Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

Malted & Salted:  Milk Chocolate Pots de Crème

The term “Petits Pots de Crème” refers both to a soft baked custard and to the small ceramic pots, often with lids, that they are baked in. The dainty authentic petits pots pictured above were made in France. They belonged to my grandmother-in-law, Evelyn Dawn. While I only have six porcelain petit pots, and am cooking for a crowd, I supplement my collection with espresso cups.

Pots de Crème are a fabulous dessert to serve at a diner party. They look adorable, are impossibly rich and velvety, and petite enough to be elegant and sophisticated. Adding malted milk powder to a supremely French dessert gives this version an unexpected light-hearted twist. And as a bonus, they are prepared a day ahead. Just add the quick garnish of fleur de sel and/or malted milk balls, and they are ready to go.

Malted milk powder was invented by James Horlicks in 1883. It is a combination of sprouted grain that is quickly dried (barley malt) then ground up and added to powdered milk and wheat flour. It was originally meant as a nutritious non-spoiling supplement for babies’ diets, but gained popularity among explorers who found it portable as well as tasty…and became a hit at soda shops all around the country when added to ice cream to make a “malt” and as a candy marketed as “malted milk balls.”

Pots de Crème Recipe

Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz. high quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 4 1/2 c. heavy cream
  • 3/4 c. malted milk powder
  • 10 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 c. sugar
  • 1 1/2 t. Kosher salt
  • malted milk balls, for garnish
  • fleur de sel, for garnish

Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

Method:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Arrange sixteen 2 oz. petits pots or espresso cups in two roasting pans.

Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Whisk cream and malted milk powder together in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then pour the cream mixture over the chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds, then whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Place egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Using a hand-mixer, blend all the ingredients, then with the hand-mixer running at medium-slow speed, very slowly stream the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve. In batches, pour custard into a gravy separator and fill the petits pots. A gravy separator is a fabulous tool to prevent the bubbles from floating on top of the custard and results in a smooth surface.

Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

Pour hot water into the roasting pans until half-way up the sides of the petits pots. Cover with aluminum foil, leaving a small vent. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes until the custard is set around the edges and slightly wobbly in the middle. Test at 25 minutes to determine the cooking time.

Remove petits pots from water bath and let cool to room temperature. Cover and chill overnight.

Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

To serve: garnish with fleur de sel and/or malted milk balls (whole or chopped).

Recipe adapted from: Baked Elements by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

Leftover halloween candy? Now there’s a stylish recipe for that.

Creative Cooking Crew Challenge

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The Creative Cooking Crew is a group of innovative food bloggers hosted by Laz of Lazaro Cooks! and Joan of FOODalogue. Each month brings a new culinary challenge with a round-up of all the entries posted at the end of the month. Although there is no real judging and the challenges are all just for fun, we take pride in sharing our entries, pushing our culinary limits.

Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

October’s Challenge is Halloween. What’s in your cauldron?
Trick or treat? Horror film-inspired? Creepy dishes? Black and orange? Interpret it as you like. Have fun! FOODalogue has now posted the round-up here. My Malted & Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme are definitely in the “treat” category…

FNdish_fall-fest-logo-new_s4x3_lg

Fall Fest 

featuring

Halloween Treats

Malted Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme

Fall Fest is a season long franchise where Food Network editors team up with bloggers to share recipes about everyone’s favorite autumn dishes. Be sure to check out the Pinterest Board with over 200,000 followers called Let’s Pull Up A Chair!

And if Malted & Salted got you in the mood for more Halloween treats – you might enjoy taking a peek at other frighteningly great recipes from some fabulous bloggers below…

Feed Me Phoebe: 7 Frighteningly Healthy Halloween Recipes
Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Creamy Red Curry Coconut Butternut Squash Soup
The Heritage Cook: Fried Cheese “Fingers” with Spicy “Bloody” Dipping Sauce (Gluten-Free)
The Lemon Bowl: Lebanese Stuffed Peppers with Cinnamon and Pine Nuts
Weelicious: Cookie Dough Bites
Devour: The Best Halloween Candy and Cocktail Pairings
Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Halloween-Themed Appetizer: Beet and Cucumber Rolls
Taste with the Eyes: Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme
Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Olive Oil-Maple Granola Walnuts
Swing Eats: Scary Monster Fingers Cheesy Bread Sticks (gluten-free)
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Cabbage Slaw with Peanut Sauce Vinaigrette
Red or Green: Spicy Chard Chips
Virtually Homemade: Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treat {Gluten Free}
Dishing With Divya: Egg Puffs
FN Dish: Trick or Treat! Your Guide to Being the Most-Popular House on the Block

More Pots de Crème

Salted Caramel Brown Sugar Pots De Creme Recipe

With over 5,000 pins on Pinterest, fans of Pots de Crème may also want to try my

Salted Caramel Brown Sugar Pots De Creme Recipe here.

7 thoughts on “Malted and Salted: Milk Chocolate Pots de Creme”

  1. My son always made Halloween cookies for his daughter with the candy she collected at Halloween. This is a great way to use up those sweets in a more elegant and sophisticated way. Well done on the challenge.

  2. I love pots de creme, and I love malt balls, so this one is for me. What a tempting dessert, and how beautifully you have photographed it. Brava!

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