Pot De Creme Stuffed Meringue With Blue Raspberry Reduction Food

POT DE CREME

Steps:

• Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over gently simmering water. When the chocolate is almost melted, turn off the heat and let stand until completely melted.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saute pan, scald the cream and milk. Watch carefully as cream will boil over.
• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until the sugar is completely dissolved. Slowly whisk the hot cream mixture into the yolks. If you add the hot cream mixture too quickly, the egg yolks could cook and leave undesirable cooked egg particles.
• Remove the melted chocolate from the stove and pour the hot cream mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the melted chocolate. Whisk until well combined and smooth.
• Ladle the mixture into 6 (3/4-cup) ramekins. Line the bottom of a baking pan with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels. Place the filled ramekins in the baking dish on the towel. Pour in enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the entire pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Bake until mixture around the edges of the ramekin is firm when lightly shaken, about 35 minutes. (Baking time will vary depending on depth and width of ramekins.) The center of the Pot de Cremes may still jiggle slightly when shaken, but that is okay, it will firm up as it chills.
• Carefully remove the ramekins from the baking pan, wipe dry and allow to cool. Once cooled, refrigerate until firm, about 2 to 3 hours.
• To serve, spoon some White Chocolate Whipped Cream into the ramekin and garnish with some grated chocolate.
• Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
• Whip the cream in a chilled bowl to soft peaks. Fold in the cooled chocolate and beat to stiff peaks.

POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Place the chocolate in a blender. Whisk the milk, 1 cup cream, egg yolks, granulated sugar and salt in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula and almost boiling, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Immediately pour the milk mixture over the chocolate in the blender. Cover and hold the lid with a thick kitchen towel; blend until combined and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. Divide the chocolate mixture among ramekins or small cups and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
• Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the confectioners' sugar with a mixer or in the blender until soft peaks form. Top the chilled pots de creme with whipped cream.

LEMON MERINGUE POTS DE CRèME

Steps:

• Heat half-and-half to just under a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or a double boiler. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk well until creamy, a minute or two.
• Slowly whisk 1/2 cup of hot half-and-half into egg-sugar mixture, then add remaining half-and-half and mix well. Pour back into saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until custard is thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, lemon zest and lemon juice. Spoon custard into 6 4-ounce ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to several hours. (May be done even a day ahead.)
• Combine chopped pistachios with 1 tablespoon sugar. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put egg whites in mixing bowl and add 3 remaining tablespoons sugar. Beat whites to stiff peaks. Spoon a pile of meringue onto each custard-filled ramekin, using all the meringue. Sprinkle with pistachio-sugar mixture. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned. (May be baked just before guests arrive, then kept at room temperature until time for dessert.)

POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the egg, sugar and salt. Whisk in cream. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture reaches 160° and coats the back of a metal spoon. , Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate chips and vanilla until smooth. Pour into small dessert dishes. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

RASPBERRY MERINGUES

Steps:

• Place egg whites in a large bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. , Beat eggs whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add gelatin, beating until combined. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Beat in vinegar and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts., Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 250° for 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch. Turn oven off; leave cookies in the oven with door ajar for about 1-1/2 hours or until cool. , In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cookies.

FRESH RASPBERRY MERINGUES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 170°F, or the lowest setting on your oven that is closest to this temperature. Move your oven rack to the top third of the oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Combine raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir often, crushing berries with the back of a wooden spoon as they cook. As soon as the rasberry mixture becomes syrupy, remove the pan from the heat. Strain the berry mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup, pressing down on the berries with a rubber spatula to extract all the juices. You should have about 1/2 cup of raspberry sauce. Discard the seeds and stir the vanilla extract into the sauce. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before proceeding.
• Place egg whites in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the cream of tartar over them. Use a mixer to beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.
• Stir the cooled raspberry sauce, then gently fold 1/3 of the sauce into the beaten egg whites. Repeat two more times with the remaining 2/3 of the raspberry sauce.
• Spoon meringue into a gallon-size zip-top baggie, forcing the mixture to one corner of the bag. Snip about 1/4" from the corner of the bag so meringues can be piped onto the prepared pan. Pipe out 1 1/2 inch swirled circles onto baking sheet, making sure that the meringues don't touch. If you prefer, meringues can be gently scooped and dropped by rounded teaspoonfuls instead of piping.
• Bake for 2 hours at 170°F, rotating the baking sheet after 1 hour so they will dry evenly. When done, the meringues should not have any browning, and they should be dark pink in color.
• Turn off the oven and allow meringues to remain in the oven for at least two hours to finish drying, or you can leave them in the oven overnight.
• Meringues can be stored in an airtight container for 5 days, or they can be frozen for up to one month. If frozen, allow to thaw to room temp before serving.