I'm out of gas - but I'm not out of the running!

There was once a time when I purchased any and every kitchen gadget that caught my eye, so I have had a crème brûlée torch for quite some time. I've never used it, because truth be told, I don't like crème brûlée, or for that matter custard in general. How I miss those days of carefree spending, but unfortunately now I begrudgingly spend that money on more exciting things like mortgages and electric bills - somehow a crème brûlée torch seems so much more exciting!

I was pretty excited that Mari from Mevrouw Cupcake had selected crème brûlée (pg. 393) because I was finally going to use my blowtorch. It was ready. I had the full set. The box said so, right on the front in big red letters it said, "Everything you need to make professional looking desserts." Box contains torch, dishes and recipe. It even repeated everything in French - this maybe was the real deal - or so I thought (cue tension inducing music. . .)

Being at the time of this purchase young and dumb and full of fun I failed to recognize what the box did not say. It did not say that it contained butane. However, it did say it contained all I needed to make professional looking desserts. HAH, I scoff at the Bonjour company and I say "écoutent mes amis sans butane que vous ne pouvez pas faire la crème brulée". Which means, listen my friends, without butane you cannot make crème brulée and I add for emphasis - MORONS! Complete set my behind! I hate it when I am dumb enough to believe I'm buying a complete package only to open it and find a crucial element is not considered "part of the package" even if the package won't work without it! By the way, I am now two out of the original three adjectives listed above and I shall leave it to you to guess which ones.

Okay, deep breaths, luckily we were offered an alternative for this week's recipe if for some reason we were unable to do the brûlée. Therefore, I present to you my rendition of the Double-crusted Blueberry Pie. (originally baked July 8, 2008, recipe found on pages 361-363)

This pie came together extremely quickly. It uses Dorie's trusty "good for almost anything" crust. This is the first crust I have ever made in a food processor. It took me a few tries to get used to this technique but I must say I am quite liking it. I like it so much I am considering mixing up a couple of these bad boys and keeping them in the freezer for baking emergencies. You never can tell when the need for a pie will spring itself on you!

I took the pie to work and doled out the slices quietly and secretly. The pie was all I had to share today and served eight. I did not want any fighting or (more likely whining) to break out so I quietly gave out the slices. The eight people I fed were ecstatic. The crust was a huge hit, its buttery delicacy inspired groans of delight. One of my friends left me a five minute phone message extolling his delight in the flavors of this pie. He said it was the best blueberry pie he had ever eaten. The only improvement I could suggest would be to serve it warm with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.

I was extremely impressed with how well the pie stayed together when cut. Usually I thicken my fruit pies with tapioca, but I was very pleased with how neat these slices were and the flavors were excellent. It is a definite keeper. I love a peach/blueberry pie but for a flavor like this, I might just stick with straight blueberries every once in a while.