What is Crème brûlée?

A rich custard dessert covered with a hard caramel glaze. The glaze should be just thick enough so it gives a lovely crackle and shatters when gently tapped with a spoon. To produce the perfect golden-brown crust it helps to have a blow torch, but a very hot preheated grill will do a pretty good job. A good tip is to make the custard ahead of time and keep it well chilled, then sprinkle with sugar just before you put it under the grill. This will prevent the sugar from sinking into the warm custard and resulting in a poor glaze.