The Foodist: Crème Brûlée Flambè

by Ari LeVaux

The dark days of winter solstice have a way of making human beings hunger for light. That is probably why, whatever your creed or culture, you have a tradition that involves casting some kind of glow during the period we call “the holidays.”   Perhaps you have a lit-up tree, or a menorah on the windowsill, or maybe a string of lights strewn about your house.  But sometimes pretty lights alone might not do it.  If perhaps we are bidding farewell to a particularly flamboyant dumpster fire of a year. Or maybe because you’re just in the mood.   Whatever the reason, sometimes we gotta straight light stuff en fuego.

Fire can be as cleansing and creative as it can be destructive, provided you can rise like a phoenix from the ashes. A group of phoenixes, incidentally, is called an odyssey. That name is appropriate, because the flaming orange custard upon which I’ll be launching you into 2025 is definitely a trip.

This recipe is for all of the people who don’t have one of those silly crème brûlée torches. If you’ve been melting your crèmes brûlée under the broiler, like a sensible person, you get a star. If it never occurred to you to simply ignite a bunch of sugar and booze atop a bowl of solid eggnog, you’re excused. But we can. And we will.

The bourbon and sugar bonfire atop this custard burns not to destroy but with a clear creative purpose: the formation of a penetrating sauce that will soak into the orange eggnog custard below, and then stiffen into a granular topping that’s firm yet soft, and quite distinct from the rock-hard exoskeleton of a typical Crème Brûlée, which must be cracked in order to get to the soft goods inside. In our case, the bourbon prevents the melted sugar from recrystallizing into that glassy sheet.

And as it burns, we’ll toss a pinch of cinnamon into the flames. It will sparkle like miniature fireworks. A grande finale, as it were, as we show the door to 2024.

Orange Eggnog Crème Brûlée Flambé

The strong flavors of orange juice, nutmeg and bourbon all balance each other out, while adding excitement to this otherwise mild-mannered custard.

The Custard

This quantity will fill four small ramekins 2 cups cream 4 egg yolks ¼ cup sugar 2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg ¼ cup fresh orange juice + 1 tablespoon OJ concentrate, or some similar amount of juice 1 tablespoon vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon salt 4 buttered ramekins

Optional: thin-sliced shards of orange peel for the garnish Preheat the oven to 325. Place an edged cookie sheet on the top rack. Pour two cups of water into the sheet (to create steam for the custard). Heat the cream slowly in a heavy-bottomed pan on the stove.

Meanwhile, combine the yolks, sugar, nutmeg orange juice, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl. When the cream starts to simmer, add it slowly to the mix, stirring in a little at a time to temper the yolks. (“temper” means heat the yolks and combine them with the hot cream in a smooth, controlled way that doesn’t cook and curdle the eggs.)

Add the warm batter to your buttered vessels, place them on the cookie sheet in the steaming water, and bake for an hour, until they are bubbling evenly. The bubbling starts on the edge and moves toward the centers, until the entire surface shrinks and tightens and hardens into a darker yellow. Remove from the oven. If serving right away, prepare to light your fire. 

If serving later, allow to cool to room temperature, and add the orange peel shard garnish, if using. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Flaming Bourbon Sugar Sauce

Covers four ramekins with flambé 2 tablespoons white or turbinado sugar 2 tablespoons brown sugar 4 tablespoons bourbon 12 pinches of cinnamon powder for the flame

Serving time could be the minute they come out of the oven, or the next day after the ramekins have properly chilled and the custard has set. Whenever serving time comes, mix the sugars together, and then pour a tablespoon of whiskey into each ramekin.

Light them with a long-necked BBQ lighter, and let the flames burn for about 30 seconds while you toss 3 or so pinches of cinnamon into the flames, enjoying the sight of spraying sparks.

Finally, add a tablespoon of sugar mix to each flaming ramekin, and allow the flaming whiskey to dissolve the sugar. When the fire dies, it’s ready to serve.  

Happy New Year.