Monday, May 19, 2008

Almond, M A P L E and Cardamom 'Pots de Creme' (sugarless)



The brain was in overdrive, as it always is, in anticipation of creating new & exciting dishes :)
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I was thinking 'Pots de Creme'! With such an appealing name it was not a tough choice at all. I managed to plug in all kinds of substitutions possible and the results were SWEET....and SMOOTH ;)
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Pots de Creme refers to both the custard dessert as well as the small lidded pots that this dessert is served in. Pots de Creme or Pots-au-creme translates from French to English as 'pot of cream'. It is basically a kind of custard made with egg yolks and then baked in a bain marie/water bath. You may click on the link above for it's origin and some fancy shamancy pots collection ;)
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Almond paste is what I thought of for the custard, having had a gorgeous experience with it sometime back. How about maple syrup take the place of sugar, cried out the forever sugar replacer in me. Now in my books, addition of cardamom/elaichi to any sweets makes it absolutely thrilling and takes it over the top, so that had to go in too :)
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Almond, Maple and Cardamom Pots de Creme
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2 cups milk
3/4 cup almonds soaked 3hrs, up to overnight
1/2 tsp ground cardamom/elaichi (use as per your taste)
4 tbsp maple syrup (use as per your liking, I do not like cloyingly sweet creations)
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1. Bring milk to a boil and simmer for half an hour.
2. In the meanwhile blend soaked almonds(de-skin) to a fine paste, use milk to facilitate the blender.
3. Add the almond paste to the milk & cook a few minutes.
4. Add maple syrup and ground cardamom & switch off the gas in 5 minutes.
5. Pour into individual ramekins, cover with a foil and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes till set. Covering the ramekins avoids a skin forming atop the milk.
6. Enjoy a healthy and sugar free dessert, we loved it :)
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Notes:
If your milk mixture does not thicken well, you can add some thickener like arrowroot powder etc to help thicken it faster.
Maple syrup sweetens the dessert very well and has additional advantage of nutrients. As for the GI, you may check it's level if you have any problems in that field.
Almonds impart a beautiful nutty taste, you almost don't want to mask their taste with too much sweetness.Purists may not take swiftly to my using the name for this dessert, but since when has that stopped me ....lol
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So, how do you use your maple syrup? do lemme' know in the comments section!
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55 comments:

TheCooker said...

Looks lovely. Trust you to come up with something like this :)
I usually use maple syrup when making my own granola, as a topping on pancakes, or in smoothies.

Richa said...

thanks tc! glad u liked it :)

ranji said...

simply superrrrb!!!tempting photos!!great entry..

Meera said...

Delicious!! I love eggless custards. Most of them have eggs in them and me no likey eggs!:-D
I agree with you on cardamom. I love it in all sweets too. I do not know the exact GI for maple syrup but agave nectar may be substituted for low GI. I generally use maple syrup as the usual accompaniment with pancakes/waffles etc for my daughter. I have bookmarked this recipe. surely will try soon and let u know. I have some almond flour in the fridge, maybe I will use that. Can't wait to try it out. Thanks for sharing.

Madhavi said...

Lovely entry, looks awesome and very tempting!!!

Richa said...

thanks ranji, for your kind words, appreciate it! enjoy....

Hetal said...

Visiting ur blog for the first time...this recipe looks delicious and nice blog.Would love to c u on my blog...

Richa said...

thanks meera!
yup, elaichi is the KING!!!
if u've almond flour, why wait? why not make it today :) believe me, this is one sweet u won't mind eating over n again, we just loved it :) enjoy.....

thanks madhavi! appreciate ur time & sweet words :)

Cham said...

It is no more pot de creme! Wow, it is egg free and sugar free, a guilt free treat Richa!
For the maple sirup, well none of us like sweet flavor so i don't use it.
Another got to try recipe from ur side! Love ur pictures

Vanamala Hebbar said...

hmmm yummy .... lovely Richa

bee said...

beautiful flavours. i use maple syrup in lieu of sugar almost exclusivey now.

Uma said...

this is one delicious recipe, Richa! Lovely!

sunita said...

Richa, love your dessert...I use more honey than maple syrup :-(...

btw, what about sending this gorgeous recipe to Easy Crafts who is guest hosting 'Think spice...'...and yes, it is 'cardamom' for this month :-D

@the_whisk_affair said...

first time visitor, and what a great welcome!! love your pots de creme...i have a recipe and has been procrastinating making them since i didnt have those small pots...u inspired me!!!

Arundathi said...

hard to imagine Pots de Creme without sugar - good for you! sounds delicious!

Shweta said...

That is awesome! This is funny - I was checking out 'Pots de Creme' on the internet yesterday, was disappointed that they all contain eggs, and here you are on a Monday morning with the sinful eggless dessert :) Will certainly be making these!
I LOVE maple syrup with my waffles, lots of it! My mami treated us to these little cup-cake like thingies when we made a trip to Canada last year. They brought out the maple flavors so well, I can almost taste them from memory!

FH said...

YAY! Simple yet so delicious. Cardamom and Maple gives it a double whammy!:)

sra said...

Way to go! Even the mere mention sounds delicious!

indosungod said...

Love this lovely creation from the name on with almonds it is way too delicious. I have used maple syrup in cakes and they are just as sweet.

Mansi said...

that sure looks like a lovely flavor combo Richa! but one question though..without the egg or the heavy creme, does it really rise or thicken enough when you bake it?? isn't it just like boiling milk again? maybe the arrowroot or cornstarch addition mihgt give it more texture, right?

Richa said...

thanks hetal!

thanks cham! do lemme' know when u try :)

thanks mala, bee & uma !

thanks sunita!
will be very happy to send this for the event, sweetie :)

Richa said...

thanks jz & welcome here!
good to know that i inspired u :)

thanks arundhati! yeah it was one yum dessert!

Richa said...

thanks shweta!
wow! that sure is a coincidence, glad to hv jogged those memories! maple syrup from canada is ofcourse the best known, u must hv had a great exp there! yup, i thot of this egg substitute without sacrificing the taste, infact it is nutritious to boot ;) do lemme' know if u try it!

Richa said...

thanks asha! yup, u said it :)

thanks sra! i was smiling to myself all the while when i was making it ;)

thanks isg!
maple sure works well, isn't it ;)

thanks mansi! glad u liked it. do try & lemme' know. actually the ground almonds thicken it very well, it will not rise as it does not hv any rising ingredient, but it thickens fine. you can also add arrowroot as i mentioned to thicken further if u want. it thickens even more on cooling. try karje, taney gamsey :)

Suganya said...

Hi Richa....
That was a excellent creation for sugarless dessert. Love to try it once. Ur picture looks so good. This is a appetizing dessert. Love it so much...

Hay I have something on my blog for u....

Unknown said...

that is a gorgeous dessert..I love the cute lil pouch in ur picture..I use maple syrup in my oatmeal

Lisa Turner said...

Yet another inspired creation! My dad makes his own maple syrup and I can imagine this would be a perfect way to enjoy some of it.

Kalai said...

That's one gorgeous looking dessert, Richa! What an awesome flavor combo!! You should definitely send this in to think spice at Easycrafts' blog, too. Bookmarking it now. :)

DK said...

I use maple syrup a lot nowdays starting from tea to cereal to breads to desserts! This one am sure is going to be yum! Good one Richa

TBC said...

That is one fab dessert! I like adding cardamom to most Indian desserts. I just love the flavor it imparts.
I had made a chocolate Pots de Creme once following one of Rachel Ray's recipes, and added cardamom to give it an Indian touch. It completely ruined the dessert for me. Lesson learnt- chocolate and cardamom do not go well together.


I rarely use maple syrup- it is usually a processed product, but I do tend to use honey, a natural sweetener, a lot.

Alpa said...

what a dessert, looks really elegant! i try to steer clear of pots de creme as they usually contain eggs and the eggless versions usually are made with gelatin. this is a really nice variation with the maple syrup. BTW, i use my maple syrup to make granola and to top my waffles :)

J said...

The name itself is so tempting!

Beyond Curries said...

This is my first time here Richa and I'm floored with your simple yet elegant dessert. It looks awesome.

Kribha said...

That's so simple and neat Richa. Loved the fact that it had no added sugar in it. So, is this dessert enjoyed hot or cold? Photos look fabulous.

Thankyou so much Richa for your concern about me. To be frank... I didn't go on crash diet. Did eat healthy and excercised. When people ask me how it happened so fast, really I donno what to say. :-)

Rachel said...

I just love maple syrup in anything..the pots de creme look delectable....

Sig said...

I am not a fan of maple syrup, a bad experience long time ago, and never touched it again... :) Those pots de creme look great... love the flavors... I too add cardamom to most desserts :)

vandana rajesh said...

this is my first time here. yumm...very interesting recipes indeed.

Raaga said...

yummy... I use maple syrup in breads and of course over pancakes :-) my friend taught me to use it as a glaze as well :-)

Pravs said...

lovely creation ! love maple syrup but have not explored much with it...just on pancakes.

Anonymous said...

Your photo's are breathtaking, they really need to be highlighted in magazines!
I love cardamom and will have to attempt this pots de creme. I'm not sure if I could make them as lovely as yours!

Richa said...

awwwww! what a sweet thing to say, white on rice :)
u sure know how to make one smile!
thanks for ur kind words!

Rajitha said...

Richa..how delicious :)..and that cute purse..how adorable....and maple syrup...i use it from baking to topping off my yogurt...

Laavanya said...

I love how you think Richa.. that looks like such a creamy & smooth dessert :)

SASHREE said...

first time to ur blog richa,its amazing.
lovely pic richa..thanks for sharing great one

Sagari said...

looks beautifullll

musical said...

Very neat idea, Richa! Is there still something left :-D. This has to be the simplest and yummiest dessert idea!

How have you been doing? Any plans for the long weekend?

hugs,
musical.

Cynthia said...

I am longing for some comfort food and this would be the perfect thing. Only one problem, I want someone else to make it :)

EC said...

Great looking dessert...thanks for participating

Susan said...

Very creative, Richa! And you didn't have to fuss with a bain marie b/c you didn't use eggs. Clever. Delicious.

Have you ever tried "Grade B" maple syrup? Harder to find, but the flavor is stronger and the color darker.

Swati Raman Garg said...

great pics.. i like d spoons.. d bowls :) great entry...

Anonymous said...

whaaaa? eggless pots de creme :) - i could kiss your hands right now. thanks for the recipe. i am trying this right very soon.

Andhra Flavors said...

Lovely dish, Tempting phots too..

Sangeeth said...

looks and sounds yummy!

Unknown said...
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FoodieFriend said...

Looks yummy! I must try this on....
Thanks for posting such a fabulous recipe especially in the midst of summer and winter(in india)
Happy blogging....