Coconut Crème Brûlée with Caramel Lace

Crème brûlée, a decadently-rich dessert encrusted with brittle caramelized sugar. This indulgent custard literally means “burnt cream”. Its elegant flavor and tantalizing appeal may entice you to order it while dining out, but intimidate you to make it at home. Do not be afraid, to my surprise, the ingredients were common and the cooking method was straightforward. Be prepared to amaze yourself and loved ones. Let’s begin!

Fine dining menus may offer diverse arrays of flavored brûlées, but this creamy treat is traditionally infused with vanilla. Although I utilized vanilla as a base flavor, coconut extract was also incorporated, yielding the exotic flavor of the tropics.

Yields: 3 servings

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Pour the following ingredients into a saucepan: 1 Pint of Heavy Cream, 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract and 1 Teaspoon of Coconut Extract

Turn onto medium-high heat.

Bring to a boil.

Take the pot off the heat and set aside for about 10 – 15 minutes to cool.

While the cream is cooling, heat up enough Water to fill a cake pan about half way. This will be used later.

Whisk together 1/4 cup of Sugar (I used 2 Tablespoons of Truvia Baking Sugar) and 3 Egg Yolks.

Mix until the color lightens.

Slowly pour the cooled cream into the egg mixture, while continuously whisking. We want it cooled so the cream does not scramble the eggs when mixed.

Pour the cream mixture into 3 ramekins, leaving room about 1/2 an inch from the top.

Place the cream-filled ramekins into a cake pan and fill the pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake the custards for about 35-45 minutes depending on your oven. You want them to be jiggly but not liquidy.

When done, refrigerate the dessert for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Before serving, sprinkle enough sugar to coat the top of the custard.

Use a torch or oven broiler to melt the sugar and create an amber glaze of caramelized sugar.

In my opinion, my crème brûlée needed some bling. So I found a recipe for caramel lace, a golden garnish destined to impress.

It made me giddy that it was easy to do AND I had all the ingredients. You have them too! Water, sugar and salt.

Put 8 ounces of Sugar, 4 ounces of Water and a pinch of Salt in a small saucepan.

Let it boil, there is no need to stir. If it makes you feel better, shake the pan a few times while it cooks to “stir” it.

It will get extremely hot, so do not touch the liquid under any circumstance!

While you’re waiting, lay out parchment paper for your sugar creations.

After about 3-5 minutes, an amber hue will appear.

Immediately remove the pan, so the sugar does not burn, and place it onto an oven mitt to cool.

Let the sugar cool for about 1 minute.

Then use a metal spoon to drizzle the caramel into dazzling shapes. Play with it, you will get the hang of it after a few tries.

Once hardened, the caramel creation will peel off of the parchment paper.

Garnish your Coconut Crème Brûlée with your favorite doodle and Enjoy!