Chocolate Covered Roasted Strawberry Pots de Creme

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Silky smooth honey ginger custard is layered with roasted strawberries and luscious chocolate ganache in this sinfully delicious pots de cream recipe. Perfect for summer, these individual desserts are simple to make and will be a showstopper at your next dinner party, celebration or random Tuesday night alone with your cat.

Nothing says summer like strawberries. Strawberries have always been one of my very favorite berries. Whether eaten fresh, blended frozen in smoothies or baked warm with rhubarb in a pie, I love these versatile little fruits. Today I’m sharing a recipe for Chocolate Covered Roasted Strawberry Pots de Creme. This light, yet indulgent, little dessert is perfect for summer. The chocolate adds a layer of decadence, while the roasted strawberries keep this creamy custard dessert nice and light.

If you’re unfamiliar with pots de creme (pronounced POH-də-KREM) it’s a French baked custard dessert made with egg yolks and cream and literally means “Pot of Cream”. The process of making pots de creme isn’t all that different from making crème brûlée. You just get different results since the custard for pots de creme lacks crème brûlée’s iconic caramelized sugar crust. The custard itself, however, remains nearly the same. Not as stiff as flan, but slightly thicker than a homemade pudding.

How to Roast Strawberries

As mentioned, this recipe also calls for roasted strawberries. This step does add about 30 minutes of cooking time to the recipe, but it’s totally worth it. If you’ve never roasted strawberries before, you’re in for a treat. As the strawberries roast, their sugars begin to break down and intensify. Once fully roasted, they’re super fragrant, juicy and almost jam-like. It’s pure magic!

In this recipe, I like to sprinkle the sliced strawberries with a little ground ginger and drizzle them with honey before putting them into the oven. It’s just another layer of flavor for this special dessert. After seasoning them, I place the sliced berries into a 350°F oven for 30 minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then I just let the oven work its magic.

How to Make Pots de Creme

Don’t let the scary French name scare you. Pots de creme are super easy to make. Tempering the eggs and getting the doneness just right are the trickiest bits to master. However, once you nail preparing the custard base, the flavor variations are almost limitless! *Insert Mean Girls meme* Today’s recipe, for example, takes a standard vanilla pot de creme base and injects it with honey, cardamom and ginger. It really elevates the custard to another level. Then, I layer the custard with ginger roasted strawberries and luscious chocolate ganache for an extra summertime punch.

To make the custard, begin by warming a mixture of heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla paste, cardamom and ginger over medium-low heat until it begins to simmer. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and honey until smooth. Once the cream begins to simmer, remove it from the heat. Now, it’s time to temper the eggs. Add a few tablespoons of the hot cream to the egg/honey mixture. Whisking continuously, add a few more tablespoons at a time until the egg mixture is warm. Then, add the remaining cream and whisk until smooth. You want to gradually add the hot cream to the eggs initially to raise their temperature slowly which prevents the eggs from scrambling. Trust me, Nobody wants a pot de scramble—YUCK!

Once the custard is mixed, the pots de creme can be assembled. Start by arranging a generous layer of sliced roasted strawberries in the bottom of four oven-safe glass ramekins. Then, fill each ramekin almost to the top with the custard mixture. I like to leave about 1/4″ at the top of each ramekin so I have plenty of room to top each with ganache before serving.

This final step is key. Pots de creme like a moist (sorry if you hate that word) oven. So they need to bake in a water bath. Place the ramekins into a 9×13 baking dish and fill with water. You want the water bath to go about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Then, cover the baking dish loosely with foil before putting the whole thing in a preheated 325°F oven.

Depending on how tall your ramekins are, they’ll need to bake for 45-60 minutes. You’ll know they’re done once the edges are set when touched and the center of each ramekin slightly jiggles. The edges may also have a very slight golden tinge to them. Once ready, remove from oven and uncover. Let cool at room temperature. Pots de creme can be served warm or chilled. I prefer mine to be chilled, so once they’re cool and no longer steaming, I’ll cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and chill them in the fridge until I’m ready to serve.

Before serving, I’ll prep the chocolate ganache. The ganache for these pots de creme is super simple. All you need is a few ounces of high-quality, chopped semi-sweet or dark chocolate and a little heavy cream. To make the ganache, warm the heavy cream in the microwave, or on the stovetop, for a few minutes until steaming (not boiling). Then, pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Stir continuously until the chocolate is completely melted, smooth and glossy.

To decorate the pots de creme, pour a thin layer of ganache over each chilled custard. Spread using the back of a spoon until smooth. Since the custard has been chilled, it should help set the ganache rather quickly. Garnish each pot de creme with a little whipped cream, sliced strawberries and a little chopped crystallized ginger. You can even drizzle each with a little honey too.

The flavor combo of the strawberries, chocolate and velvety smooth custard pair perfectly with the ginger. My love of ginger has become almost equal to my love of garlic. If a recipe says to add 2 cloves of garlic, I usually add 6. The same is starting to be true for ginger. I just love the warm bite it gives to savory and sweet dishes. Not to mention, ginger, like garlic, has lots of health benefits too.

Ginger has been used in alternative medicine for centuries. Widely regarded for its anti-inflammatory properties, Ginger also contains powerful antioxidants and is known to help ease nausea. Truth be told, I was (almost) sad I didn’t get morning sickness when I was pregnant with my daughter. I would have loved to eat extra ginger to ease the discomfort. Or maybe I didn’t have morning sickness because I eat so much ginger as it is? Oh well, a mystery for another day.

Anyway, back to these pots de creme. They’re super delicious and the perfect treat for a hot summer day. If you make these Chocolate-Covered Roasted Strawberry Pots de Creme, leave me a comment below and give the recipe a rating. Also, be sure to tag me on social media. It’s @frydaeblog and #frydaeblog absolutely everywhere. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy. Happy Frydae, everyone.