From Daryl aka Avery:
I tried a new recipe from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook called:
GLUTEN-FREE Baking by Kristine Kidd.
I love when I find gluten-free books that have exquisite pictures and a wide
variety of recipes.
Now when I landed on pots de crème, I though, oh, yum! Must
have. By the way, pots of crème are naturally
gluten-free, so it’s a bit of a cheat putting them into a book like this. I
expect to have recipes that at one time needed to be converted from a regular
recipe.
But I won’t quibble, because this recipe was fantastic!!!
I’m giving you the recipe as it stands, but I tweaked and
changed, and okay, oops, I made a BIG mistake. Big. See below.
But, spoiler alert, these little gems still turned out great, despite my
mistake. How’s that for wonderful!
Salted Caramel Pots
de Crème
Ingredients:
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
6 large egg yolks
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt (I used ¼ teaspoon)
Fleur de sel or other flaky sea salt for sprinkling (I
couldn’t find this!)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place 6 2/3-cup (5 fl oz)
or ¾-cup (6 fl oz) custard cups or ramekins in a large roasting pan.
Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large glass measuring cup.
[Note: I skipped this step. See below.]
Bring a kettle of water to boil. (Fill it with about 6 - 8 cups water)
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, stir
together the sugar and ¼ cup water until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to
medium-high and boil, without stirring, until the mixture turns a deep amber
color, occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush
and swirling the mixture in the pan, about 6 minutes. (Mine took about 8-9 minutes.)
Gradually whisk in the cream and milk (the mixture will
bubble vigorously). THIS IS WHERE I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE. I READ THE PORTION AS 1
CUP OF MILK INSTEAD OF ½ CUP. MY MIXTURE WAS DEFINITELY THIN! BUT, SEE THE RESULTS BELOW…
Reduce the heat to medium, and stir with a wooden spoon
until all the caramel bits dissolve. (My
caramel was one big glob, but it eventually dissolved completely, about 3-4
minutes.)
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until frothy. [Note:
set aside your egg whites if you want to make something meringue-y.] Slowly add the hot caramel mixture,
whisking constantly. THIS IS HARD TO DO AND TAKE A PICTURE! IMPOSSIBLE IF
THERE’S ONLY ONE COOK.
Stir in the vanilla and kosher salt. Immediately pour the mixture into the sieve. [Like I said, I skipped this part; didn’t
need it – MAYBE because my mixture was too thin, but I had no lumps!]. Divide
the mixture among the cups.
Remember the billing pot of water you put on? Use it here. Add
enough hot water to the pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Cover the
pan with foil.
Bake the pots de crème until they’re just set around the
edges but still move in the center when gently shaken, about 35 minutes.
Carefully remove the cups from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.
Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel [IF YOU CAN FIND IT
ANYWHERE!] over each pot de crème and serve cold.
A NOTE FROM THE COOKBOOK STAFF: “It is safest to caramelize the sugar in a
heavy-bottomed pan that has a light-colored interior so you can observe the
color of the boiling sugar as it browns. The darker the caramel gets, the
deeper the flavor will be, but be careful not to burn it.”
AND NOW FOR MY RESULT – ADDING THE EXTRA
MILK DIDN’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THIS WAS SO TASTY. MY HUSBAND THOUGHT IT MIGHT
TASTE SWEETER IF THERE WAS LESS MILK, SO SINCE I’LL BE MAKING THIS AGAIN—PROBABLY
WEEKLY!—I’LL TRY IT WITH THE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF MILK.
SO YUMMY!!!!!
******************
