Petits Pots de Creme

Can't decide if you are in the mood for chocolate or vanilla?

This recipe from  La Tartine Gourmand is the perfect thing, it yields six little custards, three chocolate and three vanilla. 

Pots de Creme typically call for a lot of heavy cream, and sometimes an obscene number of egg yolks.   For me, that makes it 'special occasion' kind of dessert.

But, these silky custards are made with milk and a respectable number of eggs, so they can be enjoyed anytime.  The supplies are almost always on hand, and the results are rich and creamy and truly satisfying.

I picked up Foxhill whole milk and farm fresh eggs from the Seaport Farmers Market to prepare these tasty treats.

The vanilla beans were purchased at the Halifax Historic Farmers market from my new favorite vendor, the Spiceman.  Retired CBC radio host Costas Halavrezos is selling  tantalizing array of spice blends he imports from Spicetrekkers,  including the most fragrant, juicy vanilla beans I've ever used.

It turns out Langue de Chat make great edible spoons.  Using Claire Clark's recipe from Indulge I piped the batter into little spoons, smoothing out the round end with a damp fingertip. 

A great tip from this cookbook: freeze the buttered cookie sheets before adding the cookie dough.  This helps create a nice browned crispy base.