Crème Brulée

For some reason, a bowl of custard isn't seen as an appropriate dessert for a grown adult - but scorch the top and give it a French name and it's suddenly all sophisticated.
In Britain, a version of crème brûlée (known locally as 'Trinity Cream' or 'Cambridge burnt cream') was introduced at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1879 with the college arms "impressed on top of the cream with a branding iron".
Crème Brulée or burnt cream - where do you stand on its origins? Would you claim it for England, or for Spain instead - or even, as Julia Child insists, Creole Louisiana? Should they be strongly flavoured or sumptuously plain, and which other classic desserts are surprisingly easy to make?