Seems to me that with a handy-dandy blow torch you could buy yourself a lot of real estate on your kitchen counter that is presently being wasted on a toaster…
You just need a length of hose attached to a funnel. Put 2 spoons of powdered whatever (I’ve used cornflour/starch, custard mix and non-dairy creamer to great success) in the funnel, position the funnel under the blowtorch flame, and blow!
The sugar in the custard powder burns, giving a delightful roast marshmallowy smell.
So, its not exactly a recipe for food - it’s a recipe for FUN!
I got some good ideas when I asked the same thing on eGullet.
I don’t like it for toasting bell peppers though. The torch is so hot the skin falls off before the flesh has a chance to cook so what you get is a deskinned, raw pepper.
Is this supposed to be funny? Because I assure you it’s not.
I’m sure I’m about to be piled on, but I have to look askance at anyone who finds humor in the idea of setting animals on fire. Ha ha, torturing small animals in the most hideous way imaginable, yeah that’s a real knee slapper.
You could conceivably make candy apple ribs. Dip the finished rack o’ ribs in cherry juice and then roll in brown turbinado sugar and torch them babies up! Make a hard candy rub.
Stuck in the back of my brain somewhere is this memory of a news report or article where they state that all of that delicious food in magazine pics, on TV commercials and some window displays is not as delicious as it looks.
When the food exists only for the pretty picture the preparers do some weird things like -
shaving cream used as a sub for whip cream
Mashed potatoes made with paste or other unnatural additives
and
A whole raw turkey made to look fully roasted by takinf a blowtorch to the skin and carefullyh “painting” in the browness. :eek:
…rising steam coming from a tampon dipped in boiling water and hidden behind a food item or behind the back of the plate - the food itself is not steaming hot.
The crust indeed is the best part, nay, the point of crème brûlée. MilliCal might want to try crème caramel next time. It’s a similar idea, although usually a little bit lighter than crème brûlée, and instead of hard candy caramel on top, there’s a caramel syrup. So, in other words, flan. Wikipedia says they’re the same thing–I’ve noticed that flan usually has evaporated milk and/or condensed milk, while crème caramel doesn’t have either (that I’ve seen).
Oh, the crust is not hard to make at all. Just sprinkly a layer of fine sugar, and blowtorch it or place it under a broiler. With the broiler, it is a little bit tricky to get it to brown evenly and not burn. With a torch, it’s simple.