San Francisco Bay Area chefs can be wildly inventive when flavoring pots de crème, the silky baked custards served in small pots. Ginger, bittersweet chocolate, dulce de leche (milk-based caramel) and espresso are among the pot de crème flavors that turn up on menus, but Meyer lemon—the fragrant citrus that thrives in local backyards—is perhaps the most inviting. Achieving a velvety texture with pots de crème takes some attention. If you overcook them, they will be overly firm once chilled. Make sure they are still quivery when you remove them from the oven.
Serve with a late-harvest dessert wine, such as Muscat.
Recipe courtesy of Williams-Sonoma and adapted from Williams-Sonoma Foods of the World series, San Francisco, by Janet Fletcher (Oxmoor House, 2004).