Cooking with My Brother: Crème Brûlée

Cooking With My Brother | Freckled Italian

Here's something you might not know about me: I don't have much of a sweet tooth--I would almost always rather have French fries or popcorn than dessert--but if I'm out somewhere and there's crème brûlée on the menu, I'm always going to order it. It's my favorite dessert and I don't think I've ever turned it down. And one more fun fact (at least for me): my brother is a bit of a crème brûlée magician. I'm always amazed by his self-taught cooking knowledge, but nothing impresses me more than when he tames a notoriously finicky dessert recipe like crème brûlée.

As you may have seen already here and here, my brother and I love spending time together in the kitchen. Over Easter weekend, Rob and I were at my parents' house and Sean and I decided to whip up a batch of his famous crème brûlée. He makes all kinds of delicious varieties, but my favorite one tastes like a piña colada--it's got a coconut cream base and is topped with brûléed pineapple. Delicious, perfect for warmer weather, and even better with a glass of chardonnay.

My wonderful friend Sarah came over to capture our cooking adventures on camera and she took so many beautiful shots that I can't help but share a large number of them here today. If you'd like to skip to Sean's Piña Colada Crème Brûlée recipe, feel free to hop over to my post on the La Crema blog right here.