Butterscotch Pots de Crème - Recipe Review

The cookbook club from the daily meal is a meet (virtual) where we get advise from the author on how to throw a dinner party from their book. They give us three recipe and we make and review. There are some great suggestions and am so glad am part of it....will hate to miss out on some of these exotic dishes. This time it was Ted Allen from Chopped (Food Network) and his new book In My kitchen.  He suggested starting with a Bruschetta with Homemade Ricotta, Prosciutto and Arugula , moving to  Whole Striped Bass Baked in Salt Crust,  as a main course and ending with the delectable Butterscotch Pots de Crème with Scotched Pecans. 

You can read/watch my review here . For more book reviews click here. 

Since am a vegetarian,  so my obvious choice was the desert. Did I make a meal out of it ..may be I did :)The recipe starts of with a promise "Your guests will inhale this custard. They will scrape the bottoms of their ramekins with spoons, fingers, tongues, whatever it takes, They will probably also moan and refer to deities. Just so you know" Trust me this effect is NOT because of the scotch in the recipe. The name might sound a bit complicated so the dish might seem like it  requires special tools or technical expertise that can only be acquired in the best culinary schools in France. Well read on...I had my apron on, told "Finally Teen" and her cousin ( who was visiting then) to stay out of the kitchen and out of my way as I was about to make a very complicated dessert. Well it did not take me too long to realize that I was done....it was a breeze to say the least. I was really amazed ! And am sure you are dying to know did we moan ? Well yes ! Am definitely doing an action replay of this in my home.  Thank you Ted Allen for the awesome recipe and thanks daily meal for the opportunity. 

Pots de Crème
3 cups heavy cream
3 (2-inch) strips lemon zest
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
3/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tbsp scotch whiskey
6 large egg yolks

Pecans
1 cup pecans
2 tbsp scotch whisky
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
lightly sweetened whipped cream for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 300 F

Put the heavy cream, lemon zest, vanilla bean and seeds, and cardamom in a saucepan over medium heat, set aside to steep.

In another saucepan, heat the butter and brown sugar over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in the scotch, and cook until the whiskey has evaporated - about a min.

Put the egg yolk in a mixing bowl and add a little bit of the butter and brown sugar mix to it, whisking to temper the yolks. Add more bit by bit, and whisk until it has all been incorporated. Strain the cream mixture into the bowl and whisk to combine.

Put 8 (4-ounce) ramekin in a large roasting pan, leave space between them. Fill the ramekins with the cream mixture. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the ramekins. Cover with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 20 min, then remove the foil, and bake till they are set about 35 min.

While the pots de crème are in the oven, make the pecan : put an oven proof skillet over medium high heat and add the pecans, Scotch, butter, granulated sugar and salt, Cook until the Scotch has evaporated. Transfer the pan to the oven till the pecans are deep golden, remove from oven and let it cool.

Carefully remove the  pots de crème from the oven - watch for sloshing, water is really very hot, let them cool in the roasting pan for at least 40 min. Now wrap each one in a plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve

To serve, place a dollop of whipped cream on each pot, and top with the roasted pecan. Since am not that crazy about pecan I served them with walnuts.