TWD: Creme Brulee

Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake selected Creme Brulee for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. I still remember my very first encounter with creme brulee several years ago at a fancy restaurant - flavored with Tahitian Vanilla (which, incidentally, isn't my favorite) - all I went away from the experience with was the memory of a floral tasting custard with a crunchy top.

My second experience was much tastier, but complicated, at another fancy restaurant where the dessert was three mini creme brulee in chocolate, vanilla and something else that was obviously forgettable. It took an excessively long time to get the dessert, actually because their torch ran out of fuel and they couldn't finish preparing the dessert.

So, now all my impression of creme brulee at this point was that I didn't love the flavor and it sounded difficult and fussy to make. It was a few years later when I finally decided to just try making it myself. I was so glad I did because, even though the recipes I tried were rather fussy, it was so much better than what I got from the restaurants. I liked it so much I even used a gift card from a good friend to get my very own torch. So now it is also super fun to make - well, if you are like me and like to fire up the torch in the kitchen. Dorie's recipe isn't fussy at all either and had a really great flavor so that was an added bonus - I'll definitely give this another try soon!

Don't forget to check out the blogroll for more creme brulee and I'm sure some rewinds. As always, get the book and if you want to join in the baking fun with the group then go get your book and jump on the baking wagon by Oct. 31st before you miss your chance!