This guest column is by Trina Confusione, a pastry chef at the Fish House and Atlas Oyster House since 1998.

I got into pastry through the back door.

About nine years ago, I started working at the Fish House in downtown Pensacola. Chef Jim Shirley brought me onboard as a server, but as business took off, he started to coerce me into doing a bit of baking for him. I could bake, but I only did it for family and friends.

At the Fish House, baking the occasional pie turned into baking scores of key lime pies, stacks of cheesecakes and mounds of bread pudding. I realized that I had fallen in love with making pastry — and the science and preciseness of baking. But I had a secret — a secret known only to my girlfriends. Lacking a sweet tooth, I wouldn’t taste the final result. I always used the palates of other people to tell me whether it was good.

Then came crème brûlée. From its first introduction at the Fish House, the dessert virtually sailed through the door. It was a big hit, but of course, I never tried the finished product. I just knew it was easy to make, and we sold a lot of them.

On a night out with my girlfriends, who were always teasing me about refusing to taste my own desserts, I made the mistake of saying that I didn’t know what the big deal was. Under threats of eternal nagging, I was talked into going to the Fish House to taste my own crème brûlée, and if I tried it they would stop nagging me. I thought that was a great deal.

The cold, smooth, silky texture of the vanilla-scented custard, along with the crunch of the sugar shell, converted me on the spot. This one taste showed me the way to the next level of confection. So, I want to once again thank my girls — you know who you are — for the first bites you made me take.

This is a basic recipe. The variations are endless. Serves 8.

VANILLA BEAN CRÈME BRÛLÉE

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out
1/2 cup egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar plus 8 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a saucepan, over medium heat, mix seeds and pod of vanilla bean with cream. While cream is heating up, whisk together yolks, 1/2 cup sugar and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside. Turn cream mixture to high and scald (just short of boiling).

Remove cream from heat and slowly, a little at a time, whisk into egg mixture. Whisk until sugar dissolves completely.

Strain mixture through a fine-mesh colander. Ladle into 6-ounce, oven-safe custard dishes, place in a water bath and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. When completely chilled, sprinkle top of each dish with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar in an even layer. Using a brûlée torch, brown tops until sugar melts completely, but don’t let them to turn too dark, nor let the custard get warm. Serve immediately.