Elegantly Easy Creme Brulee

This is a magnificent display of creme brulee shown in rare form! Beautiful as well as artful displays of the most elegant dessert on the face of the earth! Delicious is not the word for it. Debbie may not have created the dessert, however she will be responsible for a renewed popularity. Just the photos alone are reason enough to purchase this lovely book. Regarding it being a must have cookbook, it definately ranks with the famous Cake Bible or even LaRousses Gastronomiqe. I also highly recommend her first book, Deceptively Simple, if you can find it (isbn 0-9653010-0-1). Not as fancy a production but packed with punch! A staple for any kitchen library!

I must admit to being a custard fan - custard and junket custard were among my earliest successes so think 7 or 8 years old. This cookbook greatly expands my custard-based repertoire, especially since dessert cookbooks rarely enter my collection. This collection of recipes includes detailed instructions to the extent that a novice cook could easily begin here. It also provides alternatives. For example, it provides two distinct ways to make "classic" creme brulee. This is followed by 5 pages of variations: Dutch Apple, Bananas Foster, Amaretto Peach, White Russian, Mississippi Mud ...Similarly, a base recipe for Milk Chocolate Caramel Creme Brulee is followed with variations such as Butterscoth Caramel or Orange Carmel. There are beautiful photos of versions such as Lavender Flower Creme Brulee and Goat Cheese Creme Brulee with Papay Sauce. Want a variation on bread pudding? try Croissant Pudding with Whiskey Sauce. Like your food hot? try Ginger Chile Creme Brulee.In short, this small volume has everything you would expect and a fair number of real surprises ... and, more surprising, the suprises work!

Saw Debbie Puente on Howie Mandel Show and Martin Short Show, I'd bought the book but hadn't tried the recipes. After seeing how easy it looked, I tried to make creme brulee myself. I not only succeeded, I got rave reviews. For a non-cook, this is amazing. The trite expression is true, "If I can do it, anyone can." (And even the fat-free variety tastes fantastic.)

The most popular dessert in New Orleans (after bread pudding) is creme brulee custard. I have to admit that I had absolutely no idea what was in it or how it was made until I saw the author of this book on the Howie Mandel Show. After viewing the show, I found the book and the little butane torch at Williams-Sonoma, and the same evening, I made my first batch. I was amazed at how easy it was. There is one flaw in the book however and that is that Ms. Puente doesn't adjust cooking times for deeper set ramekins. Where she said my custard should be set in "40 to 50 minutes" actually took more like 60 to 70 minutes, perhaps even longer. For this, I deduct a point in my rating of this book. Other than that, everything else was perfect, including her opinion that using plain old white sugar makes a good topping. Tom Simmons Sr., New Orleans