Tuesdays with Dorie: On the Run

In the midst of all the cake, I do keep making all sorts of things from Baking: From My Home to Yours, and they often turn out to be the most popular. I've made nearly all of the recent TWD recipes, but haven't had time to blog them, and sometimes failed to get the picture. But here they are, all in a row.

Maple Cornmeal Biscuits--crunchy drops, not a lot of staying power, but no problems here.

Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones--ahead of the pack. These are more than they seem, nubbly, and nutty, and really, really, good.

Blueberry-Brown Sugar Plain Cake -- like muffins in a pyrex dish. Lovely. With rhubarb. Something about the words 'plain cake' just screams the best part of L.M. Montgomery's Avonlea.  So wholesome yet kind of not.

Caramel Pots de Creme--wonderful on the bottom, grainy on the top where the bain marie didn't quite reach. Breakfast. Seriously, why do people eat muffins for breakfast. It's all about custard.

I might skip today's chocolate biscotti, but we'll see. On we barrel, on the way to looking just like a couple of barrels. Custard ho.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Chocolate Pots de Creme

French and I have a tortured relationship. I like the food, and the tablecloths and the attitude and all, but I fear the language. For a pronunciation challenged person like me, the myriad French words in the theater and food worlds are a perpetual minefield. I usually bull my way through by saying them slightly snidely, as if I were mispronouncing them on purpose to show those cheese-eating surrender monkeys. I mean, in the end, you still get cup custard. But I will cop to the fact that my aunt had to teach me how to say Pots de Creme quite recently, and I still feel a little dopey saying it.

(Can't say I'm the only one on the internet--yes I'm looking at you, bloggers who present their creations with a hearty 'Walla!.'  No, I'm still not over this.)

I feel just fine eating it, though, and was pleased when it was this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick. I halved the recipe, and screwed it up somewhat by adding too much milk to the ganache at first, and refusing to skim and cover the baking cups, but the final product, though not picturesque, was some good pud. For those of you don't share my Francophobia, here's the recipe.