Chef Stuarts Traditional Pot De Creme Recipes

POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Bring the heavy cream, espresso powder and 1 tablespoon sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pull away from the heat and set aside.
• Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler at a low simmer. Stir the chocolate until melted. Pull the bowl off the heat and set aside.
• Whisk the egg yolks, vanilla extract, salt and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl until light in color and thickened. Add about 1 cup of the hot cream mixture to the eggs to temper. Add the remaining cream and melted chocolate and stir until fully combined.
• Pour the chocolate mixture into 4 small heatproof bowls. Place the bowls in a roasting pan and fill it with hot water until it comes halfway up the sides of the bowls. Cover with foil and bake until the custard is set, 18 to 22 minutes. Carefully remove the bowls from the roasting pan to a small sheet tray and refrigerate until cooled and fully set, 1 to 2 hours. Top with dollops of mascarpone and serve.

CHEF STUART'S MARYLAND CRAB SOUP

Steps:

• In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, saute the onions, garlic, and celery in the olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the crab boil seasoning, lemon pepper seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir until all the vegetables are coated with seasoning and spices. Add all the other ingredients except for the crab. Simmer over low heat until potatoes are soft, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• While the soup is cooking, pick through the crab meat just to ensure that all shells are removed. Stir in crab the last 10 minutes of cooking.

MOCHA POT DE CREME

Steps:

• Pour the heavy cream, vanilla and coffee beans into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Bring the cream to a brief simmer; do not boil or it will overflow within seconds. Remove from heat and strain to remove the beans.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is lemon-colored, about 3 minutes. Temper the yolks by gradually whisking the hot cream into the yolk and sugar mixture (do not add the hot cream too quickly or the eggs will cook.) Stir in the brewed coffee and melted chocolate.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Pour the egg-cream mixture into 6 (8-ounce) ramekins or cappuccino cups, filling 3/4 of the way full with mixture. Fill a large, shallow baking pan with 1/2-inch of warm water. Carefully place the ramekins in the water bath and bake for about 35 minutes, the center should jiggle slightly. Remove the pan from the oven and let the ramekins cool in the water for 10 minutes. Then pop them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.

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.

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.

CLASSIC FRENCH CHOCOLATE POTS DE CRèME

Steps:

• Step 1 - Preheat your oven to 325F(160C) with a rack in the middle.
• Step 2 - In a medium saucepan, slowly warm up the heavy cream with the chopped chocolate over medium-low heat. Do not bring up to a boil - just warm up enough to melt the chocolate. Stir occasionally and remove from the heat when the chocolate is melted.
• Step 3 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt together for 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. Pour 2 tablespoons of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture and whisk (this tempers the egg yolks so they don't curdle later). Slowly stir in the rest of the hot cream while continuously whisking.
• Step 4 - Fill 6 small [120ml - ½ cup] pots or ramekins with the chocolate cream. Place the pots into a large baking dish and fill this dish with hot water ¾ up the sides of the pots.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and carefully remove the ramekins from the baking dish. Let cool completely to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating.
• Chill for at least 3 hours before enjoying. For serving, top each pot with a dollop of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

SALTED CARAMEL POTS DE CRèME

Steps:

• 1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Place eight 1/2-cup (4-ounce) ovenproof cups, custard cups, or ramekins in a large baking pan.
• 2. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar and kosher salt. Using the tip of a small sharp knife, scrape the vanilla seeds from the bean, add to the butter mixture, and drop in the bean too. Stir for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture has the texture of thick sand and has taken on a nutty, caramel fragrance.
• 3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and gradually whisk in the cream. The mixture will bubble vigorously and will seize when the cream is added. Whisk for about 5 minutes, or until the hardened sugar bits dissolve and the mixture begins to boil. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the milk.
• 4. In a large bowl, stir the egg yolks to blend. Gradually whisk in the warm caramel mixture. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup or a bowl with a spout. Pour the custard into the cups, dividing it equally. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, leaving one corner uncovered. Place the pan in the oven and carefully pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups, then cover the open corner with the foil. Bake the custards for about 50 minutes, or until they are just set around the edges but still jiggle slightly when the cups are gently shaken. (Be very careful of escaping steam when you uncover the pan.)
• 5. Remove the cups from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 1 hour. Cover each cup with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours, or up to 2 days.
• 6. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over each pot de crème and serve chilled.
• Storing:
• The pots de crème can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.