Chocolate Pots de Crème

Pots de crème translates from the French to “jars of cream,” but the name undersells how tasty this chocolate pudding is. The understated moniker does convey how simple it is, though: not quite as easy as pouring cream into jars, but not far off. Basically, if you can operate the burner on your stove, you can make this chocolate dessert. If you’ve ever made homemade chocolate pudding before, you’ll recognize the format. You heat milk and heavy cream, combine it with chopped chocolate, and then mix it with egg yolks and sugar. The twist here is that there is no cornstarch to muddy the chocolate flavor, because the egg yolks and long, slow baking process thicken it enough.

This version comes via the now-closed Cafe Tamayo in Saugerties, New York, and it’s dinner party perfection. Preportioned and easy to make in advance, you can make this pots de crème recipe up to two days in advance—just store them in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap. If you want to gussy it up further, you can always garnish the individual portions with whipped cream, cacao nibs, dark chocolate curls, or even a little drizzle of nice olive oil, but you can keep to the spirit of the name and serve a little jar of cream, this glorious pudding, all on its own.