Cafe au Lait Pots de Creme

Doesn't this sound intimidating?  Well, it isn't.  Pots de Creme is just a really fancy way of saying, PUDDING!  Yet, with the volume turned up.

Isaac loves Pot de Creme.  I make mine in little 2 ounce custard dishes ( actually, they are Chinese tea cups ) and on a good day I can get 8 custards out of one recipe.  All 8 disappear within 2-3 days and most likely it is Isaac whom has eaten them all!

I licked the spoon.  These are creamy, flavorful from the espresso, and bowl lickin good!  I believe the secret ingredient in this recipe is the brown sugar.  I altered the original recipe just a tad, regardless the results were delicious!  This is the perfect week night dessert as it takes minutes to make and can be ready in a flash.

Cafe au Lait Pots de Creme
adapted from Melissa d'Arabian

ingredients:
3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
2 Tbls. sugar
2 Tbls sucanat
1 Tbls. espresso powder
1/2 vanilla bean ( beans scraped from the pod)
pinch of salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks

instructions:
• preheat oven to 325*
• warm some water in a tea kettle
• in a small saucepan, combine the milk, cream, sugars, espresso, vanilla bean ( scrape the beans from the pod and put both the pod and the beans into the saucepan ), and salt.  Heat over low heat just until starting to boil.
• in a measuring cup whisk the egg yolks and the one egg.
• once milk mixture reaches the almost boiling point, pour about a 1/4 cup of the mixture into the egg mixture.  do this slowly, you don't want to "cook" the eggs.  keep adding the milk mixture a little at a time until all is incorporated.
• pour the custard into 8-2 oz. ramekins or 4-4oz ramekins and place in a baking dish.
• fill the baking dish to the halfway point of the ramekins with the heated water ( I like to put my ramekins into the baking dish and put it in the oven.  once steady, i pour the hot water into the pan.  push the oven tray back, gently and close the oven door).
• bake until the edges are set, but still a little wobbly, about 20-25 minutes.
• remove ramekins from the water and place on a small sheet pan filled with ice water.  let cool.
• refrigerate until serving

I dusted each custard dish with a little cocoa powder