Voiture Brulee
(burned car)

This tastelessly conceived Arab/French fusion dessert is heavily based on creme brulee, but with pears, almonds, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper to give it a spicy, middle eastern twist. Eat it after the dusk curfew to give it that special state-of-emergency flair.

8 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pear, sliced into seedless cross-sections, 1/6" thick
Thinly sliced almonds

Caramelized top mixture:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 300F. In a big bowl, mix yolks and sugar with a whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has assumed a thick, palish yellow. Add the vanilla and cream, and keep whisking until nicely blended. Strain to skim off any foam.

Pour mixture into 6 ramekins/custard cups. Slice a cross-section of pear (without seeds), and let float on top of each ramekin. Place ramekin in a lukewarm water bath and bake until set around the edges, but still jiggly in the center (about 60 minutes). Remove from oven and leave in the water bath until cooled to room temperature. Remove cups from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days.

When ready to serve, sprinkle well-mixed combination of sugar, nutmeg, and cayenne over each custard (2 teaspoons per ramekin, change spice proportions to taste beforehand). Use a small torch to melt sugar (or place under the oven broiler until sugar melts). This can take a long time, and if you get impatient with the torch, the sugar WILL BURN. Sprinkle almonds into uncooled caramel after torching. Re-chill custards for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6, but invariably someone will think it's too spicy/cloying. After eating their unfinished ramekin, tell that person to do dishes.