When I’m not craving fresh vegetables (as is my habit during the summer), I’m lured to the comfort of my favorite classics. Crème brûlée whips up easier than one would think, and this one has a special surprise – a layer of molten chocolate under the crispy sugar crust and smooth custard.  It’s not as fast or as easy as microwave comfort cake, but it’s well worth the extra effort.

Vanilla Crème Brûlée with Bittersweet Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp simple syrup
• 1/2 cup grated bittersweet chocolate
• 2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
• 11 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Melt the chocolate in a small glass bowl, either over a double boiler or in the microwave. Whisk in simple syrup and pour into the bottom of 6 ramekins. Chill. Preheat oven to 300° F.

Place the cream and half and half into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and add the scrapings and shell of the vanilla bean. Set heat to medium and slowly bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, and 5 tablespoons sugar. Remove vanilla pod from cream and slowly whisk into the eggs, a spoonful at a time until the eggs have come to temperature. Set cream and egg mixture inside a larger bowl that is half-full with ice water and continue to whisk until mixture has cooled.

Pour custard into prepared ramekins.  Lay a cotton towel in a large roasting pan and arrange ramekins in pan so that sides are not touching.  Set pan onto oven rack and carefully pour water around ramekins so that the final water level reaches halfway up the side.  Gently slide pan into oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until just set.  Remove from water bath and chill 3 hours or overnight.

To serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar on top of each custard and caramelize with a kitchen torch.

Makes six custards.

In a grown-up twist on traditional pumpkin pie, this dessert combines the smoothness of a custard pie with the crisply burnt goodness of creme brulée. Use whatever pie dough recipe you prefer here (even store-bought crusts will work). For an extra-crispy crust, refrigerate the dough for 2 hours before blind-baking. If you use canned pumpkin, be sure to use the unsweetened, pure pumpkin variety and not pre-seasoned pumpkin pie filling.

Bruléed Pumpkin Custard Tart

Ingredients:

• Dough for 1 pie crust
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (drained if fresh)
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for topping
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• pinch salt
• 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

Special Equipment:

• 9″ round fluted tart pan, buttered

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fit pie dough into the tart pan and dock with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes and cool, in pan, on a wire rack.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, cream, 1/3 cup sugar, vanilla, spices, salt, and eggs until well-combined. Pour into crust and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until filling is almost set. Cool to room temperature, then cover and chill 6 hours or overnight.

Just before serving, sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar over top of tart; melt sugar under broiler or with a kitchen torch to desired doneness. Serve immediately.

Serves 8-10.