Baked Alaska

• A cool ice cream treat with a crunchy meringue exterior, baked Alaska can too easily turn to baked soup if you try to heat it under a broiler to brown the meringue. The trick to preparing baked Alaska is to caramelize the exterior of the meringue without melting the ice cream. A brulee torch accomplishes this goal. Spread a stiff meringue over the ice cream shape to the edges of the pan to completely encase the ice cream. Direct the heat of a brulee torch over the meringue to brown, but not burn the meringue. Serve the baked Alaska immediately or return it to the freezer.
  
  

Crème Brûlée

• The juxtaposition of a creamy custard base under a crunchy, caramelized crust is what makes crème brûlée so alluring. This distinctive composition makes crème brûlée a difficult dish to prepare, requiring caution to avoid overcooking the custard. Baked custard on the bottom layer can easily turn from creamy to rubbery if cooked too long or in too hot an oven. Caramelizing the sugar on top of a crème brûlée under the broiler poses the risk of toughening the custard. A brulee torch caramelizes only the sugar on top of the custard without affecting the texture of the custard. Though Southern Living suggests using a broiler to caramelize the sugar on crème brûlée, the recipe recommends in the tips to use a torch for a glassy finish on the top crust as seen in restaurants where professional chefs opt for torches over broilers.
  
  

Blackened Peppers

• To make charred peppers, place peppers in a direct flame until the skin turns black. Seal the blackened peppers in a plastic bag; the heat from the peppers will steam the charred skin loose. Just rub the skin off to reveal a highly flavored, slightly softened pepper underneath. Use a brulee torch to char peppers for removing the skin. This is especially useful for those without gas stoves that also produce a flame for blackening peppers. The same charring technique can also be used to remove the skins from tomatoes. Combine the skinned peppers and tomatoes together for your own roasted salsa.
  
  

Indoor Smores

• With a brulee torch, you recreate the flames from an open fire to make smores without the cheesy camp songs or mosquitoes. Hold a marshmallow on a stick in the flame from a brulee torch, or prepare Matt Lewis's pudding recipe inspired by smores. For his dark chocolate pudding with graham cracker crust recipe, char a marshmallow topping on the pudding with a brulee torch to give the dessert the flavor of roasted marshmallows topping a chocolate bar and graham cracker.