Creme brulee is a very rich dessert made of a vanilla flavored custard base, which is cold and topped with a warm hard caramel. Creme brulee means "burnt cream" in French. Brulee refers to dishes like custards that are finished with a sugar glaze.

The dessert has a pudding base consisting of cream and eggs. The dessert typically combines light simple flavors. A lot of chefs do not agree that the recipe needs additions such as vanilla and such. They prefer to make the dessert the traditional way without embellishments.

However there are two schools of thought regarding the dessert. Creme brulee can be served in different flavors. For instance, some of the time lemon, rosemary, chocolate, fruit flavored or flavored with a liqueur. Other chefs add spices, nut, liqueurs or toppings to their cream and sugar to complement the dish.

Additionally chefs use spices, vegetables and fruits to add a different taste to the dessert. Some other variations to the recipe call for different liqueurs for a total different flavor to this classic dessert. These additions can create a new dining experience for the guest.

To add a festive or decorative enticement to the dessert, some chefs may add in different ingredients or decorative touches. It can create a whole new type of dessert. Some chefs feel the original is best and do not add these additional ingredients, they just create the traditional creme brulee without any embellishments.

The actual origination of the dish is unknown. However, historians have located it in a cookbook by Francois Massialot dated in the 1690's. In the 1870's in Britain, the dessert was called Cambridge burnt cream or Trinity Cream. It was introduced to Trinity College in Cambridge and the dessert had the college  http://xn--cck8aq2ia3b7a8b4nc2316gc6cq12g.xyz/
 logo imprinted on the top of the dessert with a branding iron.

The dish is created in individual ceramic custard cups or ramekins. Sometimes the discs of caramel are made individually and placed on the custard before serving the dessert. If the top is to be created directly on the custard, then a butane torch or broiler is utilized to caramelize the sugar that has been sprinkled on the top of the dessert. The top can also be flambe with hard liquor on top of it.

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