Easy and Elegant Dinner Party Dessert

God I love aliteration, don't you? But enough about my great title. Let's talk about the dessert!

The hands down best dinner party desserts are the ones you can make a day in advance. That way you don't need to use your oven for your dessert while you're also trying to use it to make your dinner. And it won't screw up your timeline, or require any effort while you're having post dinner conversation with your guests.

I've found that, generally, custards and cremes and things of that nature are pretty great dinner party desserts. Not only can they be made in advance, they actually demand that you make them in advance so that they have enough time to set.

The type of dessert I'm talking about here is the kind offered in fancy shmancy restaurants. So you're thinking, "uh oh! must be complicated!" right? Wrong! Panna cotta is surprisingly simple. And, as it turns out, so is pot de creme!

This recipe will help you put together adorable and delicious Bailey's Pot de Creme. Not your normal chocolate pot de creme, which means you won't compete with fancy restaurants where your dinner guests may have experienced pot de creme. Great plan, right? And the active time on this is only about 30 minutes. The dessert must be made with at least 4 hours of fridge time, but can be made with 24 hours of fridge time. So easy. So delicious. Giant win for you!

Ingredients: (This is to serve 8. I cut it in half)
1.5 cups of heavy cream
1/4 cup Bailey's liquer
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
8 egg yolks
Pinch of Salt

1. Mix together the heavy cream and the whole milk in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat and let stand.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt.

3. Whisk in the warm cream/milk mixture.

4. Mix in the Bailey's.

5. Strain the mixture into a 4 cup measuring cup.

6. Pour into pots de creme or small ramekins.

7. Place ramekins in a deep baking dish. Fill baking dish with hot water, up to a 1/2 inch below the rim of the ramekins. Cover the baking dish with foil. I recommend doing all of this on the stove top over your oven, because moving the baking dish is kind of scary!

8. Place the hot water bath in the oven. Bake at 325 for approximately 25 to 30 minutes, until the center of the pot de creme is just set.

9. Let the dishes cool on a wire rack. Once cool, cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

And its that easy! How could this dessert not be delicious? It's almost entirely fat, sugar, and alcohol!