photo by: Nick Krug

Smoke rises off a freshly torched creme brulee from the Torched Goodness food cart at Seventh and Massachusetts streets on Friday afternoon.

It’s just past 3 p.m. Friday, and Eric Ireland, owner and operator of Torched Goodness creme brulee, has some bad news to deliver to a few customers who have just ambled up to his cart outside of Liberty Hall, 644 Massachusetts St.

After two hours on its first day open, he’s down to his last creme brulee, which the trio of patrons agree to share.

“It’s a good problem to have,” says Ireland, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef who co-owns Torched Goodness with his wife, Julia.

The pair started out in Phoenix, where they served up the French custard dessert from the Torched Goodness truck for four years before relocating to Lawrence in 2014. They’ve still got the truck, mostly bringing it out for special events like the upcoming Kansas Food Truck Festival, but have shifted their focus to the cart now.

Eric says the goal this season was to “pull back the reins” and focus on “what we do best” — torched-to-order creme brulee.

You may remember the Irelands’ first cart, a cheesesteak station called Goodness Steaks, parked outside Foxtrot at 823 Massachusetts St.

“I think we’re getting more visibility now,” Eric says of the new location at the northeast corner of Seventh and Massachusetts streets.

For now, Torched Goodness is serving the standards (traditional vanilla, sea salt caramel and chocolate) for $4 each, with $5 weekly specialty flavors (Eric’s thinking lemon-raspberry and zesty orange for summertime) on the way. There’s also locally roasted cold-brew off to wash down that creme brulee.

Eric says he and Julia are still trying to figure out regular hours of operation for the cart, though you’ll most likely find it in the afternoons and evenings Wednesday through Sunday, he says, adding that folks can stay posted on Torched Goodness’ whereabouts via Facebook and Twitter.

Torched Goodness will also hang around the Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings.

“That’s our bread and butter,” Eric says. “People love the farmers market.”