Chocolate Espresso Pots De Creme

Hey fellow foodies! It feels like forever and a day since I've shared a recipe here but since I've been ever so slowly getting my feet wet again in the blogosphere, thought I'd change that. I actually had forgotten that I had these pictures of this delish dessert on my computer that I meant to share like over a year ago. This Chocolate Espresso Pots De Crème is one of my favorite desserts and is perfect for the holidays!

Pots De Crème, the name sounds so French and fancy, doesn't it? But it actually just means "pot of custard" or "pot of cream". And from what I've read, also refers to the porcelain cups it's often served in. The texture is very similar to custard or pudding but just a little looser.

The first time I ever tasted Pots De Crème was at Elizabeth St. Café in Austin, TX. My sister always tries to come visit from GA at least once a year and it's typically in early July, just in time for our parent's birthdays. When she visits we always like to make a trip to Austin for the day. It's one of our favorite cities to just hang out in. We eat breakfast at Kerbey Lane, shop on South Congress, browse Waterloo Records, eat dinner at Las Palomas - our favorite Mexican restaurant, and get dessert and iced coffee at Elizabeth St. Cafe!

I love this place, you guys! For one thing it's so super cute and classy. And I'm always a fan of any place that has great coffee and desserts. We usually stop in the middle of the day after shopping on SoCo. Right when you are seated they serve you a complimentary glass of ice water.... which kinda just makes you want to hug them after being out in the scorching July heat all afternoon. My favorite thing to order is a glass of their Vietnamese Iced Coffee and their Coffee flavored Pots De Crème (yes, give me all the coffee, please).

They serve it with a generous dollop of whipped cream and a chocolate cookie. The coffee flavor is not overwhelming and the texture is silky and light. It was a simple dessert, really, but one of the best things I'd ever tasted. I became determined to recreate this at home. After testing out a couple recipes that didn't turn out quite right, I found this one! It's pretty simple and fast to whip up and is crazy good! With the holidays right around the corner it would make such an easy and impressive dessert! Hope you'll give it a try!

Some more pictures of our last visit to Elizabeth St. Café:

My sis and I in front of the colorful café.

Picture of the café as well as other desserts we ordered. Blueberry bread pudding w/ basil ice cream and a French Macaron ice cream sandwich. Amazing.

Chocolate Espresso Pots De Crème -

(Recipe originally found @ http://thespicetrain.com)

I posted this recipe as is but I did make a few adjustments when I made it. I didn't think the whipped cream recipe was at all sweet enough... well, at least not for my super human sweet tooth. So I used this recipe and added the instant espresso powder to it. Also, I didn't have any coffee liqueur for the drizzle so I just dissolved some instant coffee granules and sugar in some heavy cream. It worked just fine! You could also use the recipe for coffee drizzle instead.

I also sometimes leave off the drizzle and just garnish it with a chocolate covered coffee bean (one of the best treats in all the world).

However you choose to do it, trust me, you will love it! Chocolate and coffee are a match made in heaven, one of my favorite dessert combos. Silky, creamy and surprising not overly sweet. Elegant and simple all at the same time.

Ingredients:

For the pots de creme:

•3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

•3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

•1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

•¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

•1 cup whole milk

•⅔ cup heavy cream

•4 egg yolks

•4 tablespoons sugar

•⅛ teaspoon salt

For the espresso-flavored whipped cream:

•½ cup heavy cream

•1½ teaspoons sugar

•½ teaspoon instant espresso powder

For the espresso drizzle:

•¼ cup coffee liqueur

•¼ cup heavy cream

•1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

Instructions:

For the pots de creme:

Be sure that the chocolate is finely chopped (1/4 inch length or smaller). Put chocolate, espresso and vanilla in a blender or a food processor. Whisk milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar and salt together in a saucepan until well combined. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, heat the saucepan to almost a simmer and keep stirring until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Pour the hot milk mix into the food processor, put on the lid and process until you have a homogeneous mix (this only takes a few seconds). Pour into ramekins or glasses and chill until set (2-3 hours).

For the espresso-flavored whipped cream:

Whip all ingredients to stiff peaks.

For the espresso drizzle:

Add coffee liqueur, cream and espresso powder to a saucepan and bring to a very low simmer. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon keep the mix simmering until reduced to about ⅓ cup. Let cool to room temperature.

Walton’s Fancy and Staple in Austin

Hey lovelies! On Thursday I took a little road trip for the day with my family to my favorite city, Austin! It had been a little over a year since the last time I was there (I live 3 hours away) and I had really been missing it! But we were actually there for a specific purpose, so I could take a little tour of where I might, in the hopefully near future, be going to culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu! I know I have yet to mention it on here but I have been considering attending culinary school for a while now and well, it truly doesn’t get much better than Le Cordon Bleu. After this tour I couldn’t be more convinced of that. But I’ll blog more about all of that very soon!

After the tour, we got a chance to stop & grab a bite to eat at a place I have been wanting to check out for some time now, Walton’s Fancy and Staple! It’s actually one of Sandra Bullock’s two restaurants on 6th street, the other being Bess, which I hope to check out on my next visit. But I’m a total sucker for cute cafes and Walton’s had my heart as soon as I walked through the doors.

Walton’s sells a variety of sandwiches, soups, salads, coffee, desserts, as well as flowers & gifts. The place is so lovely! A little smaller & more compact than I expected but so cute!

I loved the décor & atmosphere of Walton’s! Brick walls, hanging light fixtures, vintage wooden tables, flowers everywhere, not to mention the pretty display cases of delectable treats! It all just beckons you to sit down & relax with a latte & a macaron. Which is exactly what I did!

But first I did order a sandwich, I got the Freebird Chicken, which is grilled free-range chicken, jalapeno mayo, lettuce, tomato, & provolone cheese on multigrain bread. And in all honesty, it was good, but not rave worthy, in my opinion. But the coffee & macarons on the other hand definitely were!

Okay, this Mocha Latte & Raspberry Macaron were so delish, let me tell ya! The latte was so creamy, I drank just about the whole thing…would have finished it if I hadn’t already felt so full lol. Plus, isn’t it pretty?! I love latte art! And the raspberry macaron was just about the best I’ve ever tasted! If I could’ve taken a whole box of these babies home, I would’ve! I do plan to finally try my hand at macarons very soon (picked up a bag of almond flour while in Austin at Whole Foods) and they will definitely be raspberry… and hopefully edible. ;)

In addition to the macaron, my mom & I shared a chocolate cupcake with cookie dough frosting. I really loved the taste of the frosting but it was way too hard and stiff to eat. I think it was still too cold from being refrigerated. If it had time to sit out for a while I think it would’ve been really good.

My dad ordered their chocolate caramel tart. So pretty, isn’t it? He wasn’t a huge fan but my mom & I were and gladly took it off his hands lol.

All in all, I really enjoyed Walton’s! If I do move to Austin to attend Le Cordon Bleu I can totally see going there to enjoy a latte and relax, read, or blog. It’s totally worth checking out if for no other reason than the delish coffee, desserts, sweet staff, and calming atmosphere. Definitely looking forward to paying Walton’s another visit next time I’m in Austin! :)

Lollycakes Cupcakes in Corpus Christi, Tx

Last month my sister Cecily and I had a chance to visit our cousin Pam for the weekend at her house in Aransas Pass. Since she moved there last year we hadn’t really been able to hang out and see her new place. So we spent the weekend just catching up, talking, laughing, and enjoying some much needed girl time. We also took a trip to Corpus Christi for a day out on the town… and where do three wild and crazy gals go when they are lookin’ for a good time you ask? Yes, a cupcake bakery…cause that’s just the type of girls we are ;).  Enter, Lollycakes Cupcakes.

 

Upon entering Lollycakes you’re not quite sure what to admire first… the lovely decor or the yummy looking cupcakes in the glass display case. Okay, so obviously you admire the cupcakes first, but still I’m always one to be taken in by the atmosphere. While the place is small it feels very inviting, stylish, and fun. Lavender paint on the walls, a lovely cupcake display, cupcake art, and glass light sconces bring such a touch of class and style. A white couch and a coffee table just beg for you to sit and relax with a cupcake and a friend. While us three girlies opted to sit at the bar along the windows to devour our cupcakes.

 

Oh happy little cupcakes… all different colors and sizes! It’s not just a display of cupcakes, it’s a display of happiness :p. You know that the cupcakes must be good if they are almost sold out by the middle of the day. But more about that in a minute!

Their menu has a lot of delish flavors to choose from and each with its own cute and quirky name! Such as “The Black Sheep” – cookies & cream cheesecake w/ Oreo crust, “Curious George” – banana chocolate chip pecan w/ cream cheese frosting, and “Strawberry Fields” – strawberry cupcake w/ strawberry buttercream frosting, just to name a few.

Rockin’ cupcake art!!! I would so love to have that in my house! The lady at the counter was telling us about all the cupcake paintings on the walls and the artist that did them just for the shop. Pam had mentioned that she would love to have one for her house so she told her to leave her name and number and she’d have the artist give her a call. So hopefully Pam will have some sweet cupcake art hanging on her walls soon! :)

These are the three yummy cupcakes that we chose: “Clay Boy” – chocolate cupcake w/ peanut butter chips and peanut butter buttercream frosting, “Heathcliff” – chocolate heath cupcake w/ chocolate frappuccino frosting, and “Nutty Nuttaurelia” - chocolate cupcake w/ chopped hazelnuts and a nuttella buttercream frosting. Yumo! We actually shared all three cupcakes just so we could get a taste of each kind lol. What can we say we’re indecisive girls, we wanted them all!

These cupcakes were so good it was a little hard to share (good cupcakes make you want to be stingy). The “Clay Boy” was my favorite (I’m always on the look out for a good peanut butter cupcake); with peanut butter chips in the cake, creamy peanut butter buttercream, and a mini peanut butter cup on top, it made for a great peanut buttery experience! For all the Nuttella fanatics out there the “Nutty Nuttaurelia” is for you! The chocolate and hazelnuts in the cake and the Nuttella frosting (Nuttella in frosting?! Genius!) is simply delish. And the “Heathcliff” with its heath bits in the cake and slight coffee flavor in the frappuccino frosting will make any heath lovers day.

It may be kind of a funny fact but we’ve been to quite a few cupcake bakeries (bakeries?…cupcakeries?) in our time and Lollycakes definitely made the grade! With its yummy cupcakes, cute decor, and friendly service, Lollycakes makes the perfect hang out for you and your girlfriends! Cause after all, what better combo than friends and cupcakes?

Lollycakes is located @ 5425 South Padre Island Dr. Ste. 147, Corpus Christi, TX 78411. For more info go to: http://eatlollycakes.com/

A couple photos of us hanging @ Lollycakes!

(me & Pam)

 

(Cecily & me)