How to Make Viral Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée (Japanese-Style Recipe)

Japan is home to many delicious sweet potato-based treats, especially during the colder seasons. Today, I’ll introduce one that has taken the internet by storm: sweet potato crème brûlée. As the name suggests, this dessert is a fusion of sweet potato and classic crème brûlée and the combination is surprisingly harmonious!

Crème brûlée, meaning "burnt cream" in French, is a classic dessert known for its rich custard base and crisp caramelized sugar topping. While its exact origins are uncertain, it became widely recognized in France in the 18th century. Today, it’s beloved worldwide and is a staple in French restaurants, patisseries, and even homemade desserts.

Recently, specialty sweet potato shops have been popping up across Japan, offering carefully selected varieties that are hard to find in regular grocery stores. These shops often showcase sweet potatoes in their simplest form—baked to perfection to highlight their natural sweetness—while also creating eye-catching, innovative desserts like sweet potato crème brûlée. If you’re interested in trying the traditional yaki imo (baked Japanese sweet potato), check out this guide on how to make yaki imo.

While it may be difficult to find these specialty sweet potatoes at your local supermarket, there are still plenty of high-quality varieties readily available in Japan. Satsumaimo or Japanese sweet potatoes generally fall into two main categories:

• Moist and smooth varieties: Such as beni haruka, silk sweet, and annouimo (which I’m using in this recipe).
• Fluffy and flaky varieties: Like beni azuma, which was once popular but has been overshadowed by the first type in recent years.

For sweet potato crème brûlée, I highly recommend using a moist and smooth variety, as its creamy texture blends beautifully with the velvety custard.

While regular granulated sugar works fine for the topping, I prefer Cassonade, a French brown sugar with fine crystals and a subtle caramel-like flavor. When caramelized, it enhances the natural sweetness of the sweet potato and creates a beautifully crisp, flavorful topping.

Achieving that signature caramelized top requires a few key techniques:

• Evenly spread the sugar: A thick layer won’t melt uniformly, so be sure to distribute it evenly.
• Keep the torch moving: Don’t hold the flame in one spot for too long. Move it constantly to achieve a perfectly amber-colored crust without burning the sugar.
• Use high heat: This helps caramelize the sugar without further cooking the custard underneath.

Though it may seem a bit tricky, each step is simple and the reward is a beautifully crafted sweet potato crème brûlée! Give it a try at home, and let us know in the comments how yours turned out. Enjoy!