My daughter turned 15 the day she left for ski camp.
We had a dinner the night before to celebrate.
I asked her “what cake would you like me to make?”
She said “Pavlova!”
We adore pavlova in our family.
I usually make a 12 egg white pavlova and there’s never any left over for the next day.
We had a great dinner and the next morning we dropped her off at school at 6am.
She spent her birthday on a 6 hour bus ride to the snow with her friends.
I was so excited to have her back a week later, I made another pavlova to welcome her home!
I was telling my friend I was making another pavlova and she said, “You make a lot of pavlova’s! What do you do with all the egg yolks?”
Innocent enough, right?
I stared at her blankly… the egg yolks?
I’ve always thrown them out without a second thought.
Her question caught me off guard.
It made me look at my habits.
Suddenly all I could hear going through my head was Maya Angelou’s famous quote:
“When you know better, you do better.”
My blissful ignorance was shattered and I had to change my wasteful ways.
So I turned to Google.
And Google led me straight to Creme Brulee.
I had never, ever made creme brulee or custard of any sort from scratch.
The first thing I did was go out and get myself a blow torch (which I had secretly been coveting for some time.)
Next I opened Dorie Greenspan’s book ‘Around My French Table’ and hoped there’d be a recipe in there for creme brulee. I figured one day the recipe would come up with the French Fridays with Dorie Group and I would be prepared ahead of time! A first for me!
Dorie did have a recipe for creme brulee! Yay!
However my smug happiness was short lived!
The French Fridays with Dorie group had already completed this recipe… last year!
I decided to put this week’s scheduled recipe on hold as my daughter was bringing a bunch of friends over after school and I was making her a third pavlova, one to share with her friends!
I then proudly used the left over egg yolks to make Dorie Greenspan’s creme brulee!
The girls devoured the pavlova as soon as they walked in the door.
There was 7 of them and the pavlova didn’t stand a chance!
After dinner I pulled out the creme brulee and we all stood around the kitchen bench talking about boys and taking turns melting the sugar on top.
The girls loved it!
I could not believe how delicious it was!
I SMS’d my friend and proudly told her I used the egg yolks to make creme brulee and thanked her for bringing something so incredibly easy to make and delicious into my life!
I can’t wait to check out this week’s recipeFrench Fridays with Dorie group, but I have to say I am so glad I caught up on a recipe I had missed. A recipe that will now be made every time I make a pavlova!
Kitchen Therapy 
September 8, 2012 at 2:07 am
Beautiful 🙂
My egg yolks usually turn into ice cream. Or custard. But usually ice cream. I am the weirdo who wishes they would sell just yolks in a container the same way they do egg whites…
September 8, 2012 at 9:19 am
Yes! Absolutely!
September 8, 2012 at 10:56 am
A good one to make up…it looks so yummy!!!
September 8, 2012 at 12:54 pm
This was a good one! My only regret was that I didn’t go get myself a torch. When I make it again this winter (for some reason, this is a winter dish for me), I’ll correct that oversight.
Your pavlova must be fantastic, too, to disappear that quickly.
September 8, 2012 at 12:58 pm
The Creme Brulee looks fantastic. This is one of my favorite desserts. A great recipe substitute:)
September 8, 2012 at 2:10 pm
How fun!! I love, love pavlova too, so I’m with your daughter. But your creme brulee looks fabulous!
September 9, 2012 at 12:40 am
Not fair. You eat Creme Brulee and Pavlova (what recipe do you like best – you didn’t include it) and we eat Aubergine! When the Creme Brulee recipe was chosen for FFWD, I did buy a darling little blow torch. Then Life got in my way and I didn’t participate that week. When it’s stormy and wintry, I’ll return to that recipe. Be sure and look at the Posts this week before trying the eggplant tartine – lots of good suggestions.
September 9, 2012 at 5:08 am
I’ll take a pav or a creme brulee over eggplant any day! I have a friend from New Zealand who makes me pavlova every time I see her. For that alone, I’ll love her forever. They’re one of the best things ever, and something that I’ve never once seen in the US (when not made by my friend.)
September 9, 2012 at 7:03 am
I think creme brulee is always a good choice!
September 9, 2012 at 10:43 am
Pavlova — the national dessert of Australia! Or so I’ve been told. And what a perfect complement to alternate with the creme brulee. That was a fun recipe. And yours look so nice and crackly on top. Another one where I use egg yolks is a key lime pie. Quite American, not Australian, but worth a try. Have a great weekend, Sanya.
September 9, 2012 at 10:48 am
P.S. Thanks for sharing the Maya Angelou quote. I hadn’t heard that one before, but I love it. I’m going to post it over my desk for daily inspiration.
September 11, 2012 at 12:37 am
Sweet! and your quotation is so much better than mom’s admonition of “You know better than that!” Maybe we didn’t!
September 15, 2012 at 11:01 pm
Your creme brulees look festive and perfect! And with such a low oven temp, no need to call in the fire department:-)Merry Christmas to you and yours!