Changes, hints, tips and thoughts:

- This recipe was really quite simple -- with a nice return on such little work..."a nice, light, creamy delight" I think my mom said upon scraping her bowl clean

- I think I'm addicted to my propane torch...I'm thinking up new and exciting dishes that I can torch...yum

- the picture just doesn't show the caramelization very well...honest, there were NO un-melted granules of sugar...and it looks as though there are in this pic

 

 

 

Banana Crème Brûlée

*From Williams-Sonoma recipe

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup plus 8 teaspoons sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Put a full kettle on to boil.

2. Peel 1 of the bananas and cut in thirds. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream, cut banana and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Cook, stirring, until steam rises, about 4 to 5 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes.

3. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and vanilla until blended. Strain the cream through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl; discard the cooked banana. Pour the cream into the yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly until smooth; divide among four 6-oz. ramekins.

4. Line a 3-inch-deep roasting pan with a kitchen towel, place the ramekins in the pan and add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover loosely with foil and bake until set, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the pan, cool to room temperature and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours.

5. Peel the remaining banana and slice crosswise into slices 1/8 inch thick. Arrange 7 or 8 slices over the top of each crème brûlée and sprinkle 2 teaspoons sugar evenly over each surface. With a kitchen torch, move the flame continuously in small circles over the surface until the sugar melts and lightly browns. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.