Frozen Vanilla Bean Custard with Hot Strawberry Sauce

It’s another take on this month’s #baketogether. The recipe of the month is vanilla pot de creme and the goal is to take it and make it your own. I’ve already posted one version, using a straight forward baked custard.

This time I skipped the part where it is supposed to be baked in the oven and chilled it in the fridge instead. Then I hauled out the ice cream maker and made frozen vanilla custard.

Then I took the strawberry sauce and heated it up on the stove. If you ever find yourself in Germany, in an ice cream shop, you may notice one of the toppings they sell is hot raspberry sauce. It is delicious. I took the idea of heating up the strawberries from that.

Finally, to make it look fancier, and because my kids asked for it, I topped the whole thing with a dollop of freshly whipped cream. We loved this so much we all had seconds. Some of us may have even licked our bowls. I’m not saying who, though.

And the best part about this all is that, for the first time in #baketogether history, I did not change any of the ingredients from the original recipe (which you can find on Abby’s blog here). I only changed the procedures. I think maybe I should get a special prize for that: Most Transformed Dessert Made Without Really Changing Anything, or something like that.

Vanilla Valentine Pot de Creme

It’s time for the February #Baketogether. This month its vanilla pot de creme, which happens to be one of my favorite desserts. I think I will have to post multiple entries for this one.

My first, just in time for Valentine’s Day, is vanilla bean pot de creme with fig and walnut wine preserves, and a caramelized almond heart. You will find the recipe for the pot de creme on Abby’s website. I followed it pretty much as given, except that I used half heavy cream and half whole milk in place of the half and half.

Once baked and chilled, I topped it with a spoon of fig and walnut wine preserves from Vista d’Oro, which you should immediately purchase because nobody’s life is complete without them. I topped the preserves with heart shaped caramelized almonds.

To caramelize almonds, place slivered almonds and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pot. Heat them, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts, and turns golden brown. Quickly drop spoonfuls of the caramelized almond onto parchment or foil, and spread them into heart shapes. How many almonds? As many as you want. How much sugar? enough to coat the almonds.