I added green tea, espresso beans and Framboise liqueur to make these pots de crèmes. They’re served in espresso cups topped with spun sugar to resemble real espressos with foam on top. When I tested this recipe, I used a high quality pure green tea powder. It has better flavour than the common variety sold in tea bags. You can get it at Asian grocery stores. When the pots are cooked, the centres should still be quite wiggly which can be deceiving when you’re trying to judge doneness. Make sure you take them out of the oven at this stage or you’ll overcook them. Yield is 8 servings.
ingredients
Green Tea Pots de Crème
Coffee Pots de Crème
Framboise Pots de Crème
Spun Sugar
directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine the cream, milk and tea in medium saucepan.
Bring to boil.
Remove from heat. Cover and let steep for 15 minutes to develop flavour.
Place 8 espresso cups or small ramekins in a metal baking pan.
Strain cream mixture through fine strainer into medium bowl.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
Gradually whisk in cream mixture.
Divide custard among the cups.
Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up sides of custard cups.
Cover baking pan with foil. Pierce foil in several places with knife to allow steam to escape.
Bake custards until softly set (centres will move slightly when cups are shaken gently), about 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove custards from water. Cool on a rack. Chill until cold, about 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Spread the espresso beans, in a single layer, on a baking sheet.
Roast the beans in the oven for 10 minutes, or until fragrant.
Crush the beans coarsely with a rolling pin between 2 pieces of parchment paper.
Reduce oven to 325 degrees F.
Combine the cream, milk and espresso beans in medium saucepan.
Bring to boil.
Remove from heat. Cover and let steep 15 minutes to develop flavour.
Place 8 espresso cups or small ramekins in a metal baking pan.
Strain cream mixture through fine strainer into medium bowl.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
Gradually whisk in cream mixture.
Divide custard among the cups.
Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up sides of custard cups.
Cover baking pan with foil. Pierce foil in several places with knife to allow steam to escape.
Bake custards until softly set (centres will move slightly when cups are shaken gently), about 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove custards from water. Cool on rack. Chill until cold, about 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 325 degreees F.
Combine the cream and milk in a medium saucepan.
Bring to boil.
Remove from heat.
Stir in the framboise and let cool.
Place 8 espresso cups or small ramekins in a metal baking pan.
Strain cream mixture through fine strainer into medium bowl.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
Gradually whisk in cream mixture.
Divide custard among the cups.
Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up sides of custard cups.
Cover baking pan with foil. Pierce foil in several places with knife to allow steam to escape.
Bake custards until softly set (centres will move slightly when cups are shaken gently), about 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove custards from water. Cool on rack. Chill until cold, about 4 hours.
In a small, heavy saucepan combine the corn syrup and the sugar, bring the mixture to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and boil the syrup until it is a golden caramel and registers 310°F. on a candy thermometer. Syrup needs to rest for 3 minutes.
Balance a wooden broom handle between two counter tops. Tape the ends of the broom handle to the counter.
Cut the top inch of wires off the end of a whisk.
Holding your hand about 1 foot above the centre of the broom handle, drizzle the sugar over the handle by waving the fork back and forth quickly so that thin strings of sugar drop over the handle. Repeat this.
While the sugar strings are still pliable, quickly gather them up into a ball.
Repeat until all the sugar is used, keeping the temperature at 310 degrees F.
Top each of the pots de crème with spun sugar.