TWD-Caramel Pots de Creme

What doesn't sound good about a dessert with the words "caramel" and "creme" in it? I would have been crazy to pass on this one! Funny thing is, I totally forgot that I needed to make it so we had our minimum of 2 posts this month. Things have been busy with the end of school and what not so this afternoon I remembered and got right to it. Thankfully, I had all of the ingredients in the house and didn't have to run to the store. We had whole milk thanks to having a 15-month-old in the house. We had heavy cream thanks to a yummy fruit crisp we had after dinner on Sunday. And, of course, we had plenty of sugar, eggs and vanilla. We keep the pantry well-stocked around here because I can't seem to go more than a few days without getting the baking bug and wanting to make something. It's a good thing we have neighbors who love it when we share our goodies!


I decided to half the recipe so there was enough for sampling but not too much, resulting in overindulgence! The recipe was simple and came together quickly. The most time-consuming part was caramelizing the sugar. I followed Dorie's instructions to use plastic wrap over the top while the custards baked, unfortunately it didn't work very well for me. Maybe my plastic wrap was too cheap? When I removed the pan from the oven, the plastic wrap had split down the middle right between the two holes I had put in it. Thank goodness it didn't melt and ruin the dessert! I pulled off the plastic as soon as it came out.


The pots de crème came out of the oven a bit darker than I thought they were going to be. I wonder if it had something to do with the plastic wrap not really doing it's job? It didn't seem to affect the flavor in a negative way. The custard was creamy and had the a subtle hint of the caramelized sugar. It was delicious!


This is a recipe I would definitely make again when company came for dinner. It was simple, quick and amazingly good. If you are interested in the recipe, which I'm sure you are, head on over to Peggy's blog.


Until our next post! Happy Baking!

TWD: Brown Sugar Bundt Cake

I am not sure why but this one always caught my eye when flipping through Dorie's book over the last few years. Maybe it is because I LOVE brown sugar. It smells good and as a child I used to sneak spoonfuls or finger fulls of brown sugar whenever it was out on the counter. The best part of making this recipe is that my house smells like brown sugar at it's best. Anyone who walks into my house can smell the sweet aroma. I almost don't want to make dinner, because I don't want to mix beef and cumin in with brown sugar. Maybe we will have to stick with something not as smelly....hmmm pancakes anyone.



This cake uses ground walnuts as part of the dry ingredients and I could not help but add some chopped walnuts to the cake as well. I left out the almond extract and prunes, neither are to my liking. The cake tastes as good as it smells. I may have to give some away tonight. A whole bundt cake will not work well in this house. The hubby is trying to lighten his load to say it best and the kids never like anything that is truly delicious. Who can I bring this to?


Now to figure out my next baking adventure. My 4yr old turns 5 on Saturday and has requested a Rudolph the red nose reindeer cake. She mentioned it at Christmas and I thought I would cross that bridge when it came (hoping she would forget), but here I am trying to figure out how to make a Rudolph cake and I am not the best at making decorative cakes. Wish me luck. If you have any ideas please comment and let me know what you would do.

If you are interested in making this bundt head on over to Pantry Revisited by Peggy.