You may be wondering what’s up with the random picture of my sink.  Well, this post is celebrating newness, and so I just had to share our shiny new kitchen faucet with you.  I never really imagined myself buying a fancy new faucet, and it wasn’t really in the budget.  Then again, the $400 water bill caused by our old leaky faucet wasn’t in the budget either!!! Read more

The results are in, and Eric and I have held on to our title, but just barely! This is definitely the closest gingerbread contest yet. There was no telling who was going to win until the very end! Read more

Last week I promised to share the recipe for my favorite way to use pumpkin pie flavored sugar, which makes a great edible gift. I love creme brulee because it’s rich and creamy with a crisp top crust that shatters into lovely bits of caramelized sugary goodness. When I want a decadent dessert, it’s the first thing that comes to mind. Around the holidays, I get pumpkin pie at all sorts of gatherings, so at home I love to do a twist and make pumpkin pie creme brulee. It’s less work than an actual pie but just as satisfying.

Creme brulee is a contrast in textures that has two key components.  The first is a custard, made with egg yolks, creme and sugar, with the option of additional ingredients.  The second component is the top crust, sugar that’s melted and then allowed to harden.  This crust appears to be a barrier between you and the silky custard below, but one satisfying whack with your spoon is all it takes to open up a world of velvety indulgence.

Professional chefs us a special torch to make the top crust, but those of us at home can get equally satisfying results with the use of the broiler setting on our oven.  It just takes a watchful eye to make sure you don’t burn your crust (yes, voice of experience speaking!).  The good news is, if you accidentally let it burn then once it hardens you can break it up, scoop it off and try again!

For the custard portion of the creme brulee, I have plenty of egg yolks in my fridge from making about 10 batches of frosting for this year’s gingerbread competition (voting open until December 26!).  The yolks are gently tempered with the hot cream to ensure that they don’t curdle, a really depressing reaction that can’t be reversed.  I walk you through the process in the recipe, but if you’re nervous, you can check out my post on how to temper eggs.

The recipe may look long, but don’t be scared away!  I made another batch last night and had it in the oven in 5 minutes.  Then another five minutes for the top crust after they’d cooled.  My husband and one of our Chinese boys saw how easy it was and asked me to teach them next time!

Have you made creme brulee before?  Any additional tips to share with readers who haven’t?

This year’s gingerbread contest took the competition to a whole new level!  As last year’s winners, Eric and I got to choose this year’s theme.  We chose “A Science Fiction Christmas” and the results were truly out of this world!  Below are the three entries with detailed photos.  We need you to help us determine the winner by viewing the entries and then voting for your favorite at the end.  We’d also love it if you’d share in the comments why it was your favorite.  Voting will  be open until December 26, 2011 at 6pm Pacific time.  Thanks so much!
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I’m sure someone somewhere in the world has made pumpkin pie flavored sugar, but I haven’t seen it so I claim it as my own!  The sugar is mixed with ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and allspice to give that signature holiday flavor.  You can use it in your holiday baking, or stir it into hot wine for a delicious holiday cocktail.  My absolute favorite way to use it though is in my pumpkin pie creme brulee.  You can see it peeking out of the top corner of the photo.  That recipe’s coming next, I promise! Read more