Crème brûlée

One of the simplest desserts ever, crème brûlée became a symbol of classy restaurants in the 80s, largely because home cooks couldn’t figure out how to create the crunchy burnt-sugar topping that gives the dish its name. If you have a good hot broiler, though, you can do it easily. But if you don’t—as is the case for most of us—you can do what the restaurants do and buy a small propane torch for caramelizing the dusting of sugar.

Our crème brûlées begin with the basic version (note that it has only four ingredients, and can be put together in about 10 minutes). We then add a couple of different flavors—green tea and lime in one instance, chocolate and anise in another—to give you a sense of how easy it is to vary this classic. Finally, we abandon familiar crème brûlée altogether, creating what amounts to crème brûlée pie and crème brûlée napoleon—a couple of innovations that will shock if not alienate the traditionalists, but are really delicious.