dieter's nightmare

I'm trying to balance good food and good health, which for me is pretty hard. My 3 favorite food groups are butter, sugar, and carbs. But I usually choose apples over apple pie and carrots over carrot cake. Matt, however, likes "real food" (as he calls it). So that means lots of cooking for my love, which I really do enjoy doing. But making all of these tasty treats and not eating any of them gets hard after a while. So I think I've been good long enough. I've decided to treat both my boyfriend and I to celebrate 4 months together. And what better to do that with than his favorite dessert (and one of the most decadent ones I know of):

Creme Brulee <3
Yes, creme brulee as in egg yolks, heavy cream, and sugar. Definitely NOT diet food, but definitely delicious. Plus I made it in my new little yellow ramekins. I bought them at Ross for $5.50 on sale last week and couldn't wait to use them.

I used this recipe from www.seductionmeals.com ... so scandalous for a simple cream brulee haha. I mean I'm not trying to seduce my boyfriend with dessert I just wanted to make something special. The seducing is accomplished when I make this face:

Oh yeah...you can tell he wants me right? ;)

Creme Brulee (serves 4)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 extra large or jumbo egg yolks
medium orange or large lemon, grated zest only
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean
1 Tbsp of sugar, or brown sugar per serving

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare some boiling water.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and the orange or lemon zest (you choose the flavoring you prefer); cook, stirring occasionally until small bubbles appear around edges of pan, 5 - 6 minutes. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat egg yolks and the 2 tbsp of sugar; until smooth and light. Slowly pour hot cream mixture into egg yolks, a little at a time, beating continuously until well blended. Strain mixture through a fine sive into a bowl to remove the zest and vanilla bean. Divide mixture among four 4 oz. ramekins.


Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and place on middle shelf of preheated oven. Fill pan with boiling water halfway up side the of ramekins. Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until custard is just set, about 25 minutes. The custard will be soft when you take them out of the oven. Be sure to give them plenty of time to chill and set before glazing. Chill 2 - 3 hours.
 
Fire it up! 
Now the fun part! Add 1 tablespoon evenly over the top of each ramekin. With the creme brulee torch, move the flame continuously over the surface of the custard in a circular motion until the sugar melts and becomes golden brown and bubbly. It might be a good idea to practice on the first two, so the last two are perfect for your Seduction Meal. Serve immediately.

There ya have it...The only changes I made were dividing the mixture between 3 ramekins (dunno why it only made that many), and putting the brulee under the broiler in the oven instead of using a torch (because I don't think those are legal to have in the dorms).