Easy Creme Brulee

Sweet Memories: The Easy Creme Brulee

Spring and earliest summer were largely about savoring.  Always conscious of our upcoming Goodbye, my family and I made memories we could relish later.  This easy creme brulee moment has become just such a memory, and though it’s only been a couple of weeks since my daughter embarked on her epic adventure, I want to relive it.

We made it one weekend when cousins Melody and Marissa came to visit. I love cooking for guests, and Maurya had become something of a foodie during her semester away at school.  Sunday dinners at Aunt Cynthia’s awakened a love for truly good food and brought great comfort…Cynthia’s table is always delicious, always beautiful, and Cynthia is warm and inclusive.  Maurya came home wanting to create culinary delights…and the mood they inspire.

Cooking isn’t just about food.   It invites gathering and conversation, invokes delight in communion.  It makes memories.

I’m remembering a delicious salad Maurya made with her cousins and shared that weekend (crisp greens, cilantro, cucumbers, chicken, peanut Thai dressing), and I’m remembering cornbread made with sprouted grains the next day…but especially, I remember the easy creme brulee.

It had to be easy.  Because custards and I have a history of misunderstandings and mischances (creme anglaise, curdled, three times in a row).  Maurya had experienced a lovely creme brulee somewhere in the recent past and had been fantasizing about making it ever since.  I was a little nervous to try, because, you know, it has a reputation (I’d heard.  Creme brulee the Prima Dona).  And I had a reputation too (not Prima Dona enough).   I googled “easy creme brulee recipe”, and chose one of the first I saw.  Revisiting the memory tonight, I googled again and found this one (at asweetpeachef.com, by Lacey Baier), which is pretty much the same concept…but has pretty pictures and clever tips and even a little brain teaser (is it possible to choose between cheesecake and creme brulee?).  We  used brown sugar for the sugar crust rather than white …giving it a more rustic than elegant look, since brown sugar is  lumpy and dark, but it was still lovely.  Definitely good enough for a first attempt! (I later saw a recipe that mixes white with brown sugar, which would probably eliminate the lumps.  Next time).  In the recipe I originally used, Cathy Lowe brings her cream to a boil and lets it cool for a few minutes before she adds it to the egg/sugar mixture.  Sweet pea chef skips this step.

We were careful not to overcook the creme brulee… allowing the tiniest smudge of the creamy custard to cling to the fork when we tested for done-ness.

And it was exquisite.  Sooo creamy, so smooth.  Not too sweet, and not too much…the perfect portion for a decadent dessert.  Maurya was happy.  We all were (imagine a kitchen full of women taking careful bites and swooning…definitely a bonding experience).  I love remembering it.

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