Pots de Creme and Meringues
We haven't done these in a while -- Pots de Creme. "What's that?" you might ask. Imagine an impossibly creamy chocolate pudding that's not quite as firm or jiggly as that stuff you get in a box. Pump up the chocolate flavor (with bittersweet chocolate) and give it a little kick with vanilla and a splash of coffee, and you have an amazing little rich dessert that can be a challenge to finish after a happy night of eating well at the Pippitt house. NB: if you ever make these, do use little ramekins -- those shown here are actually those little sushi dishes you'd use for mixing up soy sauce and wasabi. Certain friends can attest to having to use a certain amount of perseverance in order to finish a custard in a more standard-sized ramekin. Whoof.
We discovered something this time around that we'd kind of missed on an earlier attempt. We love the Cook's Illustrated recipe for the Pots de Creme, and they're good on their instruction to let the strained creme anglaise sit on the chopped chocolate for a few minutes before stirring together to melt the chocolate completely. BUT just stirring wasn't quite enough last time we made this -- there was a funny grainy texture in the final custard that we really wanted to avoid this time. I mean, it's totally edible with the grainy texture, but it's just not the same experience. Jim got the whisk in there and stirred until it was truly all melted down and said grainy-ness was a distant memory.
Because the chocolate custard base called for five yolks, I was left with five egg whites. Hmm, whatEVER would I do with five egg whites? Meringues! So I cracked open Baking With Julia for her recipe -- normally 4 egg whites and 1 cup of sugar, I just gave my five whites 1 1/4 cups of sugar. I shook in not even a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and I didn't think the flavor was reading when I tasted the "batter" before the cookies were baked. But once they were done, that cinnamon came right through and I was glad I hadn't added more. The texture of these little gems -- the crunch and serious sugar rush -- up against the heavenly texture of the Pots de Creme? Ne plus ultra. The best.
(Sadly, the photo of the servings don't reflect the little meringue cookies, but they were definitely enjoyed.)
Because the chocolate custard base called for five yolks, I was left with five egg whites. Hmm, whatEVER would I do with five egg whites? Meringues! So I cracked open Baking With Julia for her recipe -- normally 4 egg whites and 1 cup of sugar, I just gave my five whites 1 1/4 cups of sugar. I shook in not even a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and I didn't think the flavor was reading when I tasted the "batter" before the cookies were baked. But once they were done, that cinnamon came right through and I was glad I hadn't added more. The texture of these little gems -- the crunch and serious sugar rush -- up against the heavenly texture of the Pots de Creme? Ne plus ultra. The best.
(Sadly, the photo of the servings don't reflect the little meringue cookies, but they were definitely enjoyed.)
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