Entertaining
Orange Vanilla Pot de Creme
- Prep time 4 hours 20 minutes
- Cook time 1 hour 30 minutes
- Serves 8
Author Notes
Pot de creme is a simple baked custard of French origin. Made with scalded, sweetened cream and egg yolks, it transforms from liquid to luxuriously creamy solid in the oven. One of the keys to its final, spoonable and smooth consistency is to keep the custards covered in the oven. This can be done in a variety of ways—it’s easy to cover the whole tray in foil to serve as an all-purpose cover, or you can bake the custards in jars, and use the jar lids to keep each portion covered during baking. There are many reasons to love this dessert: the short ingredient list, the simple method, not to mention it’s a perfect dessert to make ahead. After baking, the custards can be chilled for up to 5 days before serving—making it a perfect addition to a busy dinner party or celebration menu. Pot de creme can be flavored in so many ways - but this one is always a crowd pleaser. Orange and vanilla is truly one of the dreamiest flavors in the world—a perfect combination: sweet and sour orange alongside rich vanilla cream. In this pot de creme, the combination truly sings—and requires only the orange zest, which means you can save the fruit to juice for other purposes—such as your day-after-dinner party breakfast. —Erin Jeanne McDowell
Ingredients
-
1/3 cup
(66 grams) granulated sugar
-
Zest of 1 orange
-
1
halved vanilla bean, seeds scraped
-
1/4 teaspoon
(1 gram) fine sea salt
-
2 1/2 cups
(645 grams) heavy cream
-
1/2 cup
(115 grams) whole milk
-
6
large (130 grams) egg yolks
-
1/3 cup
(75 grams) freshly squeezed orange juice
Directions
- Make the orange sugar: In a small bowl, stir the sugar, orange zest, vanilla bean seeds, and salt to combine. Use your fingers to rub the mixture together until well combined—the sugar should appear more sand-like and visibly orange.
- In a medium pot, combine the cream, milk, and the sugar mixture. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Cover the pot and let sit for 15 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 300°F/150°C with an oven rack in the center. Heat a large kettle of water until barely simmering (you can use a pot, but it’s a lot easier to pour from a kettle). Place eight small jars (such as 4-ounce canning jars or 4-ounce ramekins) on a baking sheet.
- Place the egg yolks in a medium heat-safe bowl, and whisk to combine. Add about ¼ of the warm cream mixture and whisk well to combine, then add the remaining cream and mix well. Whisk in the orange juice.
- Transfer the custard to a large container with a pour spout (such as a liquid measuring cup). Pour the custard into the ramekins, aiming to divide it as evenly as possible between the dishes.
- Transfer the baking sheet full of ramekins to the oven, then gently pour water from the kettle, aiming to cover about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the jars with their lids (or, if using ramekins—tightly cover the surface of the baking pan with foil).
- Close the oven and bake until the custards are set at the edges, but still jiggly in the center, 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove the custards from the water bath and cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Refrigerate until well chilled before serving, at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
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