Chocolate Pot de Creme, Banana Caramel, Gianduja Cream and Six Questions

That is a long post title just to tell you that this is a post about a fun tag and a dessert full of rich goodness.

You see, I was tagged by Esti last week and I wanted to create something super rich and sweet to entertain you while you read my response to her tag. I am terrible about keeping track of tags, memes, awards… I apologize ahead of time if any of you have tagged me before and I have not responded to it. I am just terrible at this.

As I said, this tag came from Esti, another one of my girl-crushes. I have many. Esti is from my hometown of Bilbao and when I found her blog, Pintame El Dia, I immediately fell in love with her drawings, poetry and references to music. She and I have never met, but it turns out we were in a lot of the same places at the same time right about 10 years ago. The tag involves answering some random questions about oneself, pretty silly ones but all in good fun. So here I go…

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Finishing my economics degree at the University of Deusto, going to a lot of concerts, trying to figure out what it was I wanted to do with myself after college and getting ready to pack my bags to move to the US. It all seems like a blur now.

What are the five things on your to do list today?

Make gluten free waffles for breakfast,
Return the movie “Control” which I absolutely loved,
Take my little boy to the pool,
Search for plane tickets to fly home this summer, and of course…
Call my mom on the phone.

Three snack you enjoy?

Berries, nuts (lots of them) and petit suisse (help me find the recipe please!).

Four places you have lived?

Amorebieta, Colorado Springs, Denver, Palm Beach County.

Five things you would do if you were a billionaire?

This is a question for my husband who plays the lottery every week… I’d rather not think about being a billionaire but it would probably involve getting to see my friends and family more often.

Six people you want to know more about?

Only six??? So here is my suggestion… if you are up for it, why don’t you try to answer these questions in the comment section. I would love to learn more about you. You can answer just one question or all of them, if you’d like.

And if you haven’t tuned me out just yet, let me tell you about these shot glasses. It starts with a layer of chocolate pot de creme that I baked in a very low oven in a water bath. Most people will be shocked that you can bake in glass, as long as it’s in a low oven and in a water bath. Of course, there are many glass dishes that are made specifically to go in the oven and obviously in that case, you don’t have to worry about anything. But if you are not sure, just bake in a water bath and in low heat, just like a did here.

I made a banana caramel to go on top of the chocolate pot de creme and finished it with a layer of whipped cream flavored with gianduja. I thought the combination of chocolate, banana and gianduja would help you read through this post. I hope you enjoyed it!

Chocolate Pot de Creme

500 ml heavy cream
50 grams sugar
5 egg yolks
125 grams 70% chocolate, chopped

In a saucepan, bring the cream and the sugar to a boil. Pour over the chopped chocolate and whisk until the chocolate melts completely. Temper into the egg yolks. Strain the custard through a fine sieve.

Pour the pot de creme custard in your shot glasses or ramekins. Place these on a sheetpan and bake in a water bath at 300 degrees until set. Because I used tall shot glasses, I baked them on a tall cake pan so I could add enough water to slowly bake the custard.

Banana Caramel

110 grams sugar
40 grams glucose or corn syrup
55 grams butter
225 grams ripe bananas, pureed

Puree the bananas. Place the glucose or corn syrup in a small saucepan. When it starts to melt and bubble up, sprinkle a third of the sugar on top. As soon as that starts to melt and caramelize, add some more sugar. Let that caramelize and add the rest of the sugar. It’s ok to stir with a wooden spoon. If some crystalizes, it’s ok, let it melt. Add the softened butter, stir and add the banana puree. At this point, turn the heat off but let any chunks of harden caramel melt on the stove.

Pour in a bowl and let it cool. Once cold, pipe on top of the chocolate layer.

Gianduja Cream

1 cup heavy cream
25 grams sugar
25 grams gianduja paste or Nutella

Whip all three ingredients together until stiff peaks form. Pipe this cream on top of the banana caramel.

And since I started talking about what I was doing 10 years ago, let me leave you with the music that was buzzing around in my head around that time…

Teenage Fanclub’s “Sparky’s Dream”
Surfin’ Bichos’ “Mi Hermano Carnal”
Red House Painter’ “Brockwell Park”