I've been obsessed with lavender recently (obviously) but I think after this I will take a hiatus from the lavender confections. But I made these super yummy lavender creme brulees and I wish I took better/ more pics of them! They were super easy to make and turned out really great. I made half of the recipe and it made 4 big custard cups. Here's the recipe!
Lavender Creme BruleeIngredients:
4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter (6-ounce) custard cups and set them into a glass baking dish. If cooking custards in a metal pan, cover the bottom of the pan with a layer of newspaper to ensure an even temperature on the bottom. Place custard cups in a shallow ovenproof roasting or baking pan.
2. In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, add cream and the lavender flowers; heat just to a simmer. Remove from heat and allow lavender flowers to infuse with the cream for 5 minutes. Strain cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove lavender flowers.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar until light and creamy. Slowly add the strained cream to the egg mixture, blending well. Divide custard mixture among the custard cups.
4. Bring the water for the water bath (see definition on right) to a light simmer on top of the stove; carefully pour hot water into the baking pan to come half-way up the sides of the custard cups. NOTE: The most common mistake people make in baking a custard is not putting enough water in the hot-water bath. The water should come up to the level of the custard inside the cups. You must protect your custard from the heat.
5. Baked 60 minutes or until set around the edges but still loose in the center. The cooking time will depend largely on the size of the custard cups you are using, but begin checking at a half hour and check back regularly. When the center of the custard is just set, it will jiggle a little when shaken, that's when you can remove it from the oven.
6. Remove from oven and leave in the water bath until cooled. Remove cups from water bath and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
7. When ready to serve, sprinkle approximately 2 teaspoons of remaining sugar over each crème brulee. For best results, use a small hand-held torch. Hold the torch 4 to 5 inches from the sugar, maintaining a slow and even motion. Stop torching just before the desired degree of doneness is reached, as the sugar will continue to cook for a few seconds after flame has been removed.
8. If you don't have a torch, place crème brulees 6 inches below the broiler for 4 to 6 minutes or until sugar bubbles and turns golden brown. Refrigerate crème brulees at least 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 6 to 8 servings (depending on size of custard cups).
They had the cutest, tiniest chocolate cakes on display. These were my fave ones:
Chocolate tree with easter eggs and the ice age squirrel thing? haha
This weekend, Brendan and I went down to Vegas because he is interviewing at PT schools and had his UNLV interview this weekend. Luckily it was also the same weekend our good friend, Janeen, turned thirty!!! Our other good friend, Heidi, planned a "Dirty Thirty" party and it was a lot of fun. We played trash games, and asked Janeen all about her "dirty little secrets". It was so fun to see everyone and it made me miss my home so much more!!
Our dinner garb. 
Work outfits for the day, with Brendan making fun of me. Sometimes I have to take pictures of my outfits because we don't have a full length mirror and I'm not sure how everything is working. I also want to document how I dress because if it's anything like my history I feel like it will be quite entertaining for me come 5 years or so. So for my 3 readers who even know about this blog, just deal with my narcissism for a few posts :)
