OK, I am going to hop in here. I posted this on a singing site I am on when someone was asking about good holiday party recipes. It is one of my favorite things for parties, and it is a lotta bang for the effort, and something you almost wont find at anyone else's party.
It is a variation of a Creme Brulee' Which in French means Burnt Creme. Since I leave off the top, I guess mine is just a Creme .... hehe .....
The Brilliant part of this is not the food, which itself is incredibly delicious, but that you have made what is always a table food into a Party Food.
You need about 12-15 old-fashioned clear heavy glass punch cups. The kind that are patterned to look somewhat like cut-glass but are not. Do NOT Use Cut Glass if you happen to have those. The ones I am talking about can often be found in junk stores and garage sales. OK for the Reciept. (Sorry, I am hopelessly old-fashioned.)
PARTY CREME
4 cups heavy cream
10 large egg yolks, and one Whole Egg
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
about a tablespoon of grated orange peel
Heat cream until almost boiling. Beat egg yolks with sugar. Add vanilla and orange peel. Very Very Slowly pour hot creme into beaten eggs, stirring all the while. Strain.
Pour mixture into punch cups filling about 3/4 way up. Put all the cups in a large baking dish and set in the oven with the rack slid partway out. Slowly and carefully pour in VERY Hot Water until it is about 2/3 of the way up the sides of the cups.
Bake at 350* for about 25 minutes. I cannot tell you how long because that depends on your cup size. Check after about 20 minutes by gently shaking them. They should be set around the sides but a spot about the size of a nickel or quarter should still kinda jiggle. That will firm up as it cools. Do not over-cook.
Remove, cool and sprinkle with mace or nutmeg. Serve Cold. Serve on a small side table with napkins and your prettiest silver spoons. The beauty of this is that it is portable and already in perfect portions. People can walk around the party with them easily.
You can use lighter cream or half and half but it will not be quite as richly decadent. This is for holidays only as it has a million calories and ten million fat grams.