Baked Custard Pots

I have a very exciting project making its debut upon the world on Friday. I had a lot of unused egg yolks sitting in my fridge as a result of this very exciting project and wanted to do something nice with them. I came across a recipe for Black and White Custards in Annie Bell's lovely 'Gorgeous Desserts' and decided to play with it.

Instead of making just vanilla and chocolate, I decided to make three types: coffee, dark chocolate and cardamon. I found a pot of cardamon pods in the back of my mum's cupboards while I was at home and I brought some back with me in a little bag. I've never used them before but it is a lovely taste and a gorgeous aroma. 

I was surprised to find that the coffee was my favourite. The texture of the chocolate wasn't quite right and neither was the cardamon. All were good, but I would want to tweak the chocolate and cardamon recipes before making them again.  The coffee was gorgeous - silky, smooth and delicate. 

I also worked out how to make walnut shavings with a cheese slicer thing to go on top of the coffee pots. I got very excited it, much to my flatmate's confusion. 

Baked Custard Pots
(Adapted from Annie Bell's Gorgeous Desserts)

300 ml milk
300 ml double cream
6 egg yolks
135g golden caster sugar

35g dark chocolate

1 tsp instant coffee

5 cardamon pods

Preheat the oven to 160C. Bring the milk and cream to the boil in a small pan. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a big bowl. When the milk has boiled, pour it into the egg mixture whisking as you go.

Divide the mixture between three bowls: one with the dark chocolate finely chopped, another with the cardamon pods and another with the coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water. First transfer the coffee mixture to ramekins or other serving bowls, then after a few minutes, stir in the chocolate till it is smooth, then divide that mixture between more ramekins, and finally, after ten minutes or so, sieve and transfer the cardamon mixture.

Place the ramekins into a roasting dish and fill with hot but not boling water until it comes about 2/3 of the way up the side. Bake for about 1 hr 15 minutes. They should be set but still slightly wobbly. Leave them to cool then cover them and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

To serve, scatter with whatever topping you prefer - I used white chocolate shavings for the cardamon, dark chocolate for the chocolate and walnut shavings for the coffee.

Makes six.