Lemoncello & Pistachio Crème Brûlée

This is the second recipe from this book that is very easy and seems to have a lot of potential, but it just doesn't quite work, for a couple of reasons.

1. finely chopped pistachios are placed in the bottom of the ramekins before adding the cream mixture and baking -- but this just results in soggy nuts that don't add much flavor.

2. the suggested baking temperature (140º C) seems to have been far too low -- after the 40 minute baking time had passed, the cream hadn't set at all. We increased the temp about 40 degrees -- still no progress. We finally just went up to 350º F and took it out nicely set a few minutes later.

Just before serving we added the brown sugar and put it under the broiler. The final flavor was fine but not great; I thought it needed a little more sweetness, but Soupereasy thought it sweet enough.

I would not make this recipe again, but I would try another lemoncello crème brûlée. Rather than doing nuts in the bottom, I think I'd try it with a small pistachio biscotti on the side (I think Fine Cooking has a good recipe for the biscotti).

Update: After the crème brûlée completely cooled the nuts rose to the top and it was a much more appealing dessert.