Chocolate Pots de Crème

I invited friends over for dinner on Sunday. My menu included my virgin attempt at cooking meat, I ended up making a "chicken tikka masala," I just substituted chicken for the paneer in my tried and tested " paneer tikka masala" recipe. (http://indianfoodathome.blogspot.com/2010/07/paneer-tikka-masala.html )
It worked fine.

Now coming to the problem that always baffles me - dessert. My original idea was to make a "khubani ka meetha" with mascarpone. I found the recipe on the Masterchef web site-

http://starplus.startv.in/masterchef/mcrecipe.aspx?cname=KandlaNijhowne&id=119&sid=40

I thought the concept of using mascarpone with the apricot and adding pomegranate seeds was genius. The sweetness of the apricots, balanced with mascarpone rather than whipped cream, and the pomegranate seeds bursting in your mouth while adding freshness and pizzaz to the recipe. However, I couldn't find dried apricots at the store. Again as usual, I started to surf food and wine magazine. At this point, it was the afternoon of the dinner day, and I was desperate, till I stumbled on this recipe. Pot de crème ("pot of cream") is a traditional French custard typically served in a pot-shaped cup. It is pronounced as "poe de krehm', with a soft 'd' like we have in Hindi. This milk-chocolate version from pastry chef Frank Urso is easy and I got it right the first time I made it. I was looking for a dessert recipe for a dinner party, and foiund this recipe on food and wine magazine. I have copied the original recipe here, with my comments in bold.

I followed the following link to make this recipe.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/milk-chocolate-pots-de-creme

The dessert turned out to be dense rich decadent chocolate custard, topped with whipped cream. It also looks very pretty in a martini glass. I modified the above recipe, using semi sweet chocolate, and halving the amounts. It made four servings.

1. 10 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped ( I used 4 ounces of semi sweet Ghirardelli chocolate and 2 ounces bitter sweet)
2. 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped ( mentioned above)
3. 1 cup milk ( used ½ cup)
4. 1 cup heavy cream ( used ½ cup)
5. 1/4 cup sugar ( used 2 tbspn)
6. 5 large egg yolks ( used 3)
7. Crème fraîche and chocolate shavings, for garnish ( I used whipped heavy cream with vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar)
8. Vanilla Extract ( My touch)

• In a large heatproof bowl, combine the milk and bittersweet chocolates. (Tempering chocolate. I just took the chocolate in a glass bowl and micro waved it for 2 minutes. You need to keep doing this and checking the chocolate, till it melts)
• In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, heavy cream and sugar to a boil, whisking constantly until the sugar is dissolved.
• In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in half of the hot cream. (Be careful here and keep whisking. You do not want the egg to scramble. Make sure you add the cream, little at a time)
• Whisk the egg-and-cream mixture into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the custard coats the back of the spoon, about 4 minutes. Pour the custard over the chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes, and then stir until smooth. ( At this stage, add some vanilla extract)
• Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until very smooth, about 1 minute. Pour the mixture into four 4-ounce ramekins and refrigerate until chilled, 2 hours.
• Let the pots de crème stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Garnish with crème fraîche and chocolate shavings; serve. ( I served with whipped cream. I also kept the dessert out for longer, you want the custard to be softer, it turns hard in the fridge. )