Ben and Jerry's Creme brulee transformed into Muffins and French Toast

It so happened that I have ice cream that I wanted to use to bake.

The question of why didn’t I just eat the ice cream is a valid one.

It is also one that I cannot answer.

Don’t you just love mysteries?

Like 88% of the world's population, I love Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and so when I chanced upon this Ben and Jerry's creme brulee recipe using melted ice cream I wanted to try it.

I also love the number 88 and sprinkle it on random statistics when I can.

Ben & Jerry's Crème Brulée

1/2 pint of B&J Vanilla ice cream
1 eggs
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar, reserve for "burnt sugar crust"
2 oven proof ramekins for custard

Despite the fact that I eagerly bought ramekins just for the purposes of this dessert, the truth was this recipe never had a chance in my hands.

First I reduced the amount of sugar in the custard because I thought there should be enough sugar in the ice cream as it is and that there was a typo - perhaps 1 tsp of sugar should be for the crust instead? Next, I used egg yolk instead of a whole egg because all crème brulee recipes do that.

So is it a surprise that the crème brulee never turned out? It didn't even set after being overnight in the fridge.

So. Toss it out?

Please, people.

I am not called The Failed Chef intrepidly giving failed recipes a second chance for no good reason.

So with half of the failed crème brulee, I made muffins following a vintage recipe of using melted ice cream. Since the recipe said that if a richer muffin is desired, to add 1 egg and I already had the yolk in, I added in only the flour.

Ice cream Muffins

3/4 cups Self-Rising Flour
1 cup failed creme brulee or melted ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius.
2. Sift flour into a bowl of the failed creme brulee mixture (feel free to customise your own version!).
3. Mix until all dry particles are moistened.
4. Fill muffin cakes until 3/4 full.
5. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes.

Sure, a muffin recipe may not anything to rave about, but at least the muffins turned out tasting okay. In contrast, the words “Ben & Jerry’s” and “crème brulee” leave your eyes wide open and hopes expectant. The results when you combine them together then crushed, shredded and pureed those expectant hopes into oblivion. So give me a "just okay" recipe that turns out anytime.

With the other half of the failed crème brulee concoction, I realised I can make crème brulee French toast since this happened to be one of the rare occasions when there is regular sliced bread in the house. Not the healthiest breakfast, but that it turned out okay probably allowed me to carry on with healthy self-esteem.

Creme Brulee French Toast

2 slices of bread
Failed creme brulee mixture

1. Soak bread in failed creme brulee mixture for several hours.
2. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius.
3. Bake the soaked bread on a cookie sheet uncovered 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven.

What would The Failed Chef do next time?

• Alright, alright, I’ll just EAT the darn ice cream next time!