Pudding, Pot de Creme, Pudding, Pot de Creme, Pudding…?  Pot de Creme! I pick Pot de Creme!

If Pot de Creme was created in a 17th C. french kitchen, it took Americans two centuries to figure out what to do with all those egg whites: Angel Food Cake. And if you made Angel Food Cake last week, you had yolks for this special baked custard.

I get a lot of pleasure serving Pot de Creme in tea cups Auntie Helen collected during travel abroad. Sarah brilliantly suggested mixing the cups and saucers. Today I chose to use “Perfect Tumblers designed by Helen Levi. Dori found them at the very cool Half Hitch – dare you to leave the site without a wish list.  Using 6 of Helen’s ceramic cups meant having enough creme “batter” left over for 6 mini-pots, err… ramekins. Sometimes all we want and need is a taste, plus tiny servings can arranged as part of an individual dessert sampler.

Chocolate Pot de Creme – Serves 6-12 depending on who’s walked around the block twice

Click Here For Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup whole milk

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

6 large egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon GF vanilla extract

1-2 pinches salt (“pinches” – don’t grab the 1/8 teaspoon measure)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 F. Have ready 6-12 (ramekins) and a baking dish deep enough for a water bath half way up the sides of the pots.

2.  In a heavy sauce pan heat the cream and milk to simmering. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate is completely melted.  Set aside

3.  In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks until light in color.  Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk again until creamy.

4.  Whisk 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until smooth.  Pour that back into the chocolate cream mixture, again whisking until smooth.  Strain the “batter” into a heat proof pitcher and cool for 10 minutes.

5.  Pour the batter into individual cups/ramekins placed in a deep baking pan.  Pour warm water into the pan deep enough to measure at half the cups’ height.

6.  Transfer carefully to the oven and bake at 325: 25 minutes for small ramekins and up to 55 minutes for 6 large portions.  The custard should jiggle slightly at the center, but otherwise be set. Remove from the water bath and remove the foil.  Cool to room temperature before chilling for 2-3 hours. Cover when chilled for up to 2 days.

Serve with unsweetened whipped cream flavored with espresso and/or vanilla extract.

6 of the yolks left from Angel Food

Weighing the chocolate

Whisking the chocolate into the hot cream

Sugar into the yolks

Whisking the vanilla and salt into the yolds

Adding a small portion of the chocolate to the yolk/sugar mixture

Pouring the yolks and chocolate back into the chocolate cream

Old fashioned spring loaded timer

Straining the custard – don’t want any big bits of egg to ruin the creamy texture

Auntie Helen’s Tea Cups – not this time

Ceramic tumblers from Half Hitch

Adding warm water to the covered tumblers

Mini ramekins

Deep pots yield a slightly varied surface, but lots of room for whipped cream

Small pot on a plate with other sweets