Peanut Butter Pot de Crème With Red Wine Syrup

A tart grape syrup made with red wine reduction tops this rich and creamy riff on the classic PB&J.

By
Stella Parks
Stella Parks
Stella Parks
Editor Emeritus
Stella Parks is a CIA-trained baking nerd and pastry wizard, dubbed one of America's Best New Pastry Chefs by Food & Wine. She was the pastry editor at Serious Eats from 2016 to 2019.
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Updated March 11, 2024
Profile view of a shallow glass of peanut butter pot de crème with red wine syrup.

Serious Eats / Rosco Weber

Why It Works

  • A small, unassertive amount of chocolate improves the flavor of the custard without competing with the peanut butter.
  • Adding the peanut butter and chocolate at the beginning ensures they are fully emulsified with the custard base.
  • Reducing the wine by half before adding the sugar concentrates its grape flavor.

One of my favorite parts of snuggling up to the latest issue of any given food magazine is catching up on restaurant news in cities across America. New York. Boston. San Francisco. Chicago. Lexington.

"Wait, Lexington...What state is that even in?" I can hear you asking.

It's in Kentucky, which admittedly doesn't pop up in the pages of glossy food mags very often. When it does, expect it in conjunction with one of our officially sanctioned State Foods: the Hot Brown (bacon and Mornay!), grits (still not polenta!), or bourbon (barrels of fun!). But once you could find my hometown in the pages of Food & Wine without a single mention of any of those culinary tropes.

A peanut butter pot de crème, as served at the restaurant Table 310.

Food and Wine

So what did Food & Wine have to say about Lex Vegas? That it's home to Table 310 (the restaurant where I worked) and the most super-fun desserts in the world! (You know, the desserts that I make... sometimes even the desserts that show up in this column!)

Okay, full disclosure, they didn't say anything even remotely like that. The article was all like, "blahblahblah not about Stella." They didn't mention me. But that's cool, 'cause even though the article is actually a profile of my employers, the biggest photo on the page is of one of my desserts. Seriously. It's like five times bigger than their portrait.

Putting aside the fact that it's actually a lovely write up of Krim and Andrea, let's go back to the make believe world where it's all about my dessert and you're just dying for the recipe. I know you want a peanut butter pot de crème with a shot of reduced red wine syrup and kinako shortbread. How do I know this? Because who doesn't want a peanut butter and jelly-themed dessert, replete with slice-of-bread-shaped cookies and booze?

It's fun to eat; you can dose out the red wine reduction a little (or a lot) at a time, and spread peanut butter custard across the "bread" or even make a little sammy if you like. And while the flavors may have been upscaled, it still tastes like something straight out of your Ninja Turtle lunchbox.

Closeup of the kinako shortbread served with the pot de crème at Table 310.

Food and Wine

There's just a pinch of chocolate in the custard base, which does something really magical to the peanut butter flavor without actually making it chocolaty. The chocolate, as well as the peanut butter, are added in with the milk and cream at the beginning. Most recipes would have them whisked in at the end, but I've discovered that the peanut butter won't always emulsify completely if added last. Because it's added at the beginning, it makes the custard seem deceptively thick, so use a digital thermometer be make sure you've cooked it long enough before baking.

The red wine syrup is a really great way to use up a splash of this and a splash of that after a dinner party. I took a shot of every red wine on the list at Table 310 and simmered them together into a syrup. A little reckless, but unexpectedly delicious. Of course, you don't have to use an assortment of wine. I've made this before using solely Grenache or Zinfandel, and both worked splendidly.

I like this dessert because it plays by the rules of dessert 101: elements of creamy and crunchy, fatty and lean, sweet and savory. Trust me, when you let these elements combine, it turns out very Captain Planet.

The power is yours.

October 2011

Recipe Details

Peanut Butter Pot de Crème with Red Wine Syrup Recipe

Prep 5 mins
Cook 60 mins
Active 45 mins
Chilling Time 4 hrs
Total 5 hrs 5 mins
Serves 6 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • For the Peanut Custard:
  • 8 ounces milk
  • 8 ounces heavy cream
  • 6 ounces creamy peanut butter (standard or "natural" both work fine)
  • 1/3 ounce dark chocolate
  • 4 ounces egg yolks (from 8 to 12 eggs)
  • 4 ounces sugar
  • 1 ounce honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • For the Red Wine Syrup:
  • 7 ounces red wine
  • 3 1/2 ounces sugar
  • Pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C) and prepare water bath: set a large pot of water on the stove to boil. When it comes to a boil, shut off heat and let it sit until needed. Arrange six 6-ounce ramekins in a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with tall sides. Have a large piece of aluminum foil standing by.

  2. Make the Peanut Butter Custard: In a medium pot, combine milk, cream, peanut butter, and chocolate. Turn heat to medium and whisk periodically until hot and both peanut butter and chocolate have completely melted into the dairy.

  3. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks, sugar, honey, and salt in a large bowl, whisking to combine. When peanut butter mixture begins to steam and perhaps bubble, whisk a ladleful into the eggs. Temper in another two ladles of hot milk, whisking all the while.

  4. Whisk warm egg mixture into pot of milk and cream. Turn heat to medium-low and cook, using a flexible heat-resistant spatula to stir constantly, until mixture registers 140°F (60°C) on a digital thermometer. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer suspended over a medium bowl.

  5. Portion mixture evenly between ramekins (about 5 ounces each) then place them in pan. Fill pan about 3/4 full with prepared hot water. Cover whole thing over with foil and very carefully transfer to preheated oven.

  6. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until custards have a gentle set. If they appear liquid when jiggled, continue baking; see Notes. The custards will have a slight, Jello-like wiggle when they've cooked enough, and a skin that will not stick to your finger when lightly touched. Once baked, let custards cool to room temperature. Wrap in plastic and chill in refrigerator for 4 hours before serving.

  7. Make the Red Wine Syrup: In a small sauce pot, bring red wine to a simmer on medium heat. Turn heat to medium-low and continue to simmer gently until red wine has reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Then add sugar and salt and simmer another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until sugar has fully dissolved. Cool syrup to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to serve.

  8. Serve custards with syrup and shortbread cookies, if you like.

Special Equipment

Kitchen scale, instant-read thermometer, silicone spatula, fine-mesh strainer, six 6-ounce ramekins, 9- by 13-inch baking dish

Notes

All measurements are given in weight, as volume measures can be very imprecise. I strongly recommend using a kitchen scale for all pastry projects.

Sometimes, based on hot spots in your oven, custards need to be rescued on a case-by-case basis; don't hesitate to remove ones that seem done, while letting others continue to bake.

Make-Ahead and Storage

The custards have a terrific shelf-life and will keep, covered and refrigerated, for about 1 week.

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