Yesterday’s recipe is from “French Women for All Seasons – A Year of Secrets, Recipes and Pleasure” by Mireille Guiliano which as the title implies, is a semi-memoir cookbook emphasizing on the healthy lifestyle of a French woman with lots of (usually traditional) recipes that might appeal to the American woman. This particular recipe comes from the party section of the book, which has ideas on how to throw a wine party, a cheese party, a dessert party. The dessert recipes are all dishes that can serve 4 and the intent is to sample a variety of desserts, homemade or storebought, while socializing. I chose the pumpkin dessert because uhh… I had a can of puree from last year that needed to be eaten by end of the year. I haven’t died yet, so it was fine… so far lol.
I wanted to do a full French meal but I was missing one major component for a main dish in every recipe in this book so I just made a dessert, also I had plenty of leftovers to eat but no dessert lol.
[photo of pumpkin pots de creme garnished with pecans in a single serving size ramekin]
Ingredients Summary – easy to find at any grocery store
- milk, heavy whipping cream, butter
- pumpkin puree
- allspice, sugar, vanilla
- hazelnuts toasted (I used pecans because I didn’t have hazelnuts)
Steps Summary – easy, only requires ramekins
Bring milk, whipping cream, pumpkin, allspice, sugar and vanilla to a boil. Mix in butter. Pour into ramekins. Refrigerate for 2 hours and garnish with toasted nuts.
Taste Summary – fall pumpkin flavors with a very liquidy texture
- Taste
- pumpkiny and creamy, sweet and a little spicy, what I think pumpkin spice lattes should taste like, without cinnamon, which I appreciate, and with nuts, which I also appreciate lol
- Texture
- this is very soft and liquidy, not an American style pudding at all. I believe puddings require some egg component to thicken and set the custard, this doesn’t have eggs obviously. It’s thick enough to hold up the nuts, but soft enough to ooze and slowly settle on your spoon. Imagine a very thick cold cream sauce.
Convenience Summary – This is only a simple dessert recipe, so of course it was very convenient especially if you had leftover pumpkin puree or heavy cream from another recipe. I only had 2 small ramekins so I had to use a medium oval baking dish for the rest which is funny, since it doesn’t really set.
Would I make this recipe again? Again, only if I had to use up some ingredients, and I would make it with a thickener like egg or gelatin or whichever. I don’t know if I’d ever host a party, but the idea to make several different pots of cream dessert, like chocolate, coffee and pumpkin, sounds scrumptious for an elegant autumn or winter party. On the other hand, if you’re vegan or lactose-intolerant, you would have to try the fruit dessert recipes in this book. Anyway, I enjoy these cultural cookbooks so and just need to remember to go grocery shopping ahead of time to make more of their recipes.