Minneapolis, Minnesota - Day 1 dinner

Earlier this week I went on a business trip to Minneapolis.  I was only there for 3 days and 2 nights and as soon as I landed on the first afternoon and checked into the hotel, I went straight to the gym to run on the treadmill.  We were meeting our events management firm for dinner that night  and they are fantastic at hosting clients so I figured it would be good eats.  Which meant I had to get a workout in before then in anticipation of those calories I knew I would gladly consume.  Which was good because yes, we ate and yes, it was good food.  We went to a place called Seven Sushi and Steak Ultralounge & Skybar, had appetizers on their rooftop level (it was beautiful weather) and dinner on the mezzanine.  Pictures say thousands of words so I will just showcase some of what we ate.  I took a picture of my entree and all the desserts we ordered to share.  It seemed a bit rude to go around taking pictures of everyone else's entree (I do try to have some manners) but my colleagues were kind enough to humor me taking pictures of the desserts before they dug in.  Although you will notice the spoon mark in the Chocolate Dome below where someone started to sample before I could snap the picture.  After that they were good sports about letting me get the shot in.  For people who don't understand why other people take pictures of food, yes, I'm that annoying person.

My entree: tenderloin filet with lump crab in a honey butter sauce - yum

Molten Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Warm Blueberry Bread Pudding

Chocolate Dome

Strawberry Chantilly

Lemon Loaf

Lemon Loaf - made August 18, 2012 from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

I'm still going through lemons from my mom's lemon tree and it's still the height of summer so a lemon loaf cake seemed like a good idea to fit with the season and use up nature's bounty.  I like the recipes I've tried so far from both of the Baked books I have and this was no exception.  It makes a nice lemon pound cake with extra lemon flavor coming from both the soaking syrup and the lemon glaze.  I only made a half recipe though and divided it amongst 4 mini loaf pans.  I think it would've been better if I only used 3 mini loaf pans so the loaves wouldn't have been quite so flat.  I think of this as a tea cake as it seems like it would be good to serve at an afternoon tea.  Not that I drink tea but I imagine this would be appropriate to serve at one.  It's not too sweet and you can slice it thin if you wish or chunky (even better) if you prefer.

1 ½ cups cake flour
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups sugar
8 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup grated lemon zest (from about 4 lemons)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Lemon Syrup:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

For the Lemon Glaze:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4 to 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed combine sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice. With the mixer still running, drizzle the butter into the bowl. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix to combine. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Remove bowl from mixer.
4. Sprinkle in the flour mixture over the batter, one third at a time, folding gently after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, rotate the pans, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.
6. While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.
7. Remove loaves to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the loaves. Brush the tops and sides of the loaves with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cakes cool completely.
8. To make the lemon glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake - made August 18, 2012 from Bake or Break blog

My nieces are heading back to college and you know what that means - it's care package time again!  I've actually been delaying sending out another care package because it's pretty hot here and where they are and that means I have to factor in the risk of baked goods melting en route and not being up to snuff to being eaten.  This recipe, which I found on another foodie blog and pinned, fit my requirements of something that would survive summer temps.  The only chocolate was from the chips and I figured it wouldn't be the end of the world if they softened a bit before they reached their final destination.

For peanut butter lovers, this is a good cake.  It's got a perfect cakey texture, the peanut butter flavor is good without being overpowering and the chocolate chips provide a complementary taste to the peanut butter flavor.  If you like a bit more crunch in your cake, add toasted chopped peanuts to the streusel but keep the creamy peanut butter instead of using the chunky version unless you also like nuts in your cake (I don't).

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9″x 13″ baking pan with foil and coat lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, combine flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, and butter. Remove 1 cup of mixture and set aside.
3. Mix in baking powder and baking soda. Mix in milk and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle top with reserved flour mixture and chocolate chips. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
   
   Also linked to Sweet Treats Thursday
   
      

"Frosted" Chocolate Brownies

Frosted Chocolate Brownies - made August 18, 2012 from Cookies, Brownies and Bars by Elinor Klivans

I feel like I haven't tried out new brownie recipes in awhile but that's about to change with a vengeance.  I needed some to take on a business trip to Minneapolis, some for care packages and some for friends I'm walking with in the Relay for Life walk for Team Zoe.  Brownies are the easiest things to make ahead of time, freeze and bring whenever I needed them so my focus goes back to my baking roots, as it were.

This brownie called for Chocolate Frosting in the original recipe but when I was typing it up, I forgot to also type up the frosting recipe and I didn't want to go hunting for the original book on my (embarrassingly overflowing) bookshelves.  So I went with my favorite topping for plain brownies: nutella crunch.  This brownie recipe is from Elinor Klivans and after her A Really Good Brownie recipe, I'm starting to think she, along with Lisa Yockelson, really knows her brownies.  This recipe makes another excellent brownie with the perfect fudgy texture and taste.  Even without the nutella crunch topping, this brownie could stand alone on its own merits. As always, the top 2 cardinal rules with brownies: use the good chocolate and don't overbake.

¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped (I used Scharffenberger)

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting of your choice or Nutella Crunch topping below

Nutella Crunch Topping

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup Nutella

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup crispy rice cereal

1.     Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325˚F. Line a 9 x 9 x 2” baking pan with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

2.     In a double boiler insert or a large metal bowl that fits on the rim of a saucepan, combine the butter and the chocolate.  Place the insert or bowl on the saucepan over, but not touching, barely simmering water.  Heat, stirring often, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, 3-4 minutes.  Gently lift the bowl out of the pan and set aside to cool slightly.

3.     In a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt; set aside.  In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar and whisk to blend, about 45 seconds.  Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is evenly colored.  Whisk in the flour mixture just until incorporated.

4.     Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30-35 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool until the top is room temperature, about 1 hour.

5.     Holding the ends of the foil, lift the cooled brownie onto a cutting surface.  Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly over the top of the brownie.  Use a warmed knife to cut the brownie into 25 squares.  Store the brownies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days,

If making the Nutella crunch topping, melt chocolate chips, nutella and butter over top half of double boiler over hot water, stirring until smooth.  Add crispy rice cereal and coat evenly with chocolate nutella mixture.  Spread in an even layer over brownies and let cool completely. 

 

Relay for Life

Last month, I posted the sad news that my friend Maria's daughter, Zoe, passed away 5 days after her 16th birthday from Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.  Next Saturday, August 25, I and many friends and family of Zoe's will be participating in Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society on Team Zoe.  Each participant pledges to raise a certain amount and all the money raises goes to the American Cancer Society to help fund research to eradicate cancer once and for all.

Zoe's 9-year-old brother, Teo, is also going to walk in the Relay for his courageous sister.  Teo started his fundraising yesterday morning with a goal of $100 and by the time I first saw the posting on facebook, two hours had passed and he had already reached his goal.  I donated anyway because I wanted to support Teo's efforts and help him become one of the top fundraisers for the Relay.  I spread the word through my facebook page and also posted a thread on an online fitness board I've been going to for years.  I hate asking people for money, even for a good cause, but this one was special and I wanted to help Teo all I could.  I was very touched by all the responses from online friends, most of whom I had never met.  But that didn't stop them from showing their support for a 9-year-old boy they had never met either but who touched them for what he was doing for the sister he loved and misses so much.  Thanks to Laura, Nancy, Harper, Debbie, Shannon, Julie and many other friends and family, as of today, Teo was the #4 individual fundraiser of the Relay and Team Zoe was #1.

Check out Teo's fundraising page and feel free to support with a tax-deductible donation if you're inclined and/or your thoughts and prayers for Teo and Zoe's family as they channel their grief and missing Zoe into something positive that could someday prevent other families from going through what they did.  As Teo says, "I don't want anyone else to experience cancer!"  This is a very special 9-year-old indeed.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Biscuits

Cream Cheese Biscuits - made August 13, 2012, recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

The original recipe was titled "Cream Cheese and Chive Biscuits" but I didn't have chives. Since I don't cook, there's no reason for chives to be in my possession.  I do, however, have cinnamon so I added a teaspoon of that to the dough to see how that would go with the cream cheese. This made for a very sticky dough and I'm always paranoid about adding too much flour when I roll it out in case the biscuits turn out dry so I lived with the difficulty of working with a sticky dough rather than risk over-flouring it.  I like the concept of how to make this because the turning and rolling was reminiscent of a laminated dough (think Danishes and croissants) so I was hoping for something flaky.  Added bonus that it uses buttermilk.

This turned out pretty well, maybe because it's hard to go wrong with eating warm biscuit(s) with butter melting over it them.  The cinnamon wasn't as pronounced as I would've thought so it might be better to go with more than 1 teaspoon. They weren't flaky in the sense that croissants are flaky but they weren't too dense either.  The outside was crunchy and the inside was "mealy" if that's a good word for it.  Despite the cream cheese in the dough, I didn't get much of a tang from the cream cheese which for me was good since I don't actually like a strong cream cheese flavor.  It would probably be more interesting with chives, should I ever actually buy chives for any reason.

2 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

4 ounces cream cheese, cold, cut into pieces

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon.  Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter and cream cheese until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining.
2. Pour in the buttermilk; using a fork, mix in the buttermilk until incorporated and the dough just comes together.  The dough will be slightly sticky; do not overmix.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  With floured fingertips, gently knead about four times, until all the crumbs are incorporated and the dough is smooth.  With a lightly floured rolling pin, gently roll out the dough to an 11 by 8-inch rectangle, about 1 inch thick.  Using a bench scraper or long offset spatula to lift the ends of the dough, fold the rectangle into thirds (like a business letter).  Give the dough a quarter turn.  Roll out the dough again to the same dimensions and repeat the folding process.  Wrap with plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
4. Return the dough to the work surface.  Roll out as before, and repeat the folding process. Give the dough another quarter turn, roll out the dough one more time, again in a rectangle about 1 inch thick.  Using a sharp knife, trim and discard ¼ inch from all sides; divide the rectangle into 12 equal squares or rectangles.  Place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 ½ inches apart.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 425°F.  Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 15 to 18 minutes.  Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.

Orange Sandwich Cookies

Orange Sandwich Cookies - made August 12, 2012 from Shugary Sweets' blog

I blogged earlier about how much I enjoy oranges and orange-flavored confections, puzzling as to why I don't bake things like orange cookies more often.  Still can't tell you why but I'm certainly glad I did when I tried this recipe.  This is a very good orange cookie with orange cream filling.  Even my "we don't really like sweets" parents enjoyed this cookie when I brought some over last Sunday.  The dough is easy to make, easy to work with and the cookies come out moist with crisp edges.  Just don't overbake them - 10 minutes in my oven was perfect to get a nice texture to the cookies.  I also used my small ice cream scoop and made smaller cookies since they were going to end up being sandwich cookies.  The cookies don't spread very much so they were the perfect thickness.  I altered the filling slightly as I prefer to use orange juice instead of orange extract or heavy cream but please click on the recipe title to go back to the original recipe on Shugary Sweets' blog.  Overall, an excellent cookie with a summer flavor.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange extract
1 egg
1 generous tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
pinch of salt
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cream Filling
1/2 cup butter
2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons orange juice (less or more depending on your preference for the consistency of the filling)

1. For the cookies, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add vanilla and orange extracts and egg. Beat about 2 minutes. Beat in zest of two oranges (about 1 heaping tablespoon) and 2 Tbsp of fresh orange juice. Scrape sides of bowl and add in dry ingredients.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop by tablespoon and bake in a 350 degree oven for 9-11 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
3. For the filling, beat butter with powdered sugar.  Add enough orange juice to achieve desired consistency/ Spread filling between two cookies of like size. Store in airtight container.

 

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes - made August 10, 2012 from High Heels & Grills blog

When I saw the picture of these pancakes from High Heels & Grills' blog, they looked so good I had to make them, especially since I had milk to use up in a hurry.  It's not hard to make, although you do have to be prepared for a couple of things.  First, when you make the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture and put it in a ziploc bag to squeeze into the spiral, careful with the bag.  Mine busted open as I was swirling the mixture onto the first pancake so I had to transfer the mixture into another bag and try again.  My swirling skills leave something to be desired but it was the best I could do after the busted bag kerfluffle.

Second, I didn't consider the science of when you flip the pancake over and that brown sugar-cinnamon-butter mixture gets direct exposure to high heat, it melts, caramelizes and burns easily.  Far more easily than the rest of the pancake that you're trying to fry long enough so that it cooks before the brown sugar swirl burns. Long way of saying: don't cook over high heat when you flip over.

I thought the pancakes were pretty good but the cinnamon swirl cooked faster than the pancake so that part was almost like sticky toffee when I ate it.  I think it might've been better to add a bit of batter over the swirl to sandwich it in.  Taste-wise it was still good although mine didn't look anywhere as pretty as High Heels & Grills' picture (click on the recipe title to go to their blog and see a much more mouth-watering pic).  Surprisingly, I enjoyed the cream cheese glaze the most.  Usually I care more about the pancake rather than the topping but the glaze went very well with this pancake and was superior to using syrup.

Cinnamon Filling:

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
6 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze:

4Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
milk (optional)

Pancakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

For the cinnamon filling:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  
2. Pour into a zip lock bag and set in the freezer until further use.

For the glaze:  

1. In a small bowl, combine butter and cream cheese, stirring until smooth and well combined.  
2. Stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla - incorporate well.  You can add a little milk if you want a more runny consistency.  Set aside.

For the pancakes:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
2. Whisk the milk, eggs, and oil in to dry ingredients until well combined. 
3. Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. 
4. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and add batter to the skillet, making about 4-inch pancakes.  
5. Retrieve cinnamon filling and massage so as to incorporate any butter that may have separated. 
6. Snip the corner of your baggie and squeeze filling into the open corner. 
7. When your pancakes begin to form bubbles, add the filling in a swirling manner. 
8. Cook pancakes 2-3 minutes or until they begin to turn golden-brown and then flip. 
9. Cook 1-2 minutes until golden brown again. 
10. Flip pancakes onto a plate and serve with a drizzle of glaze.

Linked to Sweet Treats Thursday and Whatcha Whipped Up Wednesday

 

Hamburger Bake

Hamburger Bake - made August 10, 2012 from The Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke

For real cooks, this dish would barely be a half step above Hamburger Helper.  But this was just my cooking speed (don't judge).  I checked out this book, the latest in Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen culinary mystery series, from the library and in the context of the story, this is a dish that Michelle, Hannah's sister, threw together with random ingredients from Hannah's kitchen at the last minute.  I, being a complete non-cook, had to put together a grocery list to buy what I needed for this since these ingredients don't "just happen to be" in my kitchen.  Just the butter, flour, baking powder and salt.  Everything else had to be planned for and purchased ahead of time.  I took the liberty of using ground turkey breast instead of ground beef, both to cut down on the grease and because I prefer ground turkey over beef in taste and texture anyway.

This is essentially a pasta-less Hamburger Helper on top of biscuit dough.  Probably something I would've made when I was in college since my cooking skills are about the same now as they were back then.  And occasionally I have the palate of a picky 7-year-old so it's hard to go wrong with something cheesy and bready.  Although, in my defense, I made this after a week of having salad greens (no dressing) with my grilled salmon.  No sense in eating totally healthy for too long; I might not recognize myself.  But this is a very filling dish because of the biscuit layer so I think it might be a better candidate for a potluck if you need to feed the masses.  I didn't mind the top layer but if I make this again, I'd probably skip the biscuit layer and make noodles to go with it instead.

Filling

1 pound lean ground beef (I used ground turkey breast)

¾ cup chopped onion

1 10 ¾-ounce can condensed Cheddar cheese soup

1 cup frozen vegetables (I used frozen corn)

¼ cup whole milk

Crust

½ cup butter

¾ cup whole milk

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, scooped and leveled

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

Topping

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1.     Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.     Make the filling: Crumble the lean ground beef into a 10-inch or larger frying pan.  Add the chopped onion.  Fry the meat and onion over medium heat on the stovetop until the ground beef is nicely browned.  Drain off the fat.

3.     Add the condensed soup, frozen vegetables and the ¼ cup milk to the ground beef and onions.  Stir well.  Cover the frying pan and set the mixture aside.

4.     Put ½ cup butter in a microwave-safe bowl.  Add the ¾ cup whole milk and heat on high for 1 minute.  Stir.  If the butter isn’t completely melted, heat for another 30 seconds and stir.  Continue to heat in 30-second increments until butter is melted.  Cool mixture slightly.

5.     Make the crust: Measure out half the flour into a mixing bowl.  Add the baking powder and salt.  Add the remaining half of the flour and stir with a fork until all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly combined.

6.     Add the butter and milk mixture to the mixing bowl, and mix until the resulting dough is well moistened.

7.     Spoon the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer.  Spread the ground beef mixture as evenly as possible over the dough.  Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the top of the hamburger layer.

8.     Bake for 30 minutes then let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving. 

Crème Bruleed Chocolate Cake

Crème Bruleed Chocolate Cake - made August 11, 2012, recipes adapted from Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan & Julia Child and Cupcakes by Martha Stewart

Bruleed the bananas on top of the custard but custard melted from the heat

"If you're afraid of butter, use cream."  Your average foodie, chef and baker know those famous words were uttered by the incomparable Julia Child who brought the art of French cooking to the American kitchen and palate. In a roundabout way, I owe this blog to Julia Child because it was watching the movie, Julie & Julia, that finally spurred me to start blogging almost 3 years ago.  So in honor of her birthday on August 15, I'm giving a French twist to the classic American chocolate cake by making this Creme Bruleed Chocolate Cake - a chocolate cake "shell" filled with vanilla bean custard; I added sliced bananas to top the custard and bruleed them to crackly goodness.  A version of this confection is in the Baking with Julia baking book but I went with Martha Stewart's recipe for chocolate cupcakes instead as it was also similar in using cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor and oil instead of butter.  Plus I wanted something on a smaller scale for a brulee since it doesn't have a long shelf life and is best enjoyed within minutes of being caramelized.

2nd attempt, bruleed the bananas first then placed them on top of the custard

The chocolate cake itself was pretty good and came out well.  The creme brulee custard tasted good but I don't think I cooked it over the stove top long enough since I was afraid of overcooking the egg yolks and having the custard break like the last time I tried a stovetop creme brulee.  So it didn't set like it was supposed to and I had to rely on the freezer to firm it up.  Then when I tried brulee-ing it, the custard simply melted. I'm afraid I needed the master chef herself to save my creme brulee.  However, one of her legacies that I always remember is not to be afraid of trying something.  Even if you fail, you try again.  And again.  Someday I will conquer a stovetop version of creme brulee.  It wasn't today but I'm not afraid to try it again.  Thank you for showing the way with your fearlessness and Happy Birthday, Julia Child!

Crème Brulee

¾ cup heavy cream

1 vanilla bean

5 large egg yolks, at room temperature

3 tablespoons sugar

1.      Pour the heavy cream into a medium saucepan.  Split the vanilla bean and scrape the soft, pulpy seeds into the pan, toss in the pod and stir to mix.  Bring just to the boil over low heat.

2.      Meanwhile, in a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together just to blend.  Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk, continuously and energetically, until the mixture is very pale and hot to the touch.  Remove the yolks from the heat.  Gradually but steadily whisk the cream into the yolks, pod and all.

3.      Put the bowl back over the hot water and let it sit there, with the heat turned off, whisking occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cream thickens.  Set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and allow the mixture to cool, whisking now and then.  When the custard is cool to the touch, retrieve and discard the vanilla bean (or clean it and save it to flavor sugar) and push the mixture through a strainer into a clean bowl.  Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  The custard can be made the day before and kept covered and refrigerated until needed.

Chocolate Cake
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

¾ cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¾ cup warm water

1.     Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly spray dessert shell pans with nonstick cooking spray.  (You can also use muffin tins but don't line with paper liners if you're going to brulee the custard.)  In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and the water.  With an electric mixer on low speed, beat until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

2.     Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about two-thirds full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 15 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. 

3.     To finish, top with chilled custard, sprinkle with granulated sugar and torch with handheld torch until sugar is crackly and brown.  You can also add bananas on top of the custard and brulee that as the top layer instead with a sprinkling of sugar.