Pudding, custard, flan—variations on a theme I love:  creamy.  I’m happy set in front of a bowl that contains any variation of these variations.  A plastic cup of the Bill Cosby J-E-L-L-O incarnation has even been known to float my boat.  My favourites though have to be the rich eggy recipes that are little more than cream, sugar, and egg yolks; the ones that give it up to the Old World by being baked in a bain marie.

Like any pumpkin dessert, I find it hard to resist a crème brulee when confronted with one.  The pleasure of cracking the sugar crust is legendary, but my enjoyment tends to end at that.  Shards of sugar always end up in my back molars or pushed up against my front teeth, my wayward tongue more of a hindrance than a help when trying to pry the melting shards free.  Crème caramel is an obvious solution, but that damn caramel can be so tricky and I can be easily turned off by wobbly cream.

Looking for a dinner party recipe that could be adjusted for three, I made what essentially is a sugarless crème brulee.  Pots de crème.  Chocolate, yes, but that’s just a formality of flavour. 

Eggs + sugar + cream.  All there.

And what else?

Whipped cream.

I simply cut this Epicurious recipe in half.  Didn’t do the espresso as I’m not big on mocha.  Added a lightly sweetened, lightly vanilla’d whipped cream.

I could tell you that you need to use a dark chocolate with x% of cocoa solids from such and such a brand, but why stress?  Sometimes you’re in the bulk foods aisle and the easiest thing to grab is dark chocolate wafers or chips.  Of course a better chocolate will yield something better.  Do so if you like.  But, unless you’re baking for Pierre Hermé, I’m sure your guests or friends or lover (or yourself) won’t be offended if you use the chips.

Although it *would* be nice if at the end of a rainbow there was a pot of gold, I’d be just as happy finding a pot de crème.