Creamy, custardy desserts make me happy. I’m not that huge a fan of (brace yourself) chocolate cake, but I like flan and panna cotta (Italian for “cooked cream”). Crème brûlée, however, is my true love because of its scorched, sugary top; at a cafe, I once spent several minutes taking turns with friends demonstrating ways of getting through the singed topping (gentle, elegant half-crack versus aggressive scooping method).

Following a recipe with a vaguely tropical twist (the directions called for a sliced-mango garnish) from epicurious.com, I whisked the egg yolks and a vanilla-ginger-whipped cream blend together in no time, and popped the filled ramekins ($1.95, Crate&Barrel) in the oven. Click through to the next page to see how Bunny’s brûlée turned out.

Stuff began to go wrong just as I thought it would start getting fun: when it was time to singe the custards with a blowtorch. The thing would not light. After several adventures getting the butane inside the device, the flame finally came on—only to sputter out after about thirty seconds. Very sad.

Fortunately you can brûlée your crème just as well in the broiler, which is what I did. Minus my blowtorch difficulties, I found this an amazingly easy dessert to make. If anyone has any torch-use tips, though, let me know! —Bunny W.