Crème brûlée flambé

Fire can be as cleansing and creative as it can be destructive, provided you can rise like a phoenix from the ashes. A group of phoenixes, incidentally, is called an odyssey. That name is appropriate because the flaming custard upon which I’ll be launching you into 2025 is definitely a trip.

This recipe is for all the people who don’t have one of those silly crème brûlée torches. If it’s never occurred to you to simply ignite a bunch of sugar and booze atop a bowl of solid eggnog, you’re excused. But we can. And we will.

The bourbon-and-sugar bonfire atop this orange-eggnog crème brûlée burns with a clear creative purpose: the formation of a penetrating sauce that will soak into the custard and stiffen into a granular topping that’s quite distinct from the rock-hard exoskeleton of a typical crème brûlée. In our case, the bourbon prevents the melted sugar from recrystallizing into a glassy sheet.

As it burns, we’ll toss a pinch of cinnamon into the flames. It will sparkle like miniature fireworks — a grand finale, as it were, as we show 2024 the door.

Orange-eggnog crème

brûlée flambé

The strong flavors of orange juice, nutmeg and bourbon all balance each other out while adding excitement to this otherwise mild-mannered custard.

Custard

This quantity will fill four small ramekins

• 2 cups cream
• Four egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Four buttered ramekins

Optional: thinly sliced shards of orange peel for garnish

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place a rimmed cookie sheet on the top rack and pour in two cups of water, which will create steam for the custard.

Heat the cream slowly in a heavy-bottomed pan on the stovetop. Meanwhile, combine the yolks, sugar, nutmeg, orange juice, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl.

When the cream starts to simmer, add it slowly to the mix, stirring in a little at a time to temper the yolks. (“Temper” means to heat the yolks and combine them with the hot cream in a smooth, controlled way that doesn’t cook and curdle the eggs.)

Add the warm batter to your buttered vessels, place them on the cookie sheet in the steaming water and bake for an hour, until they’re bubbling evenly. The bubbling starts on the edge and moves toward the center until the entire surface has shrunken and hardened into a darker yellow shade.

Remove from the oven and add the orange peel garnish if using. If serving right away, prepare to light your fire. If serving later, allow to cool to room temperature. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

Flaming bourbon-sugar sauce

• 2 tablespoons white or turbinado sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons bourbon
• 12 pinches cinnamon powder

Whenever serving time comes, mix the sugars together, then pour a tablespoon of whiskey into each ramekin. Light them with a long-necked barbecue lighter and let them burn for about 30 seconds while you toss pinches of cinnamon into the flames, enjoying the sight of spraying sparks. Finally, add a tablespoon of sugar mix to each ramekin and allow the flaming whiskey to dissolve the sugar. When the fire dies, it’s ready to serve. Happy New Year.