This is a light-hearted look at a list of reasons to justify cooking with a blowtorch, but really there is only one reason – it just looks so cool!

1. FIRE! Everyone is entertained by fire – fireworks, firebreathers, campfires, you name it… Its like Seinfeld said – the reason people smoke is because they are controlling fire “Look at me, I am controlling fire”. Don’t underestiamte the entertainment factor, when you whip out the blowtorch and finish off that dish your guests will be impressed. I am not going to gaurantee it will seal the deal if you are cooking dinner for that someone special but it definitely won’t harm your chances.

2. It makes you look prepared. Why yes… I do have a kitchen appliance for every occasion thats just how I roll!

3. TASTE! It makes your food taste better. Seriously. Not only does the caramelization literally improve the flavor but studies have shown that food that looks better actually tastes better. Thats science!

4. Its just a little bit exotic. Surely someone who owns and uses (controlling fire remember…) their own kitchen blowtorch must be a person of impeccable taste. Using a blowtorch for cooking makes you look a little bit dangerous… and thats always a sexy thing.

5. FUN. The last and possibly the biggest reason. Blowtorch cooking is just fun, and part of the fun comes from all of the above reasons – impressing other people. You can’t beat the wow factor as you wave around this little jet of flame. Once you start you will be always on the lookout for new reasons to use your blowtorch – toasted marshmellows? No problem. Shall I do some toast for you too? Seared Sushi anyone? Careful it can be addictive.

Don’t forget to check out my review of the bonjour chef’s torch here. I use it, you should too!

Who doesn’t love sushi? If you are one of the few then this tip isn’t for you, everyone else, read on. We all know that sushi is raw fish right? Bzzzzt… it doesnt have to be raw. If you take your favorite fatty fish in sushi form (salmon as pictured on the left or tuna are excellent choices), whip out your handy kitchen blowtorch and toast the outside of the fish for just 2-3 seconds you end up with a delicious treat! Delicious, delicate raw fish on the inside and the amazing flavor of crispy, fried fish on the outside. A little bit of soy and wasabi to dip it in, pop the whole thing in your mouth and it is a total flavor bomb. The Japanese call this dish Aburi sushi. If you dont have a blowtorch of your own I use and recommend the Bonjour Chef’s Torch and you can read my review here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sushi_and_sashimi_ingredients

Many thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanchan/ for the brilliant photo, and for making it available for us to use.

Also dont forget to take a look at my review of the Bonjour Chef’s Torch on the front page.

http://richfoodleantimes.wordpress.com/2010/03/12/sweet-maple-friday-i-love-wisconsin-maple-creme-brulee/

The real twist is just using maple syrup instead of sugar for a really distinctive taste. Sofya says that the most important part is making silky-smooth custard by being super-careful not to mix your eggs and cream together too fast. Add the hot cream to the eggs very slowly in a thin stream while continually whisking.

So, to serve 6 people you need:

3 cups of 1/2 and /12 cream (apparently heavy cream is great too)
1/2 cup maple syrup
9 egg yolks
1t vanilla extract (I always recommend using vanilla pods but they are expensive so its up to you)
Brown sugar for melting off on top.

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 F
2. Over a medium heat warm the cream and maple syrup for 5 mins, stirring a few times until it is quite hot.
3. Beat egg yolks separately until blended, then slowly add the cream as instructed above. Whisk together and add your vanilla extract.
4. Put 6 ramekins in an oven pan, pour the mixture through a sieve into each ramekin.
5. Pour hot water into the pan until the level is about halfway up the ramekins, loosely cover the pan with a dome of aluminum foil.
6. Bake for around 30 minutes or until set. Once cooked remove them to a rack to cool – take care not to burn yourself.
7. Once they have cooled place the ramekins into the fridge uncovered. After an hour cover each one with cling wrap then leave in the fridge for at least 3 more hours.
8. Last thing to do before serving is sprinkle the brown sugar on top of each one and caramelize with your cook’s blowtorch.

Enjoy! And thanks again to Sofya for sharing her tips.

My overall rating: 4/5

Is it worth it? In a word, yes. The BonJour Chef’s Torch is a sturdy kitchen blowtorch that has been going strong in this reviewer’s kitchen for more than 3 months. If you love making desserts as much as I do then this is one essential, affordable tool for making Creme Brulee, browning meringues, even roasting peppers and melting cheese. Using the chef’s torch gives my dishes that professional “finishing touch”, and the response from my friends and family is simply “wow” when I serve them my desserts.

Lets have a look at the this kitchen blowtorches features:

To read the rest of this review please click here…

To get your own kitchen blowtorch on sale at Amazon click here.

You will need the following ingredients

To make 6 Creme Brulees:
Cream – 17fl oz (500ml)
6 egg yolks
Caster sugar – Half a cup
1 Vanilla pod

Also make sure you have a few table spoons of caster sugar left over to sprinkle when the dish is cooked. You will need some creme brulee ramekins. I love to use clean white ceramic ramekins.

Cooking Steps

Step 1 Cut the vanilla pod open by slicing it open length ways down the middle of the pod. Scrape out all of the pulp with the tip of your knife and put it in a saucepan. Then add the pod as well and the 17 fl oz of cream.

Step 2 Begin heating the pan using only a medium heat – you want the cream to warm without boiling.

Step 3 Set your oven to 250F (140C) so it preheats.

Step 4 Put the egg yolks in a big bowl and slowly add caster sugar to the mixture while whisking. Slowly add the sugar and whisk until your mixture has turned pale in color.

Once it turns pale begin slowly pouring in the warm cream while continuing to whisk. It is really important that you dont stir the cream in too quickly or the eggs could cook, and we definitely dont want that!

Step 5 Use a sieve to strain the mixture into a jug (Using a jug really helps with the next step of pouring your mixture into the ramekins). This is now a good time to boil the kettle.

Step 6 Place 6 ramekins in a roasting tray and pour the mixture into each one. You want the tray to be about the same height as the ramekins so that we can fill it with water.

Step 7 Pour the boiling water into the tray until it reaches halfway up the ramekins.

Step 8 Put it in the oven to bake for 30 mins. Once baked (you want them to be set around the edges but have a bit of “wiggle” in the middle) very carefully (HOT HOT) take them out of the tray to cool at room temp.

Step 9 Cover the ramekins with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for two hours.

Step 10 Now the fun part! Sprinkle a teaspoon of caster sugar over each creme brulee. Use your cooking blow torch to caramelize the sugar.

Dont overdo it, absolutely no longer than 8 or 9 seconds or we will have ugly burnt sugar topping!

Now you can either serve them straight away or put them back into the fridge for another half an hour. Enjoy!

Heres a handy video I found showing you how to glaze them properly:

I’ve always seen chefs on TV using a kitchen blowtorch to make Creme Brulee so when I came across one while shopping online last week I just had to buy it! Last night was the first ‘test run’ with it, I had some friends over for a little dinner party and the Brulee dessert was a real hit. A few of my friends wanted to know where they could buy a blowtorch to use in their own kitchen so I thought a small blog like this could be helpful to lots of other people too.

Whats cool about them is that you can use a chefs blowtorch when cooking all kinds of other dishes too. Several uses that spring to mind are – melting cheese (cheese on toast, mmmm), roasting peppers quickly, browning meringues, lighting candles, you name it. Just kidding about the candles though

As soon as I have the time I’ll add some tips on how to use your kitchen blowtorch, cooking with it safely and a review of the one I just bought.