Sugar Crust for Crème Brûlée without Torch or Broiler!!

I discovered this method of creating the sugary top of Crème Brûlée completely by accident.

I was doing a sale of Crème Brûlée cups for my dessert business and I was only able to source hard plastic cups in time for the sale.

So I made the Crème portion of the recipe and left it to set, thinking that if I wrap foil around the entire cup and then torch it, the plastic would not melt.

To my utter dismay, as I was melting the sugar for the crust, so to was I melting the actual cup that held the dessert!!

Crème Brûlée for One (No Bake)

Crème Brûlée is one of my all-time favorite desserts!! I absolutely love and almost always order it when I eat at restaurants that offer it.

A while back I purchased a blowtorch and had great fun making Crème Brûlée for my dessert business.

But the recipe I used usually made about ten 9 oz. cups of the Crème mixture and there were days that I just felt like eating one.

So I played around with a few techniques and managed to scale the recipe down to make enough for one and also develop a recipe that required no baking!

Disclaimer: A traditional Crème Brûlée requires the Crème to be baked in a water bath and then to be set for a few hours, preferably overnight. This recipe was developed to have the same taste of a Crème Brûlée and satisfy cravings without having to bake in the traditional method. 

Roast Chicken under $50

Recently while scrolling through Instagram, I stumbled upon this post with a Roast Chicken recipe from my friend who is a Chef. Hey Kristopher! 😊

I was in love with how simple but scrumptious the chicken looked and immediately ask my friend whether I could feature it on my blog and to my enjoyment, he agreed!

The recipe requires 4 ingredients excluding salt and black pepper. You can use whatever size of chicken you want, just adjust the salt and pepper content to suit.

For the purposes of this blog, I tried to keep the entire cost under $50.

*Note- The chicken does require some time to marinate so prepare accordingly.

Without further ado, here is the lovely and easy Roast Chicken recipe from Chef Kristopher Sadal. You can find him on Instagram @ chef_kristopher_sadal or click the link directly to his Instagram.

You will need:

- 1 Whole Chicken, cleaned and washed (TT$31)
- 1 packet Chili Powder
- 1 packet dried Thyme
- 1 packet Lemon Pepper
- Salt and Black Pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp butter (optional)

Gluten-free, lactose-free Carrot cupcakes (with DIY Oat flour)

We all have family and friends (even ourselves) who are allergic to gluten or on a gluten-free diet. But a lot of times, people are unsure of what exactly is gluten.

Gluten is basically a generalised name for the proteins that exist in wheat and other grains. It acts as a glue that holds the food together and is also what gives dough its elasticity. Having a gluten intolerance means that a person's digestive system is unable to break down the gluten protein which can lead to mild symptoms such as bloating and gas or even serious effects like damaged intestines, allergies and celiac disease.

When my cousin was having some allergic reactions and digestive issues, he decided to stay away from gluten and lactose in order to determine whether he was affected by the two. In many gatherings, he was unable to eat a lot of foods provided until we found a cheap alternative through oat flour. 

While many gluten-free flours exist on the market, they can be quite expensive. Oat is a cheap, readily available substitute that can be used in many gluten-free recipes.