In the French Caribbean islands, we are making vanilla tomato jam. And yes, tomato is a fruit and not a vegetable!

I have always loved the idea of using tomatoes in sweet recipes. I started with jam a few years ago, but this summer I wanted to be a little more adventurous. I have decided to develop a dessert with tomatoes that also includes one of my Beer Jellies.

Imperial IPA beer jelly is a perfect choice because hops and tomatoes work really well together.

Inspired by Indian cuisine, this is an aromatic, crunchy, creamy, and refreshingly sweet treat (adapted from Ragini Dey's recipe (Spice Kitchen)).

Hope you will like it!

Prep Time: 15 min        Cook Time: 30 to 45 min         Yield: 4 servings

 Ingredients

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 vanilla bean

4 curry leaves (or 1 small bay leaf)

4 pods of green cardamom (opened, seeds removed and ground)

180 grams (7/8 cup) sugar

250 grams (1 cup) plain yoghurt

140 grams (0.6 cup) sweetened condensed milk

80 grams (0.3 cup) cream fraîche

4 teaspoons of Imperial IPA Beer Jelly

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 320°F (160°C).

Cut lengthwise down the vanilla bean into two halves and scrape the pod halves to collect the seeds.

Mix the tomato, vanilla pod and seeds, curry leafs, cardamom and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 8–10 minutes.

Do not overcook the tomatoes, it is really important to keep them intact for the crunchiness and the freshness of this fruit.

Remove the tomatoes, and distribute them equitably between 4 X 250 ml glass Masson jars.

Reduce the tomato syrup in half or until it forms a syrup. Remove the vanilla bean and curry leaves, and pour the syrup into the jars over the tomatoes.

Warm up the Imperial IPA Beer Jelly using a microwave or a water bath.

Mix the yoghurt, condensed milk, cream, beer jelly, and egg together in a medium bowl.

Pour the yoghurt mixture over the tomato mixture and bake in the oven for 20–35 minutes, or until the pudding is just set. It seems that 25 minutes is enough but it will all depend on your stove.

When the pudding is cooked, it will look smooth like a panna cotta and still a little wobbly. Do not cook it for any longer once it reaches this stage, because overcooking will make it curdle and the water will separate.

Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour, then serve. The pudding will become firmer and lose its wobbliness when chilled.

You can keep this dessert for at least 48 hours in the fridge.

It is a really refreshing sweet delicacy!

Enjoy!