Are you a chocolate lover or a vanilla lover?  Well for these lovely pots de creme, you don’t have to pick just one.  I made Chocolate Pots de Creme a while ago, and the recipe is wonderfully simple.  So naturally I had to mix things up a bit and decided to make a vanilla pots de creme to create a sultry layered dessert for Easter.  While most vanilla pots de creme call for baking in a water bath, I found this recipe which is made on the stove-top.

These make a wonderful dessert and I fancied them up by serving them in Mom’s teacup collection.  The pots de creme were fantastic.  The vanilla turned out a little softer, more pudding-like than I expected, but it paired wonderfully with the denser chocolate layer.  The texture was probably a bit softer because I realized once I’d started that I didn’t have/couldn’t find vanilla beans.  I ended up using vanilla extract, which turned out great, but probably kept it from firming up the way I expected.  So you can go either route with these.

What’s your favorite dessert?  Do you have a go-to dessert when serving company

1 cup half and half

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 tsp salt

6 egg yolks, whisked

1 Tbsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean split and scraped)

In a pot, heat the half and half, cream, sugar, and salt over medium heat, stirring constantly until almost simmering.  Use a ladle to mix a small portion of the liquid into the eggs while whisking constantly.  Continue to add a little liquid at a time until the eggs are warmed.  Then add in the remaining liquid and mix.  Return the mixture to the pot, and heat over medium until the mixture thickens.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Continue to heat and stir until the mixture coats the back of spoon and when you run a line through it the line stays.  Remove from heat and cool.

If you’re going to layer these, you’ll want to let the vanilla mixture come to room temperature before pouring over already chilled chocolate pots de creme.  If you decide not to make layered pots de creme, you’ll want to pour this into whatever serving container you’d like (ramekins, martini glasses, small bowls, etc), let come to room temperature and then cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 6 hours until set, but ideally overnight.