Basil Brulee

To quell my homesickness yesterday afternoon, I sat down with a favorite cookbook (Whitewater Cooks) while the kids were sleeping. The book is the second of two, recipe compilations from our local ski hill back in the Koots, Whitewater. Shelly Adams was the previous co-owner of the ski resort, and turned the lodge canteen into a fantastic and hip eatery, known for it's unique menu items. Shelly then wrote her first cookbook featuring many of the recipes from the hill, and then put out a second book last year. We have both books and have given many a copy away as gifts to friends and family. 

So on a whim we invited our friends Donna and Trevor over for supper and I decided to try out the Chocolate Basil Creme Brulee, just for kicks. I've never made such a dessert before, but felt up to the challenge after reading the recipe. I was also intrigued by the chocolate and basil infusion as I've only ever eaten vanilla.  

Robin even made me my very own ramekin dishes because I was considering making it for the Chocolate festival that I entered a few weeks back but decided against because of logistics of making them for many people to sample. My 'Some like it Hot' Chocolate chili and raspberry cake didn't win this year, but I gratefully received many compliments and it was auctioned off that night for $65.00! 

So we put the new porcelain ramekins to the test and my skills at making baked custard and the end result was scrumptious! The best part was using the portable blowtorch that we borrowed from the clay studio to caramelize the sugar topping. Nothing like incorporating butane into your cooking experience!