Pot de crème
.jpg) Butterscotch pot de crème | |
| Course | Dessert |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | eggs, cream or milk, sugar, flavourings |
Pot de crème (/ˈpoʊdəˈkrɛm/ POH-də-KREM; French: [po də kʁɛm]; lit. 'pot of cream'),[1][2] plural pots de crème (pronounced the same) is a baked custard dessert that resembles a crème brûlée without the layer of hardened caramelised sugar. A basic pot de crème has a rich but neutral flavour, and it is often supplemented with additions like chocolate or coffee. The texture is smooth and delicate; baked until just set, it is served chilled in the dish it was baked in.
Pot de crème is known under several names, including petit pot de crème,[3] cream pot,[4] and in America, baked custard and cup custard.[3]
Description
[edit]Pot de crème is a baked custard dessert.[2] The dessert is baked until the custard has just set,[5] giving the dish a delicate, smooth texture. Eggs and cream give pot de crème a rich flavour without any flavours being especially prominent.[5] It is often flavoured with ingredients such as chocolate, coffee or nuts,[6] and is served in the dish it was baked in.[7] This same basic preparation and service in the baking dish is also seen in crème brûlée, which adds a final element of a hardened caramelised sugar top.[2]
Preparation and serving
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In a typical preparation of pot de crème, cream or milk is scalded—heated to the point just before boiling—and combined with sugar and eggs while avoiding incorporating air.[5][8][9] The custard is then portioned into small cups or dishes which are placed in a container and filled with hot water halfway up each dish.[10][5] The water bath serves to insulate the dishes, which is sometimes furthered by placing a towel between each dish and the container.[5] Some cooks cover the dishes here, using lids from specially-designed pot de crème cups or with plastic wrap that has been punctured in several places.[3]
In the oven, the dishes are cooked slowly in their water bath at around 300–350 °F (149–177 °C),[5] until barely set—about the point where the only part of the custard that moves as the pan is gently shaken is the centre.[5] If air was worked into the liquid during combination, cracks may have appeared as the air expanded in the oven,[6] and without a covering, a crust.[6] Once out of the oven, the pots de crème are quickly removed from their water baths and left to cool, before being covered and refrigerated.[11][3] Without a covering, they easily pick up smells present in the fridge.[3]
Pots de crème are served cold in the dishes they were baked in.[5][4] These may be ramekins or specialty pot de crème porcelain cups, fitted with a lid.[6][3]
Varieties
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The rich flavour of a basic pot de crème comes from the eggs and cream, and lacks any particularly prominent flavours.[5] Flavourings are often added, with vanilla, nuts, coffee and chocolate among the most common.[4][6]
The inclusion of chocolate in particular has been the subject of commentary: Harold McGee in the revised On Food and Cooking describes a chocolate pot de crème as "essentially a ganache",[12] and Dorie Greenspan describes a popular belief that they are the "culinary siblings" equivalent of chocolate pudding, even as chocolate pot de crème has a reputation as sophisticated and chocolate pudding "homey".[13] The difference between the two is in the method of cooking and inclusion of flour: chocolate pudding includes cornflour, and is cooked on a stove while being stirred.[13] Kyri Claflin also notes in The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets that some chocolate pot de crème dishes served in France are a mousse rather than baked custard.[14]
Several versions of pot de crème are identified in Hering's Dictionary of Classical and Modern Cookery by 1989 in the 10th edition, including toppings of dates, apricot-sauce and orange blossom water (Arabian) and poached pear with chocolate sauce (Héléne). Multiple were decorated with whipped cream, and some included pralin mixed throughout.[4]
See also
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References
[edit]- ↑ "Learning How to Cook Pronunciation Chart" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 13, 2011.
- 1 2 3 Suas 2009, pp. 603, 1013.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Greenspan 2006, p. 388.
- 1 2 3 4 Bickel 1987, p. 678.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Amendola & Rees 2003, p. 211.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Suas 2009, p. 603.
- ↑ Suas 2009, p. 1013.
- ↑ Beverages, p. 173.
- ↑ Suas 2009, p. 868.
- ↑ Amendola & Rees 2003, p. 212.
- ↑ Amendola & Rees 2003, pp. 211–212.
- ↑ McGee 2004, p. 707.
- 1 2 Greenspan 2006, p. 390.
- ↑ Claflin 2015, p. 464.
Sources
[edit]- Amendola, Joseph; Rees, Nicole (2003). Understanding Baking: The Art and Science of Baking (3rd ed.). Hoboken: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-40546-9.
- Beverages. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books. 1983. ISBN 0-8094-2946-2.
- Bickel, Walter (1987). Hering's Dictionary of Classical and Modern Cookery and Practical Reference Manual for the Hotel, Restaurant, and Catering Trade (10th ed.). Giessen: Fachbuchverlag Dr. Pfanneberg & Co. ISBN 3-8057-0298-1.
- Claflin, Kyri (2015). "Mousse". In Goldstein, Darra (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-31339-6.
- Greenspan, Dorie (2006). Baking: From My Home to Yours. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-618-44336-9.
- McGee, Harold (2004) [1984]. On Food and Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen (2nd ed.). New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1.
- Suas, Michel (2009). Advanced Bread and Pastry: A Professional Approach. Clifton Park, New York: Delamar Cengage Group. ISBN 978-1-4180-1169-7.
External links
[edit]
Pot de crème at Wikibooks
