• BethNH February 2011

  My 16 year old son plans to cook dinner for his girlfriend this week to celebrate their anniversary. He's not much of a cook or baker. He plans to make steak tips and oven fries - which he knows he can do himself and which she'll love. He'd like to do a simple dessert that he can make himself but which will impress.
  
  Any ideas?
• aj12754 February 2011

  Panna cotta with Balsamic Strawberries? (Barefoot Contessa at Home) -- also a good-looking caramel pecan sundae in this one.
  
  Or a coeur a la creme (sp?) from Barefoot in Paris although this one requires a special heart-shaped mold.
  
  If his girlfriend is a chocolate fiend, Fine Cooking has a very simple but delicious chocolate pot de creme. It may be available on-line.
  
  If you don't have access to the recipes, I am happy to post for or e-mail you any of these recipes if they sound like something he'd like to try.
  
  Sounds like a very nice young man!
• andrew February 2011

  Creme Brulee or chocolate pots de creme are both fairly simple desserts and have that fancy, special occasion feel to them, both being in ramekins so each person gets their own personal dessert. The great thing about Creme Brulee is that you can do all the work ahead of time and just pull them out of the fridge when it's dinner time. If you don't have a blowtorch, an oven on broil works just fine.
  
  I like this recipe - just omit the ginger for a regular vanilla creme brulee: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ginger-and-Vanilla-Bean-Creme-Brulee-100487
  
  For the chocolate pots de creme, these are very similar, and there are a few recipes on Epicurious which look quite good. From my experience, a little goes a long way with these, and small ramekins are preferable; they're quite rich.
  
  I see aj12754 just posted this at the same time as me! Great minds think alike!
• Queezle Sister February 2011

  I have a somewhat lighter suggestion. My fear would be that these are rich desserts with a heavy (but delicious sounding) meal. I'd like to suggest Mark Bittman's Mexican Chocolate Pudding as an alternative. It actually healthy, tastes amazing, and could easily be made ahead and served in ramekins.
  
  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/dining/201mrex.html
  
  What a wonderful son, you are clearly a great mom.
• BethNH February 2011

  The boy decided to go with brownies and ice cream. I do believe he's a bit nervous. I'll definitely bookmark the Mexican Chocolate pudding as he loves Mexican hot chocolate.
  
  He really is a great teenager and I'm very happy that he knows how to express love with food.

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