Sunday, September 28, 2008

Creme Brulee

This has been a hard week. After returning from a week in Portland (which was fabulous), I have again been working like a crazy person. Luckily, I have two TWD friends who have also been working like crazy people.   My friend Julie (who worked from 9:00 am on Sunday through at least 11:00 am on Monday) said, "I think our group needs a permanent disclaimer regarding periodic disappearances."  That comment was made in response to the post below entitled, "Please forgive me."

On to the best part of the week- this week's creme brulee recipe chosen by Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake. I was very excited about this recipe- I didn't own a torch, but I have always wanted to make creme brulee, so I bought one.  I also bought one for my friend Cathy, who is a part-time parter at the law firm where I work.  She is also one of the funniest and smartest people I know.  She and I filled her torch at 11:45 p.m. on Sunday night AT WORK.  


I sampled the pre-baked custard and I thought it tasted almost exactly like Dorie's vanilla ice cream base, which I LOVE. I may have cooked the custards incredibly too long- Instead of the 50-60 minutes in the cookbook, I left mine in for about 90 minutes because the middles never looked set to me.  After I chilled the custard, it firmed well.


I LOVED the creme brulee!!!  It was by far the highlight of my week.  I think I will make this many many times.  It was much easier than I thought and it was as good as any I have ever had. 

13 comments:

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Your creme is indeed brulee perfection. I credit the consummate skill with which your procured the torch despite your demanding schedule. Great job!
Nancy

Unknown said...

Your brulee looks perfect! Nice job!

Engineer Baker said...

I agree - I feel like I drop off the face of the earth sometimes thanks to work. Yuck! Hopefully this made up for all the work though, right?

Peggy said...

Glad you are back! Now you are inspiring me to try the brulee. I was afraid. :(

Cathy said...

You will forever be my hero for getting us those torches, my friend. If not for you, I am sure I would be mopping out the spilled water in my oven that resulted from a failed "ice in a bowl" broiler attempt. Can you believe that we made creme brulee? I thought it would be so hard, but it was so NOT HARD!! I will make these often as well. Yours are just visions of perfection!

Lori said...

such a noble effort, working in the face of being too busy! i always want an extra pat on the back for that, even though the wonderful thing i bake is a treat by itself.. great work!

Teanna DiMicco said...

That is GORGEOUS! And 11:45 pm on a Sunday at work!? Dedication!

Elizabeth said...

Beautiful! Hooray for baking lawyers! And hooray for not _really_ dropping off the face of the planet!

Mari said...

I think everyone experienced problems when it came to the baking time, no worries! Your brûlée looks great!

Sihan said...

I'm so glad the creme brulee was the highlight of your week. It certainly was a painkiller in my case... *cheers*

Julie said...

GEE I feel like a loser! Y'all all baked and posted and I thought I could get away with it because I had a mental and physical vacancy after the past week!!! But oh no - you people are like superheros that still go on baking. I hereby yield my Betty Crocker crown to the gentle lady from the Northeast Quad. Maybe if someone had lit a butane torch fire under my butt I too would have found the capacity to bake!!!

Rebecca of "Ezra Pound Cake" said...

Wow, lovely pic!

Jules Someone said...

Lovely! I'm glad the longer baking time worked out.