Bakin-n-Bacon

Sweet Miniatures #51, Speculaas

Difficulty rating: 0 SOBs

Airplane food (when you get any) usually isn't something you really want to eat. However, one of the snacks on Delta flights caught my fancy: Biscoff cookies. These thin, crunchy cookies have a great spicy cinnamon flavor with a hint of almonds. I wanted to replicate these at home because they are expensive and difficult to find (and Delta severely limits how many one can consume on the plane). Thanks to the Biscoff website, I found out that these cookies are called speculoos in Belgium and speculaas in the Netherlands. According to the Joy of Baking website,

Speculaas are a traditional biscuit (cookie) that are enjoyed on the Feast of St. Nicholas (also known as Sinterklaas).  For those unfamiliar with this celebration, it takes place on December 6th to commemorate the death of St. Nicholas of Myra. Now, St. Nicholas was a man of great generosity especially to those less fortunate and his love of children is reflected in the tradition of Dutch children putting out their clogs (shoes) on the eve of December 5th so St. Nicholas can fill them with candy and presents.   

This recipe comes from a wonderful book called 'Windmills in my Oven' by Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra in which she explains both the history and the making of Speculaas.  We are told in this book that it is unclear whether the name 'Speculaas' comes from 'speculum' or 'speculator'.  As the author tells us there is merit for both; as 'speculum' "means mirror and the biscuit you get from the mould is the mirror image of the mould itself." and that 'speculator' means "'he who sees all', in this case St. Nicholas of Myra".  Either way, Speculaas have been made for centuries and at one time both the mould itself and the biscuit were painstakingly made by hand.

I was delighted to find a Speculaas recipe in Sweet Miniatures, but hadn't made it until now because I kept forgetting to buy sliced almonds. Once I did get some, I forgot why I needed them. Finally I put two and two together and made this recipe.

In her recipe, Flo Braker says you can either use the traditional wooden molds or roll out the dough and cut out shapes. Since I had no molds, I decided to do the latter. The dough came together very easily. It is a bit unusual because you mix the flour and butter together until crumbly, then add water just until a dough forms. You roll out the dough on waxed paper, using no flour, and let it firm up in the fridge for a couple of hours.

The next step contained my only beef with the recipe. Flo directs you to line a baking sheet with parchment and cover it with sliced almonds. You then cut out shapes from the chilled dough and press the cookies onto the almonds on the baking sheet. I could see the potential for a lot of wasted almonds. I decided to put down enough almonds for one cookie, press that cookie onto them, and repeat. It's a little more work but less wasteful, and I was pleased with the results.

The cookies turned out great, but they were a tad peppery. This was the only speculaas recipe I ran across that included black pepper and cayenne, and I found them a bit sharp. Next time I will bump up the cinnamon and nutmeg and cut back on the pepper. They were a big hit at work though.

Pancetta

I finally took down the pancetta I had hanging in my basement. I thought the recipe said to cure for three weeks, but when I checked last night it turns out I was only supposed to hang it for two. Oops! I think it is still safe to eat - it passed the sniff test, and it looked fine. Plus, pancetta isn't served raw, so cooking should kill anything that might be left. I noticed one tiny spot of what could have been a white fuzzy mold on the meaty part, but didn't smell anything. I scraped that bit off, and actually unrolled the pancetta to make sure there wasn't anything nasty hiding inside. Since I only had a 2.5 lb slab of pork belly, it didn't roll up as tightly as I would have liked, so although there was some sticking, it unrolled completely. I suppose it shouldn't do that - next time I'll use a larger piece of belly so I can roll it up tighter. Pancetta freezes well so a larger piece won't go to waste.

Pancetta is cured but not smoked, so it is a perfect recipe for a beginner like me. You rub the cure over a flat piece of pork belly and refrigerate, flipping the belly over every day to evenly distribute the cure. Once the meat has firmed up, which takes about a week, you roll it, tie it, and hang it for two weeks in a cool place with decent humidity. Our basement was nearly ideal, if a tad on the dry side. The relative humidity stayed at about 50%, although I think 55 to 60% is ideal. The temperature, though, was spot on at a pretty constant 60 degrees. The only tricky part was finding a place to hang the meat where none of my six cats could reach it. I ended up hanging it in the middle of what will be the family room, if we ever get around to finishing it. The first day or so the cats camped out underneath it, looking up longingly at the pork belly. After a few fruitless days they gave up and ignored it. The upside to having six cats is that they kill any insects that may find their way into the house, so I didn't have to worry about flies and other bugs landing on the meat and leaving, um, deposits.

The first use for the pancetta was carbonara - one of my favorite weeknight meals because it is easy yet delicious. I diced 8 ounces of the pancetta and fried it in extra-virgin olive oil. When the pancetta was crispy, I poured in half a cup of vermouth and let it cook down until syrupy. I beat 3 eggs, diced garlic, salt and about 3 ounces of grated Parmesan Reggiano in a small bowl. Once the pound of spaghetti had cooked, I drained it (reserving some of the cooking water), and added the eggs and cheese. I added a bit of the pasta cooking water to keep it moist, then added the pancetta mixture. Finally, I ground black pepper over the mixture. It was delightful - and we are still here two days later, so the pancetta must be safe to eat.

Candied Violets

Violet season is waning here in West Virginia but I managed to candy one batch before all the blooms faded. I like using candied violets on my cakes - they are nostalgic, romantic and beautiful. They're a pain in the butt to make, though, and even though I always have lofty goals of doing hundreds and hundreds, reality sets in and I am lucky to get one half-sheet pan full, which is what I did this year.

While the process is tedious it is not difficult and requires no fancy equipment. Through trial and error I have come up with my preferred way of making these edible garnishes. Here's the way I do it:

First, get two small bowls - one for the egg white wash and one for the superfine sugar. Get a baking sheet and line with parchment (good), waxed paper, (better) or a Silpat silicone liner (best). If you can't find superfine sugar at your local grocery store, take 1 cup of granulated sugar and whiz it in your food processor for several minutes. It takes about 5 minutes in my Cuisinart for the sugar to get very fine, almost powdery. I don't think you can over-process it, so I wouldn't go with any lesser amount of time. I've seen instructions that call for 10 minutes in the food processor, so if yours is old, small or feeble you may want to process that long, but 5 minutes should do the trick.

Mix a tablespoon of dried egg white with several tablespoons of water (mix a little looser than the instructions indicate) and skim off any foamy parts. While pasteurized dried eggs are safer and the consistency is better, I have used fresh egg whites mixed with a bit of water on a few occasions when I didn't have any dried whites around. You are taking a risk with raw whites, albeit a very small one.

Next, gather as many violets as you think you can candy in one sitting. I limit myself to one hour's worth of work at a time, because any longer than that I get really cranky and start to mess up. That usually ends up being one large tumbler's worth of violets. I like to keep the stems on because it makes them easier to handle, and I arrange the violets in the tumbler like a floral arrangement, with a bit of water at the bottom, so that they will remain fresh throughout the process.

There are now two ways to proceed: you may dip and shake or paint on the egg whites. I usually do a combination. I find that when I only dip, the bottom petal doesn't get coated, even if I swish the violet around in the whites. I use a very small paintbrush (like you would find in a set of watercolors) to brush the whites into the nooks and crannies. Using the brush alone is too tedious, so I combine the methods. Experiment to find the method that suits you best. Your aim is to have the petals completely coated but not dripping, because then you'll just get a glob of sugar that will obscure the pretty petal underneath it.

Now you coat the flower with superfine sugar. I find it best to shake the sugar over the flower with a spoon rather than trying to dip the flower in the sugar. You get fewer lumps in the sugar this way, and a finer coating on the petals. Once the flower is fully coated with sugar, pinch off the stem and lay the flower on the baking sheet.

Repeat the procedure until you are worn out or run out of flowers. Then place the baking sheet in a dry place and let the flowers dry for 8 to 24 hours, depending on the humidity. When the flowers are dry, they will have a crunch to them when bitten, but the leaves may still be a little pliable. There won't be any visible evidence of moisture, though. Don't make the mistake of using a low oven to dry these delicate items, like I did a few years ago. I ended up with shriveled purple blobs that were not at all attractive.

Store the dried flowers in a covered container or Ziploc bag. They will keep for months if stored in a cool, dry place. Use them as a garnish on mini lemon tarts, on cakes, or any other place that strikes your fancy. Your friends will be impressed.

Polenta in the evening, cornmeal mush in the morning

Last night we had a great dinner. DH cooked a maple/sorghum-glazed pork loin on the grill; I made polenta and braised Brussels sprouts. It was more a fall than a spring menu, but it all sounded good so we went for it. Of course the pork was pink perfection thanks to the grillmeister, and the polenta was smooth, creamy and totally lump free. The secret? I made it in my microwave rice cooker. I have fallen in love with that device - it makes perfect rice and lump free, silky polenta - with virtually no stirring. I cooked the polenta, water and salt on high for 5 minutes, stirred it, then cooked it on medium-low (4 of 10) for 15 minutes. I stirred it again and cooked it for another 5 minutes on medium-low. I need to buy another rice cooker for backup in case I somehow break the unbreakable plastic (if anyone can do it, I can).

I scooped the leftover polenta into a plastic wrap-lined loaf pan. (A smaller loaf pan would produce more attractive corn meal mush slices.) The polenta chilled in the fridge overnight, and the next morning I sliced it into half-inch slices and fried it in vegetable oil. Bacon grease and/or butter would have made it even better, but I was trying to be nominally healthy this morning (what has gotten into me?!). It takes a while for the mush to get brown and crispy, but when it's finished, the mush has a crunchy shell covering silky smooth corn goodness. I made my own syrup from muscovado sugar, water and a touch of butter, although maple syrup is lovely too. Corn meal mush is a Southern treat I had never seen until I moved to West Virginia. I'm sure glad I was introduced to it. Those of you from the South are probably screaming "That isn't cornmeal mush!" and you are correct, but since I call polenta "Italian grits" I feel what I made was definitely in the spirit of cornmeal mush if not technically so. Traditional cornmeal mush is different in that the stoneground cornmeal used to make it is not as refined as the meal used to make polenta. I feel it's a quibbling difference, although born-and-bred Southerners may disagree.

We ate the mush this morning with leftover pork. Pork is a meat perfect for all meals. All hail the pig!

Things like this, discovered a food that I had never before seen, make me want to live in other cultures so I can absorb the culinary delights each has to offer. It would be wonderful to live in Thailand, China, Italy, Greece - just about anywhere, really - for a year so I could really get to know the secrets to great foods. Until I win the lottery I will have to settle for great cookbooks and television programs to discover interesting foods from across the globe.

Spelling notes for bloggers and bulletin board members

I know that I am not perfect. I sometimes use poor grammar or use a word incorrectly. Still, there are examples of word misuse in many blogs and bulletin board chat rooms that I feel compelled to correct. Since very few people care about this subject, I do not call it to someone’s attention directly on his or her blog or on a bulletin board. However, I offer the following rules in case such an offender actually reads this blog. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but these are the mistakes that I have noticed recently. I offer this as constructive criticism, because I want everyone to sound as intelligent and polished as I do. (Wait a minute, didn't I use the phrase 'totally sucks rocks' recently?)

Pique – “That piqued (piques) my interest,” not “peeked” or “peaked”

Bated breath – “I wait with bated breath for the next installment,” not "baited" (unless you have a hook in your mouth with a worm on it).

Wreak havoc – not reek, wreek or wreck.

Nonplussed – Meaning perplexed or bewildered, nonplussed is very often thought to mean just its opposite—calm, unruffled, cool-as-a-cucumber (I have seen this also used to mean unimpressed). A common mistake is to think the word means not “plussed,” but no such word exists. Nonplussed originates from the Latin non (no) and plus (more, further), and means a state in which no more can be done—one is so perplexed that further action is impossible. “The lexicographer grew increasingly agitated and nonplussed by the frequency with which she noted the misuse of nonplussed.”

Penultimate – Meaning “next to last,” penultimate is often mistakenly used to mean “the very last,” or the ultimate: “The perfectionist was crestfallen when he was awarded the penultimate prize; the grand prize went to another.” (I admit I didn’t know this one until very recently!)

Inappropriate apostrophes – this one is difficult, as there are conflicting rules on using apostrophes with acronyms. However, the main misuse I see is an apostrophe in the word “its” when used as a possessive, as in “The corndog came with it’s usual accompaniments.” That is INCORRECT. You only use an apostrophe as a contraction for it is or it has: "It's 7:00." No apostrophe is needed when "it" is used a possessive: "The cat swished its tail."

Where to put the punctuation in a quote – always inside the quotation marks.

Less & Fewer – Use “fewer” to describe a smaller number of individual things: This check out line is for customers with 10 items or fewer. Use “less” to describe a smaller quantity of something: This store carries less stuff than the other store. “Fewer” usually takes a plural noun; “less” usually takes a singular noun.

Complement & Compliment – “Complement” with an “e” is a form of the word complete: She used a red hat to complement the outfit. “Compliment” with an “i” is to praise: I wanted to compliment her outfit.

Affect / effect – Effect is usually a noun that means a result or the power to produce a result: “The sound of the falling rain had a calming effect, nearly putting me to sleep.” Affect is usually a verb that means to have an influence on: “His loud humming was affecting my ability to concentrate.” Note that effect can also be a verb meaning to bring about or execute: “The speaker’s somber tone effected a dampening in the general mood of the audience.”

Strawberry Fields Forever

I told you strawberry season was over - but I lied. True, the strawberries I was buying, trucked in from Florida by the field owner's sister and delivered directly to our loading dock, are now history. However, I have my very own strawberry patch that might, if the gardening gods are smiling and if I can keep the birds away from it, produce a bountiful harvest of luscious berries. Look at all the blooms! Each of those should produce a strawberry, and if I were more energetic I would thin the blooms to produce fewer but larger berries. But alas, I've got enough to do just to keep the weeds pulled (you can see I missed some!) so we will have lots of little strawberries. I need to get some mesh to put down over the berries as soon as they start to form, or the birds and bunnies will eat all of them.

The patch is about 4 x 4 feet in size, and next to it I have a small herb garden, two newly-planted raspberry canes, and a newly-planted Concord grape vine. The raspberries won't produce for another year, and then only a little, but in about three years they should produce well. Same goes for the grapevine. I plan to make make jellies and preserves out of the raspberries and grapes, plus of course eat some straight from the vine and canes. I also planted a dwarf Elberta peach tree, but it too will take a few years before it produces much fruit. It now stands about 5 feet tall and had one lonely blossom this spring. If a peach forms from that blossom I'll remove it so the tree will put its energy into establishing good roots and strong branches. This year I am also trying rhubarb again. The last plant I got grew like gangbusters for three months, then died overnight. I guess it got some kind of blight, which I have never seen on rhubarb - usually it grows like a weed. My husband loves rhubarb and if we get some it's destined for a crisp (I find rhubarb pies to be pretty soggy, so I usually make a cobbler or crisp with it).

The herb garden is small, but I am packing a lot into it. So far I have lemon thyme, rosemary, chives, oregano, two kinds of mint (a LOT of oregano and mint), and regular thyme. I will add basil, Thai basil, and perhaps a few others - it depends on what's at the market that catches my eye. At right is a shot of the chives getting ready to bloom. I have the neighbor's children fascinated because I eat things that are growing in the ground. Last summer they assisted me in my taste tests and it was cute to see their expressions when they got a mouthful of spicy chive blossom. I got into trouble because the little girl started picking almost every plant she found and sticking it in her mouth, so I had to remind her that she should only eat things that I or her mother pick for her, lest she get sick. Luckily there are few poisonous plants around and those that are don't taste good.

Once the danger of frost is past I will put out nasturtium (edible flowers), five or six types of tomatoes, tomatillos and several varieties of peppers. Hopefully we won't have a drought this year like last year and I will be able to can the tomatoes. Every year I look forward to the perfect BLT - there is nothing like a vine-ripened tomato, homemade mayo, thick cut peppered bacon (this year it too will be homemade), soft but substantial whole wheat bread (homemade if I get very ambitious), and crisp romaine lettuce. I'm salivating just thinking of it. True BLT season is all too fleeting, but what a joy the perfect BLT brings to breakfast.

It Ain't Easy Bein' Green

It's time for an update on my attempt to buy as little plastic as I could. The sad news is that it isn't going well at all. While a few items have been easy, it's been very difficult to find items that don't have plastic packaging. Of course, I could have avoided buying anything in plastic just for one month - I had enough cleaning products and food stuffs that I could have managed to do without. But my goal wasn't some sort of stunt - I wanted to find alternative packaging both now and in the future, reduce my overall waste, and see which items I just could live without.

To see how well I was doing, I took grocery lists from recent shopping trips and highlighted those items that were packaged in plastic. As you can see from the list at left, there were numerous items for which I couldn't find alternative packaging. (You may notice that not all of my grocery list is showing, because I didn't figure you wanted to see sixteen lines of canned cat food.) I suppose I shouldn't buy bleach, which is not the most earth friendly item, but when your husband is a mechanic, you're an avid gardener and you have six cats, it sure helps towels, linens and socks stay white. I use it infrequently, but stock up when it's on sale.

Peanut butter was also on sale and I stocked up, getting three jars. Last time I checked, even the natural stuff was packaged in plastic jars. Sour cream has no alternate packaging, and that's one thing I am not willing to give up.

It is sad that most deli and meat items are packaged in plastic. More and more produce is, and that which isn't I usually put in a bag so it doesn't get dirty. I can reuse the produce bags and when I buy just a couple of items, like two limes, I will skip the bag (but thoroughly scrub said items before using them).

Avoiding plastic was a goal I set because I was tired of the amount of trash I was producing. (Much plastic is recyclable, of course, but  many types are not accepted in my town.) My long-term goal is to reduce my environmental impact, but research indicates that it may actually be more wasteful to use paper products in lieu of plastic. In many cases paper products require more energy to make, thereby making their renewableness (hey, I just invented a word!) less important.   

It is difficult to know how to best reduce one's energy use and waste. I still produce what I consider an unacceptable amount of trash - and I'm trying to reduce it. My neighbors probably have twice as much trash, and they aren't concerned one whit. Sometimes it makes me feel like my efforts are in vain, but I will continue to make my small contribution. If everyone else will do the same, it will make a difference.

Happy Earth Day, everyone.

PS - I rode my "recycled" 1981 Honda Passport scooter to work today. We think it will get over 90 mpg. I might get run over by someone in an SUV talking on his cell phone, but think of the savings.

Strawberry Cream Cake

I did it again. Last week I purchased an entire flat of strawberries. It was the last delivery of the season - how could I pass it up? Plus, you could smell the berries at the entrance to the building, even though the truck was parked in the loading dock. With that enticing aroma there was no way I could refuse.

So began the process of deciding what to do with them. To assist me in mulling over the decision, I made daiquiris. That didn't exactly help my thought processes, but I did feel much more relaxed about deciding the next project.

I had wanted to make Cook's Illustrated's Strawberry Cream Cake for the last batch of berries but never had the time. This time the cake was at the top of my list (after daiquiris). However, since I already had a bunch of egg whites left over from another project, I decided to use the white layer cake recipe from CI instead of the sponge cake called for in the recipe. Even though the recipe indicated that butter cakes weren't suitable for this project, I decided that I could get away with it because I always modify the CI white cake recipe to include oil instead of using all butter. My theory was that difference would make the cake sturdy enough to stand up to all the berries and cream. Additionally, I went against CI's advice about not making 4 layers. They say that many layers adds considerably to the risk that the cake will slouch, slump and/or slide. But I was in a contrary mood so I proceeded to ignore that advice as well.

The white cake is a wonderful, moist cake with a tight crumb and good flavor. It's my go-to recipe for using up leftover egg whites. I substitute 1/3 of the butter with the same amount of oil (1/4 cup oil to replace the 4 tbsp. butter). This actually adds a little fat and reduces the liquid slightly since oil is 100% fat and butter only 80%. The cake turned out perfect, although my oven REALLY needs to be leveled since the cakes looked like the leaning tower of Pisa. Oh well, it does provide more scraps for snacking.

The berries get macerated with sugar (I used a little of the muscovado acquired earlier in the week). The juices that collect are then boiled down with Kirsch until syrupy, mixed back with chopped strawberries, and these are layered with the cake and cream cheese-fortified whipped cream. Using cream cheese in whipped cream is genius. It adds a bit of tang and improves the holding power and sturdiness of the cream immeasurably.

   Once all the components were finished, assembly was next. I leveled out the cakes as best I could and cut each in half. The bottom half went on a serving platter, with a ring of halved strawberries circling the perimeter. The berry puree was spread over the cake to the strawberry ring, then whipped cream was spread over the berries almost to the edge. (You don't go completely to the edge because you don't want to obscure the halved berries.)

This was repeated two more times. The final layer of cake went on top and a penultimate layer of whipped cream covered that. Inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night, I piped swirls of whipped cream in varying directions over the top of the cake. After DH and I each ate a slice, we sent it to the neighbors to get rid of the temptation to eat the whole thing. The neighbors didn't complain.

The Morel of the Story

A friend dropped off a treasure the other day: fresh morel mushrooms that he had handpicked earlier that day. Now that's what I call a GOOD friend. Morel season is fleeting; by the time this gets posted, they will probably be but a memory. Luckily, they will be a tasty memory.

The past few years have been bad for morels - it's been too dry and too cold. The recent rains and warm weather were ideal for them this spring, though, and I am told it was a bountiful harvest. Last night's frost probably damaged any that were left, so I am glad we got them while the gettin' was good. If we ever get a farm, I hope it has tasty wild mushrooms we can harvest. If not, I will definitely try to transplant some, although I have no idea how difficult that is. My guess is that they grow wild in the right conditions, but that it is difficult to know exactly which area will be suitable if you are trying to propagate them. It's worth a shot at any rate.

I decided to keep the preparations simple to highlight their earthy flavor. I began by sauteeing shallots in a bit of butter. I added the mushrooms and cooked until most of their water was released. Then I added the remnants of two bottles of red wine and some homemade beef stock (too bad I can't find veal bones here so I could make veal stock, would would have been even better). I let the wine and stock reduce until they were a syrupy glaze to the mushrooms. We served these delectable treats with a London broil, mashed potatoes, and a salad with strawberries, pine nuts, and shaved Parmesan Reggiano. It was a very simple yet utterly delicious meal. MMMMmmmm....

Butterscotch Pots de Crème

While perusing the web recently, I was directed to the Orangette blog. On that blog, in addition to many other fine things, was a post about butterscotch pots de crème. Since I was a wee munchkin I have adored butterscotch - even the imitation, oddly orange pudding from a box. Even though I love the flavor, only once have I made a homemade butterscotch pudding. It was good, but this recipe promised to be transcendent. I decided to give it a try and it did not disappoint.

The recipe called for two types of sugar that I don't usually have on hand; in fact, I had never tried one of the types specified, muscovado sugar. That is an oversight I am glad to have rectified. Imagine the yumminess of brown sugar multiplied exponentially. Muscovado sugar is REAL brown sugar - not processed white sugar with a little molasses thrown back in for a touch of taste and color. I had seen it before at the natural foods store, but after trying turbinado sugar years before and being disappointed in it, I never bothered to try the muscovado. While I can't afford to replace regular brown sugar with this heavenly stuff in all baking applications due to its cost, I will use it when the difference in taste will shine through, as in this recipe. I would also like to try it in my caramels recipe, but at $3.50/lb it will make the price of that confection jump.

The other sugar the recipe asked for proved to be a bit troublesome. I forgot to take the recipe with me to the store and as usual, my memory proved to be a steel trap. A rusty one. I remembered muscovado but incorrectly recalled the second sugar. I grabbed turbinado sugar, another unrefined sugar with large, light brown crystals, because that's what my faulty memory told me I needed. (One good thing about a bad memory is that it's easy for me to keep secrets.)

Sugars in hand, I reviewed the recipe when I got home. Drats - it called for demerara sugar, not turbinado. I did a little research, and also read the comments of Orangette's blog, to see if I could substitute the turbinado without ill effect. (I didn't recall seeing demerara at the natural foods store anyway, but relying on my rusty memory is silly. I will check again this week and see if they have it.) Since many websites claimed that the difference between turbinado and demerara was mainly semantic, and since Orangette herself said they could be used interchangeably in this recipe, I proceeded forthwith.

I mentioned earlier that I had been disappointed in turbinado sugar years before in my hippie/granola/not shaving days. While I don't like it in coffee, I don't know why I was disappointed in it otherwise.  It will be perfect to top creme brulee, to sprinkle on plain yogurt with fresh berries, and in other desserts.

As in many great recipes, this one contained few ingredients as the rest of my mise en place shows. Cream, eggs, milk and vanilla combined with the muscovado to produce a rich opaque amber liquid. The cream and sugar were brought to a simmer and tempered into the egg yolks. Separately, the turbinado was cooked to a light caramel and combined with the rest of the ingredients. It smelled heavenly. The mixture was then placed in small ramekins (I chose to use dainty teacups), covered with foil and baked in a water bath until nearly set. The puddings were then chilled to allow them to set. The recipe made two, one for me and one for DH. Of course I know that DH isn't a huge sweets fan, so it was more like 1 3/4 for me, 1/4 for him. Isn't sharing fun, honey? From the photo at the top, it looks like I purposely poured more for myself. That's only an illusion because one of the cups is wide and shallow; the other one taller and more narrow. They had nearly equal amounts in the beginning; I just stole

Orangette goes into a brief history of where the term butterscotch originated. I leave it to you to read her interesting anecdote to learn the details. My only surprise was that there wasn't any alcohol in it. I had incorrectly assumed that the scotch part came from adding, well, Scotch. Turns out scotch either refers to scorch (as in making the caramel) or possibly Scotland where it was purportedly invented. Anyway, I was a little disappointed, because you know how I like to cook with liquor.

When I finally sampled the pots de crème I didn't miss the liquor one little bit. Surprisingly I resisted the temptation to eat both cups while they were still warm, but I managed to do so. The taste and texture were just lovely - smooth, silky, rich and decadent. It's a good thing the recipe only made two or I would have eaten the entire batch no matter how many there were.

This recipe is luxurious and indulgent. I'll definitely make it again, when I have reason to celebrate. Here's a link to the full recipe on Orangette's blog.