One of my favorite baking authors is acclaimed pastry chef Sherry Yard. I have two of her books (both are listed on my Bake/Cookbooks On My Shelf page) and am constantly inspired by the wonderful things she shares. A few months ago the Daring Bakers made her Danish Braid recipe which I posted about here and I was overwhelmed with pride in being able to accomplish something I’d previously thought impossible for me. So when I was looking for a recipe for something I’d heard of but tried only once before… well… I knew just where to turn. This past weekend we were having a couple of friends over for dinner/dessert and I thought this would be something everyone would like. I’d bought a really cute set of 4oz espresso cups that were the perfect size so I decided to give it a go!
Pots de Créme (pronounced poe-du-khrem) is a dessert I’ve seen on the menu in the higher-end restaurants more than once. It always looked and sounded intriguing and I figured one day I would try it. According to Sherry, these are a form of baked custard… slightly richer than créme caramel and a little less rich than créme brulée. Maybe that is the case… but to me they’re more like baked pudding. Very reminiscent of créme brulée without the crunchy, crackly burnt sugar topping.
The recipe itself is for Vanilla but it includes instruction for the chocolate variation. I’ll be the first to admit the variation info wasn’t exactly crystal clear but in the final analysis my results looked good and tasted good so if i didn’t do it right, it was pretty hard to tell ;)
fromThe Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard
Vanilla Pots de Créme (w/chocolate variation)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
2 large egg yolks, chilled
Pinch of salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Place six 4-ounce ramekins in a larger baking pan, making sure the larger pan is at least 1/2 inch deeper than the ramekins.
Bring the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla bean and scraped seeds to a simmer in a large nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat, cover the pan with plastic film and let steep for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks and salt in a medium bowl
After steeping, bring the milk mixture back to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and ladle out 1/2 cup of the hot milk. Drizzle it slowly into the eggs while whisking. When the milk mixture is incorporated into the eggs, pour the mixture back into the hot milk, whisking constantly. Be sure to scrape all the eggs into the pan with a rubber spatula. This is the custard base. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl or into a large heatproof glass measuring cup. Fill each ramekin to the rim with the custard. Fill the larger baking pan with hot water until the water rises two-thirds of the way up the ramekins.
Cover the baking dish loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 40-45 minutes. The custards are done when they are set but have a uniform jiggle. They should not be brown nor should they have risen. Chill the custards for at least 2 hours before serving. Place each ramekin on a plate lined with a doily or napkin. Finished pots de créme will keep, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Chocolate Variation – Add 3 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate to the hot cream mixture.
This is quite the tasty dessert… small but rich. The chocolate went over VERY well but next time I’ll try the vanilla :)
Have a delicious day!
