Vanilla Pot De Creme Food

EASY POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Combine egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add heavy cream and half-and-half; blend again. Add chocolate and vanilla extract and blend until chocolate is very finely chopped. Carefully pour hot coffee through the opening while blender is running; blend until chocolate is melted and smooth.
• Pour mixture into small serving dishes. Let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.

VANILLA CUSTARD OR POTS DE CRèME

Steps:

• Whisk until just mixed in a medium bowl: 4 egg yolks.
• Measure and pour into a medium bowl: 3/4 cup heavy cream.
• Combine in a small pot: 3/4 cup half-and-half, 1/4 cup sugar, One 2-inch piece of vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped into the pan with the bean.
• Warm just until steaming over medium heat. Stir occasionally to dissolve the sugar. When warm, whisk into the egg yolks. Strain this mixture into the cold cream and mix well. Remove the vanilla bean from the strainer and squeeze all the seeds and liquid from it back into the custard mix. The mixture can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour the mixture into a 2 1/2-cup custard mold, or into 4 custard cups. Place the mold or cups into a large, deep pan and pour in hot water until it reaches about halfway up the sides. Cover the top of the pan with foil and seal tightly. Bake until the sides of the custards are set but the center is still soft when jiggled, about 50 minutes for the large mold and 25 to 30 minutes for the smaller cups. Remove from the water bath and let cool. Serve warm or cool in the refrigerator.
• Top the cooled custards with a few tablespoons of raspberry purée.
• Stir 2 tablespoons dry Marsala, sherry, or a liqueur into the custard mixture.
• Melt 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate and 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate over hot water. Stir the melted chocolate into the hot half-and-half. Stir in the cream and whisk in the egg yolks. Add 1/2 teaspoon brandy or Cognac, if desired.
• For crème brûlée, cool the custards and sprinkle 1 tablespoon white sugar evenly over the top of each custard. With a small handheld propane torch, pass the flame over the sugar to caramelize evenly. Heat until the sugar turns a dark amber brown. Alternatively, caramelize the sugar under a broiler but keep a sharp eye on the custards-they burn easily. Let cool to harden and serve.

POT DE CREME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Place the milk and vanilla bean in a saucepan, over medium flame, bring to boil. In separate bowl, beat the yolks with sugar. Pour the hot vanilla-milk into the yolk/sugar mixture, and stir.
• Baking pot de creme: Bring a pot of water to boil. Fill ramekins to 3/4 full with custard mixture, cover the ramekin with aluminum foil. Line a hotel pan or sheet pan with parchment paper, place ramekins in it, slide the pan into the oven and fill the pan with the boiling water, to halfway up the sides if the ramekins. Check custard occasionally to make sure the hot water doesn't boil, if it boils at any point, turn the oven down immediately. If the pot de creme gets to hot it will curdle. It takes about 40 minutes to cook, and cream should be smooth. Remove the ramekins from bain-marie, take off the lids and refrigerate until completely chilled.

VANILLA POT DE CREME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
• Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the sticky seeds inside. Add the seeds and the shell to the cream. Heat until small bubbles form around the edge of the saucepan.
• Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed until pale and light, about 2 minutes.
• Add the vanilla extract to the hot cream. Remove and discard the shell of the vanilla bean. Whisking constantly, drizzle the hot cream into the egg yolks.
• Divide the custard among 4 ramekins. Place ramekins into a square baking dish. Pull out the rack of the oven and set the baking dish on it. Pour boiling water into baking dish until it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully slide the rack back into the oven and close the door; bake 30 minutes, until the center of each ramekin is barely set and wiggles slightly when shaken.
• Carefully move the baking dish to a rack and allow custards to cool to room temperature in the water bath. Cover each ramekin with plastic rap and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold with a dollop of barely-sweetened whipped cream.

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.

NO-BAKE POT DE CREME

Steps:

• Heat milk in a small pan over moderate heat until it comes to a boil.
• In blender or food processor combine egg, sugar, a pinch of salt, semisweet chips, and liqueur.
• Run processor or turn on blender to low setting.
• Pour in boiling milk in a slow stream.
• Process or blend 1 minute, until smooth.
• Spoon chocolate into 4 demitasse cups and chill.
• Beat cream until soft peaks form.
• Add sugar and beat to combine.
• Top the chocolate cups with a dollop of cream and garnish each cup with mint sprigs.
• Place cups on saucers and serve with demitasse spoons.
• If you use teacups, this recipe will yield 2 cups, rather than 4.