Butterscotch Pot de Crème

Butterscotch Pot de Crème
It’s an insanely rich butterscotch pudding served with a dollop of whipped crème fraîche, a drizzle of caramel, and finished with a flaky sea salt.

Butterscotch Pot de Crème

Adapted from Chef Ron

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 6 large egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and caviar scraped
• 2 1/3 cups heavy cream

Whipped cream, caramel sauce and flaky sea salt (I like Maldon), for serving

1. Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 325 degrees. Set 6 to 8 small ramekins, cups or coffee cups in a small roasting pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt together the butter, brown sugar, salt and vanilla bean caviar. Whisk often until the mixture becomes smooth. Cook until it begins to caramelize, darkening slightly in color and smelling nutty, almost smoky, 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully and slowly whisk in the cream. The caramel will harden and seize at first, but will smooth out as all the cream is whisked in. Stirring often, bring the mixture to a simmer and then remove the pan from the heat.
4. Whisk a small amount of the hot cream into the yolks–just a couple tablespoons at first. Then gradually whisk in the remaining cream. When the custard is smooth, set a fine mesh sieve over a large heatproof measuring cup. Pour the custard through the sieve. Divide the custard evenly among the ramekins.
5. Slide out the oven rack and place the roasting pan on the rack. Carefully fill the roasting pan with hot water, just about halfway up the ramkeins, being careful not to splash any water into the custards. Slide the rack slowly back into place. Bake the custard until they are just set but still jiggle when tapped, anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes depending on the depth of the ramekins. Let the custards cool on the counter for 5 minutes before covering them loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerating until thoroughly chilled, 3 to 4 hours.
6. To serve, top each pot de creme with a dollop of whipped cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce, and a smattering of flaky sea salt. Serve slightly chilled.