These easy-to-make mocha pots de creme are perfect meal ending on a warm summer evening. (Jump directly to the recipe.)
“I would have eaten more of this if I could…” said my friend Annie as she handed off the rest of the mocha pots de creme to my partner AJ. He finished the half empty mason jar without a thought and I assured her that it was fine if she couldn’t finish it. Annie always professes that she doesn’t like desserts or sweets so the fact that she actually ate half the jar was quite a compliment. Of course, AJ ended up eating his own serving, the rest of hers and the couple of spoonfuls that I had left in mine as well. Obviously he had no issues with desserts or sweets. Or with these pots de creme.
Pots de creme are basically a thinner custard baked in a jars or ramekins. They aren’t quite pudding thick but are easier to make because you just bake them in the oven in a water bath as opposed to cooking them on the stove, which requires constant stirring. The water bath itself seems fussy but it’s there to keep the custard from cooking too fast. Besides, wouldn’t you prefer pour water into a pan around the jars, then closing the oven door and walking away until it’s done over standing there next to the hot stove and stirring the entire time? Yeah, me too.
Of course mocha flavored pots de creme is made even easier by cold brew coffee concentrate. Not everyone likes cold brew coffee but I adore it. I even have a recipe for cold brew here on my blog but when I don’t have time to make my own concentrate, I opt to get concentrates like the one from Sprouts Farmers Market. It’s awesome in the summertime when I don’t want hot coffee but it also does double duty by adding easy coffee flavor in the mocha pots de creme!
I’m partnering with Sprouts Farmers Market to create recipes like this mocha pots de creme using Sprouts products. I was compensated for this post but all opinions above are my own.
Mocha Pot de Creme
By Irvin Lin
These easy pots de creme use Sprouts cold brew coffee concentrate to give them an extra punch of coffee flavor. If you aren’t a fan of cold brew, feel free to use double-strength brewed coffee instead. The custard needs to chill at least 4 hours in the fridge or overnight, so plan accordingly if you plan on serving them for dinner.
Ingredients
2 1/2 ounces (70 g) chopped dark chocolate
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (100 g) white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
7 tablespoons cold brew, divided
2 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To Finish
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce dark chocolate
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Place 6 8-ounce mason jars in a large deep baking or roasting pan. Bring a kettle or a pot of water to a boil, then set aside.
2. Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and cook in the microwave for 30 seconds intervals, stirring between each cycle, until melted and smooth. You can also melt the chocolate with a double boiler. Once the chocolate is melted smooth, set aside.
3. Place the egg yolks, sugar, salt and 3 tablespoons of cold brew in a large heatproof bowl and stir with a whisk until a paste forms.
4. Place the cream, cold brew and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat to high and bring the liquid to a near boil, stirring occasionally. Once the bubbles start to form on the side of the pan, remove from heat. Do not let boil. Make sure to watch the pot, as the cream can boil over pretty fast!
5. Temper the yolks by first, drizzling a tiny bit of the hot liquid into the egg paste, stirring while you do it. You don’t want to pour too much or you’ll scramble the eggs. Just pour a little, stir to incorporate and then pour a little more. Repeat until all the liquid is added. Once all the hot liquid is added, add the chocolate and stir until incorporated.
6. Divide the mocha custard into the mason jars in the roasting pan. It should come up about 3/4 high. Pour just boiled water into the roasting pan, until it reaches about halfway up the jars. Place in the oven and cook for 35 minutes or until the center of one of the jars jiggles slightly. Don’t worry, it will firm up as it cools.
7. Let the jars cool in the pan for 20 minutes then move the jars to the refrigerator and let cool and set for 4 hours or overnight.
8. Before serving, make whipped cream by placing the cream, sugar and vanilla in a metal bowl and whip by hand with a whisk (or with a hand mixer) until soft peaks form. Divide the whipped cream over the mocha pot de crème. Take a vegetable peeler and shave some chocolate over each pot de crème. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 servings.
Kari says
Yum! These sound delicious!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/shrimp-and-angel-hair-pasta/
Pam says
Thanks for tipping me off on replacing cold brew. I live on Kauai and I can pretty much bet there is no such product offered here. By the way, thank you for teaching me how to put text on a photo in Lightroom. You da best. Aloha.