Crème brûlée appeared in New Orleans in the early 1980s (Arnaud’s served the first one), and over the years, it supplanted the once universal caramel custard. It’s now on almost every non-Asian menu in the city. The difference between crème brûlée and crème caramel is that the former is made with cream and has the sugar crusted on top; the latter is made with milk and has sugar caramelized into a syrup at the bottom of the baking cup.

Crème brûlée must be baked very