TWD: [White] Chocolate Pots de Crème

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Christine of Black Cat Cooking.

I swapped out the bittersweet chocolate in favor of white chocolate (and reduced the sugar by 2 tbsp to compensate for the extra sugar in the white chocolate). What can I say... I love white chocolate so much that I will find any excuse to use it over regular chocolate. I also attempted to make this a little healthier by using 2% milk instead of whole. They were delicious and reminded me of vanilla pudding! I served 'em up with a sprinkling of cinnamon which added dimension to the flavor. I also used foil rather than saran wrap as advised by several other bloggers.

The recipe below includes my changes to the recipe. Check out Christine's blog (link above) for the original.



[White] Chocolate Pots de Crème
8 servings | adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours

4 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1 large egg
5 large egg yolks
2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a large roasting pan with a double thickness of paper towels, then put eight 4-ounce (1/2 cup) custard cups, ramekins, espresso or pot de creme cups in the pan. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils turn off the heat.

Put the chopped chocolate in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or a large heatproof bowl. Bring 1/2 cup of the heavy cream to a boil. When the cream is just at a boil, pour it over the chocolate and wait for 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula and starting in the center of the bowl, gently stir the cream and chocolate until the ganache is smooth; set aside.

Stir the remaining 1 cup cream and the milk together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large glass measuring cup or bowl, whisk the egg, yolks, sugar and salt together until pale and slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in a little of the hot liquid - this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. Finally, slowly whisk the egg mixture into the ganache, stirring gently to incorporate.

With a spoon, skim the foam off the top of the custard, then pour the custard into the cups. Pour enough hot water from the teakettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Cover the top of the pan snugly with foil, poke two holes in opposite corners and very carefully and steadily slide the setup into the oven.

Bake the custards for 35-40 minutes, or until the custards jiggle a little only in the center when tapped or lightly shaken.

Gingerly remove the roasting pan from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Allow the custards to rest in their warm bath for 10 minutes, then peel off the foil and transfer the cups from the water to the cooling rack. Refrigerate when they reach room temperature. When cool, cover tightly with plastic wrap.