The World's Easiest Dessert...

...is also one of the best. I adore crème brûlée, or at least the first few bites. Those first few creamy bites with the crunchy carmelized sugar are heaven. Unfortunately for me, that's where my personal love affair ends; the richness and the sugar become nauseating at that point. How I envy those who can finish off an entire dish of creme brulee.

Imagine my excitement upon seeing crème brûlée being served in tiny little espresso cups at a restuarant. Genius. And what was most exciting to me about trying this serving method, was the ability to test different flavors, flavors that were all pulled directly from the liquour cabinet. I used my absolute favorite crème brûlée recipe from Barefoot Contessa.

While crème brûlée is the easiest dessert ever, it does require minimal attention. Otherwise you end up with something like this...

After a quick correction, a stir and some pouring, it was ready for the oven. Each of the espresso cups received a teaspoon of liqueur prior to the creme mixture being poured in.

The best part...

While it was fun to do a side-by-side taste test, I really should have just done one at a time. One taste from each was my limit, but that one bite was enough to determine that Cointreau was the winner--by far. The Godiva was my least favorite, not surprising since I don't like white chocolate. That bottle of Godive is from an unfortunate experiment with peppermint white chocolate martinis a few New Year's ago. It seems that this bottle is destined to stay with me forever.

Regular sized crème brûlée does however have the distinct advantage of having a much larger surface area. Brûléed sugar to crème ratio is very important.

Crème Brûlée
From Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris

1 extra-large egg
4 extra-large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for each serving
3 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon liqueur

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
1. the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of the sugar together on low speed until just combined.

2. Meanwhile, scald the cream in a small saucepan until it's very hot to the touch but not boiled. 3. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cream to the eggs. Add the vanilla and orange liqueur.

4. Strain into a pyrex and pour into 6 to 8-ounce ramekins until almost full.
4. Place the ramekins in a baking pan and carefully pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custards are set when gently shaken. Remove the custards from the water bath, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until firm.
6. To serve, spread 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly on the top of each ramekin and heat with a kitchen blowtorch until the sugar carmelizes evenly. Allow to sit at room temperature for a minute until the caramelized sugar hardens.