it’s eggnog season, which means i’m on the lookout to find new things to do with our super tasty organic valley eggnog. of course, anything that helps us with our egg surplus is an added bonus. so i was mighty pleased to see a recipe for eggnog pots de creme from sofya hundt ( you can also find her twittering away at @gunsnbutterblog ).
how could i not try her twist on the traditional pots de creme by using eggnog ( and organic valley eggnog to boot! )?
i doubled sofya’s recipe, so i started by adding a couple of tablespoons of sugar to 3 cups of eggnog. mix the sugar in and then heat on medium until bubbles start forming.
whisk six egg yolks until smooth. i’m pretty sure the incredibly orange yolks from eggs laid by The Girls just this morning isn’t going to translate well on the web. take my word for it, they are orangetastic!
drizzle the hot eggnog mix slowly in with the eggs, whisking like mad as you go.
then pour the mixture into individual ramekins through a fine-mesh sieve. sofya says the sieve step is really important to ensure a smooth custard. put the ramekins in a baking dish filled with warm water to about half the ramekin height and bake in a 325 degree oven for 25 minutes until the custards are set.
after i took this photo i realized i forgot to sprinkle some nutmeg on top of the custards – don’t forget the nutmeg!
for whatever reason, i found i had to bake them for 40 minutes. maybe i overfilled the ramekins? in any case, after awhile pull the custardy eggnogy goodness from the oven, remove from the water bath and let cool to room temperature. then chill in fridge for a couple hours to allow the custards to firm up.
which is where the custards now reside. firming in the fridge. we’ll have them for dessert tomorrow – if i can wait that long! they look so tasty i almost can’t stand it.
after letting the custards set in the fridge covered overnight was finally time to dig in! i made some whipped topping by mixing a tablespoon or so of sugar and a smidge of vanilla in a pint of organic valley heavy whipping cream and whisked in a bowl until firm peaks started to form.
finally, i plopped a generous helping of the whipped goodness on top of the custards and sprinkled a bit of nutmeg on top.
i must say the final creation looked almost too good to eat!
true to the traditional pots de creme form, the final result is looser than your typical custards and has a texture more like a thick pudding.
and the taste? oh. mah. gawd. sofya wasn’t kidding around when she wrote, “You won’t believe how good it is!
after being forced to way a whole twenty four hours, odin was, of course, mighty keen to partake in a taste test and render his verdict.
after a long, savory pause, “oooooooooooooohhhhhhh mmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy this is sssssssooooooooo goooooooooood i can almost not speak!”
nearly rendering odin speachless is as good a review as i could ever ask for.