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Pots du Créme au Chocolat

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The Story:

Over my adult lifetime, my mother frequently expressed her failure as a mother because she fed her babies Gerber’s chocolate pudding, getting her daughters started early on sugar. They were different times, I tell her, can’t know what you didn’t know. And besides I have no chocolate love regrets. (Does early exposure prevent allergies? I would hate to be allergic to chocolate.) Jell-O chocolate pudding, the kind you stir constantly on the stove, not the instant variety, was one of the few cooking experiences I remember from childhood. Now my tastes are more sophisticated, and this chocolate “pudding” recipe is blue ribbon. And so easy. I hope I made it for my mother, I don’t remember. She did love chocolate!

The Recipe:

Makes six servings

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream (or whole milk, if you’re on a diet, haha)
6 oz dark sweet chocolate (I use 60% Ghiradelli), cut into small pieces
⅓ cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla (or Grand Marnier, or rum, or Kahlúa)
Chocolate curls

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350º. In a heavy saucepan combine cream and chocolate and cook over medium heat stirring until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Whisk in sugar, yolks (one at a time), and vanilla. Strain (if you want, I don’t) the custard into 6 one-half cup ramekins and place in a baking pan. Add hot water to the pan to reach halfway up the side to create a water bath. Bake 25 minutes or until top is set. Remove from pan and let cool. Garnish with chocolate curls (whipped cream opt). Pure deliciousness! Even better after refrigerating.

The Fresh Market Scone Clone

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The Story

Back in North Carolina, I fell deeply in love with the blueberry scones sold at the sweet Fresh Market grocer. It accompanied my weekend blog writing at a nearby café. Until they stopped selling it. Another lover, lost. I was devastated. The “plop” scone that replaced it was terrible. I complained to management, it came to naught. But then, one random day, my lover returned to me! I copied the ingredients from the cellophane wrapper onto a brown napkin at the cafe and put it in my computer bag. Good thing. The return didn’t last long. I set about to compare the ingredients to recipes and experimented until I got as close as I could. Now, fifteen years later, I don’t really remember the original, but this one is coffee dunkable and not doughy. It’s not for everyone, and surely not for Britons, but I like it. And so did Mama!

The Recipe

2 c flour (½ white, ½ white wheat—or all white)
2-½ tsp baking powder
⅓ c sugar + 2 T
½ tsp salt
¼ c margarine (I use butter, it’s what I have)
2 egg yolks, beaten
⅓ c low-fat milk (I use whole, it’s what I have)
⅓ c. dried blueberries (fresh berries make the dough gloppy)
1 tsp orange zest
Raw sugar

Combine dry ingredients, cut in margarine. Stir in blueberries. Add beaten egg yolks and milk. Knead 3-4 times. Pat out dough on parchment-lined baking sheet, ¾ inch thick. Cut in 6-8 wedges and separate on the sheet. Brush tops with milk. Liberally sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake at 425º on bottom rack for 14 minutes.