Lorelei – Serves 8

The classic French dessert has a creamy custard base with a contrasting crisp, caramelized sugar topping. Lorelei cannot remember where she first discovered this recipe (it’s not from Ina Garten, Pesto Café on the Big Island, or a recipe passed down from a family member). She is also a little foggy about when she first made it (definitely before 1990). She suspects that it may have been included in the brûléeing torch box, but isn’t exactly sure. So let’s just give her all the credit for this recipe.  

The beauty of serving Crème Brûlée is that it’s easy to make, can be made a day ahead, and adds an element of entertainment to the party when you are brûléeing (torch the sugar on top of the custard). It still gives me delight recalling how mesmerized my friends Marilyn, Paul, and Monty were by the sugar torching. It is a classic, elegant dessert that allows for a flair of the dramatic. The perfect desert for friends who love to celebrate life and believe everyone should get a chance to be a shining star.

Ingredients

• 2 ½ C Heavy Cream or half and half
• 8       Egg Yolks
• Pinch of salt
• ⅓ C Sugar
• 12 t Sugar for topping
• 1 t Vanilla

Directions

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• In a saucepan, bring cream to a simmer.  
• In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, salt, and 1/3 cup sugar until thick. Slowly whisk in hot cream to temper the egg yolks, and then stir in vanilla.  
• Divide the mixture among six 4-oz baking dishes and set them in a baking pan. Pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.  
• Bake for 35-40 minutes until just set. Remove dishes from the baking pan and chill thoroughly.
• Just before serving, sprinkle a teaspoon or two of sugar over each custard. Use a crème brûlée torch and carefully melt sugar until it caramelizes.