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Chocolate Pots de Crème: A rich, chocolate custard that can be dressed up with white chocolate whipped cream for a celebratory dessert!

Plus if you have extra egg yolks from making meringue cookies, a pavlova or macaroons, this Chocolate Custard will help you utilize the leftovers!

Chocolate Pots de Crème with White Chocolate Whipped Cream in white ramekins.
Table of Contents hide
1 Why You Must Make
2 When to Serve
3 Expert Tips
4 Frequently Asked Questions
5 You May Also Like
6 Chocolate Pots de Crème with White Chocolate Whipped Cream

Why You Must Make

When life gives you leftover egg yolks, a baker makes pots de creme. What are pots de creme, you might ask? Well, this French term translates to cream pots or pots of custard. Are you intrigued?

  • As avid bakers know well, there are always leftover yolks when whipping up certain desserts. And instead of tossing them, making rich chocolate custard like these luscious chocolate pots de creme is an ideal, and delicious solution!
  • These chocolate custards make a stunning dessert and use up 6 egg yolks.
  • Fans of chocolate pudding will love this leveled-up dessert! The specialty whipped cream isn’t difficult to prepare but pushes this dessert over the top.
  • They have built-in portion control unless you go back for seconds!
Chocolate Pots de Creme topped with white chocolate cream and raspberries.

When to Serve

  • Chocolate pots de crème are often found on our Christmas menu, and today’s version was for Easter. They’re elegant enough for the busy holidays without a lot of work.
  • Single servings of dessert are also excellent for dinner parties! Everyone loves having their own dessert.
  • Plus, a simple garnish of whipped cream, berries, and mint sprigs turns these custards into a restaurant-worthy dessert.
  • But this recipe is definitely easy enough to make for a family dinner.

Expert Tips

  • If you use smaller dishes as I did for part of my batch, check for doneness early and often by doing a jiggle test. The outer edges should be set, though the middle may still wiggle when you gently tap the ramekin. 
  • This recipe uses a technique called tempering. Tempering is when you slowly add a hot liquid to a mixture containing egg yolks. This needs to be done while stirring constantly and vigorously so the eggs do not cook/scramble.
  • PRO-Tip: Even if you’re very careful while tempering, there could be a few small bits of cooked egg in the custard. For this reason, you pour the liquid through a sieve to remove any egg that has scrambled.
  • The straining helps make the pots de creme very smooth and silky.
  • PRO-Tip: These chocolate pots de creme are cooked in a bain-marie, or water bath.
  • A bain-marie is a large pan filled with an inch or two of hot water. Placing your uncooked custards into the bain-marie, then into the oven, allows the custards to be cooked at a steady temperature as well as providing humidity.
  • Be careful moving the pan and removing the ramekins so you don’t get burned.
  • These Chocolate Pots de Creme can be garnished with white chocolate whipped cream, raspberries, and chocolate curls.
  • These can also be served with a simple dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream or even plain.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Pot de Creme?

A pot de creme is a loose French custard dessert that dates back to the 1600s. This easy-to-make-ahead dessert literally means “Pot of Cream.” The plural is Pots de Creme.

How Do You Pronounce Pots de Creme?

Both the singular and plural forms are pronounced POH-da-KREM.

Can Pots de Creme Be Prepared Ahead?

Yes, you can definitely make them ahead of time. They’ll keep well if made up to 2 days ahead of time. Don’t garnish until just before serving.

How Do You Store Pots de Creme?

Pots de creme keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week if covered tightly (though best for about 2-3 days). Freezing is not recommended as the freezing and thawing process will affect the texture of the custard.

How Do You Know When Your Pots de Creme Are Done?

For the best, most creamy texture, your custards should be pulled out of the oven before they are fully set. The perimeter should look firm but the center should still be a touch jiggly.
You can carefully give one a little nudge to see if they’re all ready to be removed from the oven. They will finish baking from the residual heat of the ramekins.

Why Do You Need a Bain Marie?

A ban-marie or water bath is needed to control the baking temperature of fragile custards and cheesecakes. Keeping a constant temperature makes for creamy, crack-free desserts. It also adds humidity to the oven which also aids in creaminess.

You May Also Like

Custard and pudding are similar, both sweet, creamy desserts made with eggs. Puddings, though, often have starch added to assist with thickening.

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Chocolate Pots de Crème with White Chocolate Whipped Cream in white ramekins
The Recipe:

Chocolate Pots de Crème with White Chocolate Whipped Cream

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Yield 6 servings

Chocolate Pots de Crème: an elegant chocolate custard that's the perfect ending to any meal!

Ingredients

Pots de creme:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (chopped)
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla.

White Chocolate Whipped Cream:

  • 2 ounces good quality white chocolate (chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons plus ½ cup whipping cream

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300º. Place 6 6-ounce ramekins in a large baking dish.
  2. Add cream to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted.
  3. Whisk eggs and sugar in a large bowl, till thick and pale.
  4. Drizzle a bit of the hot chocolate mixture into eggs to temper, whisking constantly.
  5. Continue slowly adding hot liquid while whisking till all liquid is incorporated.
  6. Avoid incorporating air into the mixture if possible. If you find you have some small, unmelted particles of chocolate at the bottom of the saucepan, gently heat till melted and add to bowl.
  7. Place a fine mesh sieve over a large measuring cup. Strain custard.
  8. Pour custard into the ramekins, then pour enough hot water into the pan to reach halfway up the ramekins.
  9. Cover the pan with foil and poke a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape.
  10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or till the outer inch of custard is set.
  11. Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate till serving time.
  12. Combine white chocolate and the 2 tablespoons whipped cream in a small microwave-safe bowl.
  13. Gently microwave stopping and stirring frequently, till chocolate is melted and smooth.
  14. Cool for 10 minutes.
  15. Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks. Whisk in white chocolate. Cover and refrigerate.
  16. Serve with a dollop of white chocolate whipped cream and garnish with berries.

Notes

Adapted from Bon Appetit.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1 ramekin
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 681Total Fat: 59gSaturated Fat: 36gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 321mgSodium: 52mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 2gSugar: 33gProtein: 8g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.

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© Liz Berg
Cuisine: American, French / Category: Chocolate