling ingredients into large mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Spread into bottom of 8x8 baking dish and set aside.
- Place all custard ingredients into medium heavy sauce pot and stir well. Place over medium low heat, whisking constantly, for five minutes, or until just warm. Will be very runny.
- Using a measuring cup, gently scoop and pour custard over sweet potatoes.
- Place 8x8 baking dish in center of larger baking dish and pour water into larger dish until it is about an inch deep.
- Bake at 325° for 1 hour or until knife inserted in center comes out almost clean. Carefully remove from oven and remove baking dish from water. Allow to cool by placing on a heavy dish towel or wire rack. Once cool, cover with foil and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. Before serving, remove from fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for half an hour. Sprinkle brown sugar over top and turn oven to low broil.
- Place dish on a baking sheet and put in oven, about 5 inches from broiler, for 5-7 minutes, or until sugar is mostly melted. Remove from oven and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving to allow sugar to harden. Note: Not all sugar will melt but it will form a thin coat across the top of the dish.
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Every day is a holiday, every meal is a banquet!
~unknown, submitted by John (thanks, John!)
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Posted by Christy Jordan
on Nov 19 2012. Filed under Dessert, Holiday Favorites!, Holidays.
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So the actual dish will be served cold??? If you only broil it for 5 to 7 minutes to melt the sugar, that surely will not be enough time to heat the potatoes thru and thru. I know you said it was good for breakfast, but I was imagining a warm casserole to serve with dinner. Is there a step I’m missing???? Please respond because I really want to make it but don’t want to mess it up. thanks.
It is more room temp/warm, not really cold. I set it out for about half an hour to take the chill off of it and then put it under the broiler
Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Note: Hey everyone! I’m adding this to my first comment so y’all might see it. I will try to answer questions today and part of the day tomorrow but will be unavailable after that. Have a BLESSED Thanksgiving!
Gratefully,
Christy
Sounds delicious. We have sweet potatoes from our garden just waiting to be used. Also, thank you for mentioning the cookware. As I was reading I was admiring them and was going to ask about them in my comment.
Oh Rachel, they’re so pretty! I have this color and also a kind of peacock blue color that I just love. Hope you’re having a great day!
Gratefully,
Christy
I’ve never had sweet potatoes that I didn’t like, no matter how they were fixed. But this looks absolutely decadent, and so impressive! A must try
I hope you and your family have a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving Christy, and thank you for always sharing with us.
I love sweet potatoes and I am a diabetic. I will try this one with Splenda in the potatoes and the brown sugar in the custard. Thank you.
I am going to try this for Turkey day
Looks delish! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
I love sweet potatoes so will be sure to try this one for sure!
oh my brother would love this one I bet! I am saving it to make with our “Christmas” feasts since I’m not the cook for Thanksgiving (its’ the only holiday I don’t cook – mom won’t give that one up yet)
That is the most beautiful thing: cannot wait to try it! Love me some sweet potatoes!
“Place this post over medium low heat”
lol
Lol!! I’ll fix that. Heehee
What a pretty dish , Something that looks that good would have to taste great ! Thanks for this recipe
Hey, y’all!
This bakeware was so pretty that I had to go do a little searching. It’s at Sam’s Club online.
Rachel, thanks for asking about them because I was going to if no one else did.
Ha! I just ordered my Christmas present. Should I wrap it?
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
These look wonderful! I have made something similar, but without the creamy custard top. Will definitely try it this way now. Thank you so much for posting, and hope you have a great Thanksgiving.
Thanks so much for taking time to post this, Christy. I’m not a sweet potato person, but I definitely have some sweet potato lovin’ folks in my family and I’ll surprise them with this. I’ll skim a little custard off the top like I used to do with the Cool Whip on sweet potato pie.
I truly appreciate your sweet Thanksgiving message. I totally agree. The rolls may burn and the pecan pie be runny in the middle, but we’ll be together and thankful that we have each other. That’s what matters.
May you and yours have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. Enjoy your family!
My oh my … this looks better than pie
I’ll be gobbling me some of this up on Thanksgiving…yum yum.
Love those baking dishes…they are so pretty.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. Give your Mama a hug for me, she is such a joy to read.
Sweet Potatoes are so tasty to me and I will look forward to fixing some using this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Christy.
Hi ~could someone tell me the temp and time to bake sweet potatoes? Thanks and hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!
Hey Jo! It is in the recipe at the bottom of the post, right next to the sweet potatoes in the ingredients.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cook them for at least 1 hour at 400
Holy macaroni! That looks wonderful! I’ve already got my thanksgiving planned but this is definitely going on the Christmas menu.
Yummmm!
This recipe sounds great.
I definitely will be trying this one! It looks yummy! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
This dish sounds marvelous! Christy, we are all very thankful for you! Hope you and your whole family and all the southern plate family have a very blessed Thanksgiving!
Oh, that looks YUMMY!!!
Oh just wait till you taste it Jan! I hope you get to try it soon!! Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to you Frances!!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving Christie!
I hope you have a Happy and blessed Thanksgiving Becky!!
This may be a stupid question but I’ll ask anyway…is this a side dish or a dessert?
Happy Thanksgiving!
It can be either but is typically a side dish on Thanksgiving.
Margaret, sweet potatoes in our house are both! I think it depends on who’s holding the spoon
You must be from the South. Being from CA sweet potatoes are a veggie and the brûlée makes me think of dessert. Thanks for your great input!
Haha! Actually I’m from CA too, but 1/2 of my fam is from the south and the other 1/2 from the Midwest. We eat all kinds of stuff whenever, throw out those breakfast and supper stereotypes!
Can you use a torch to brown the top and melt sugar??? This is my creme brulee way. thanks
I guess you could Hannah, I don’t have a torch but if you try it let me know how it turns out.
LOVE Sweet Potatoes, LOVE Creme Brulee – what’s not to double LOVE about this recipe? And it’s just difficult and time consuming enough to ensure I won’t be making it all the time (coming up on the one year anniversary of changing to a more healthy and low fat diet… wouldn’t want to sabotage myself!) Thanks, and have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!
I hope that you and your family have a very Happy Thanksgiving Tina!!
This looks delicious! I love sweet potatoes. HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!
I am certainly goin to try this dish….looks sooooo delish & love both of these apart so im sure it will be a blessing together. THANKS Christy for this website ive turned my mother onto most of your recipes & she tries them & takes them to her movie crew on fridays….they do different things & mainly watch a movie or jus catch up with one another!!! Thanks again & may you & your family have a very blessed Thanksgiving holiday !!!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am thankful for Christy and everything she shares with us.
I am definitely making these for Thurs Each time you post a new recipe I have to change my menu =) lol Hope you and your family have a great day!
I made two of these and sent one to work with my husband for his potluck. It was a BIG hit there and I will be sending your recipe back to work with him on Monday per request! It’s a good thing that it’s your recipe I’ll be giving out. Otherwise, a lot of Navy wives miht be upset with their husbands for going home and bragging on another sailors wife’s dish they she sent to the potuck!
Thank you SO much!
Blessings,
Kristine
Oh my! Not your typical sweet potatoes! This looks so good! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes and inspiring us to try new things. I always feel like I learn something new. I’m impressed, you even added the cute little accent do-dahs. Guess I need more practice on the keyboard.
I was also admiring the lovely dishes.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Karen
Christie; Ya all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with you whole family, and God Bless everyone.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it for thanksgiving and it was a hit. My mother in law loved it so much that she wanted the recipe!! I also had to come to come and make another one for my husband.
Hmmm, I just might be able to make this…such a beautiful presentation. I’ll put that on my menu for Christmas dinner. Ooooooh, aaahhhhhh! Hope your Thanksgiving was blessed and wonderful! xo
I made this yesterday. It is out of this world good. My husband said he liked it better than my “traditional sweet potato casserole”. I must say, I agree. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for all the Thanksgiving recipes.
This is the best sweet potato casserole I’ve made in a long time. It sure was a big hit. Thanks, so much for this wonderful recipe.
THANK YOU, Christy!!! Made this AMAZING dish as a new addition to our Thanksgiving. (Thanked Him again for you, dear lady!) I am on a strict, doctor ordered, no sugar diet, but, I did touch a tiny dot of it to my tongue. SOOOOO good!!! It was a BIG hit with others as well! Will keep and use for many years to come.
I will never make sweet potatoes any other way again. This was absolutely the most amazing sweet potato dish. Everyone loved it. My husband hates sweet potatoes and he couldnt get enough of this. He had an entire bowl of it rather than eating dessert!! Thank you for sharing this. Its our new go to sweet potato dish.
Wow! I am so glad it was a hit and thank you for making my day!!
Hi Christy!
Thank you for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it for our Christmas dinner. The question I have is about multiplying the recipe. I always cook for a crowd and am wondering about doubling or tripling the recipe. The sweet potato casserole I made for Thanksgiving got all gobbled (haha! no pun intended) up and there was not enough leftovers to enjoy later.
I love leftovers but more importantly I would love to have enough of this to go around. It looks like it will be a hit!
You sure could double it! Glad to hear it was a hit!!
Love it! Is there any way I can print out the recipe in the old format? I hate getting all the stuff at the end of the recipe…i.e. Bookmark Digg this, Share etc.
I’m a follower of the sweet potato and this Creme Brulee sounds wonderful. Thanks for taking them on an adventure!
Hi, Christy. Made this 2x already – for Thanksgiving with friends and for Veterans’ Xmas Party. Was a hit both times. Modified a bit, added some powdered ginger (first time) and some candied ginger (second time)
So, I just had to pin it, right?
Keep up the good work!
Happy Holidays to you and yours
When I saw this post I KNEW I had to make it. I LOVE Sweet Potatoes. We had a Recipe swap this past Monday and I made your Chicken N Dumplins Recipe and this Sweet Potato Creme Brulee! It was a HIT! There wasn’t any left to bring home to the hubby!!! So I had to at least make him some more dumplins the next day…LOL. I love that your recipes are so down to earth and are food that the entire family will eat. But most of all thank you for not compromising on your FAITH and being a spiritual inspiration to us and helping us to remember that there are still good moral and spiritually minded people in the world and not afraid to be so! God Bless You and your loved ones for this!
Christy, I made this for Christmas dinner and followed the recipe exactly, EXCEPT, I substituted butternut squash for the sweet potatoes. It was absolutely wonderful!! I love butternut squash and this provides another way to use this wonderful vegetable. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes and most of all for sharing your faith.
Ohhh, I bet that was good! Thanks for sharing Dianne, can’t wait to try it!!