French Fridays: Les Petits Pots

No bake banana cheesecake pudding on eatlivetravelwrite.comRaise your hand if, at the back of your kitchen cupboards, you have a stash of little glass yoghurt pots that you carried back from France. Uh huh. I thought so. For the past decade or so, I’ve been to France at least once a year and on every trip, my first grocery haul from the supermarket will invariably include a couple of packages of the yoghurts that come in glass pots. And I’ll wash and dry the glass pots and carefully wrap them and cart them home in my suitcase.  For the past two summers, I’ve spent quite a few weeks in France getting our holiday house rental-ready (it is!) and that’s meant a fair few yoghurts have been consumed.

So what on earth do I do with all those jars? Well, currently our kitchen cupboards in France as well as Toronto contain a fair number of them. They make great apéro glasses at a pinch…

Glass yoghurt pots as aperitif glassesThey’re also great for holding pencils, flowers, candies and work well as little soup “shooter” glasses at holiday parties. SO many uses. But mostly I just have been hoarding them since, well, you couldn’t get them here in Toronto.  Until now.

Introducing Riviera Petit Pot by Laiterie Chalifoux:

Riviera Petit Pot yoghurts on eatlivetravelwrite.comSince 1920, Laiterie Chalifoux has been a key player in the Quebec dairy industry.  Alexandrina Chalifoux began to sell leftover milk from her family herd to people in nearby villages and the Laiterie was born. Since then, the Chalifoux family business has grown and today is one of the premiere dairies in Canada.

The Riviera brand was launched in 1959 when the Laiterie began to produce cheddar.  Nearly 60 years later, Riviera offers a full range of dairy products – cheeses, milks and creams – and now Riviera is launching a new line, Petit Pot.

Featuring three varieties of yogurts, three butters, sour cream and crème fraîche – simple, rich dairy ingredients, made in Quebec with milk from the region of Sorel-Tracy – Riviera Petit Pot comes in little glass jars similar to old-fashioned glass milk bottles (remember those milk deliveries that used to come to your front door?) that will delight anyone who has ever seen, bought or tasted yoghurt in glass pots in France.

Riviera Petit Pot range on eatlivetravelwrite.comI was thrilled to receive a package last week containing goat yoghurt, set-style yoghurt, organic yoghurt, crème fraîche, sour cream and butter – it was like a little slice of France delivered to my door! Ripping off the foil cap of the first yoghurt pot immediately transported me back to France as did the unmistakable clink of the spoon on the glass. I was keen to try the set-style yoghurt because that is something that is so very European. It was thick and creamy and comes in four of my favourite flavours (vanilla, coconut, lemon and plain – my favourite for cooking and baking with). And then, just like that, after the weekend, we had four empty pots. What to do? Why re-fill them with something delicious, of course!

Whenever I see these little pots I think of the word in French (pot, pronounced poe, as in Edgar Allen Poe) which immediately makes me think of “Pots de Crème”, a dessert custard that’s smooth and silky and not too firm.  It’s a cooked custard, made with eggs, egg yolks, milk and cream which is then poured into ramekins or pots and baked in a water bath at a low heat, so it’s a bit fussy to make. While I love a good pot de crème, it’s a pretty rich dessert – I prefer a cœur à la crème personally, so when I was charged with developing a recipe with the Petit Pot yoghurt to be served in the glass jars, I figured why not go the “no bake” route?  And thus, a no-bake banana cheesecake “pot de crème” was born. And served in Riviera Petit Pot glass jars.

No bake cheesecake puddings on eatlivetravelwrite.com

Yield: 4

No-bake cheesecake "pots de crème"

Inspired by the yoghurt in little glass jars this no-bake dessert tastes just like banana cheesecake.

Ingredients

  • 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons Riviera Petit Pot Crème fraîche
  • 1 Riviera Petit Pot Set-Style Vanilla Yoghurt (125mls)
  • 2 small ripe bananas
  • toasted sliced almonds, for garnish
  • banana slices, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Beat the cream cheese and crème fraîche together until creamy, using an electric hand mixer.
  2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the banana and yoghurt until well combined and creamy.
  3. Gently the banana mixture into the cream cheese with a rubber spatula and mix until combined.
  4. Divide the mixture between four Riviera Petit Pot yoghurt jars.
  5. Allow to set in the fridge for a few hours (the longer you let it set, the firmer and more "cheesecake-like" it will become. If you prefer a "pudding" texture, let it set for less time).
  6. Garnish with toasted sliced almonds and banana slices

did you make this recipe?

please leave a comment or review on the blog or share a photo and tag me on Instagram @eatlivtravwrite !

No bake banana cheesecake pot de creme on eatlivetravelwrite.comThis was pure comfort in a “petit pot”.  Smooth and creamy but not too rich this can be a dessert, an afternoon snack or, hey, even breakfast (it’s go dairy and fruit, right?). Serving them in the glass jars makes every occasion a special one.

Now you’ll need a set of the jars.  Locate your nearest store carrying the Riviera Petit Pot range on the website. And for a limited time, get four (4) free flexible plastic lids that snap on easily and make the petits pots watertight (click here).

Join in the conversation using #PetitPot and follow Riviera on social media:

Riviera Petit Pot on Twitter
Riviera Petit Pot on Instagram
Riviera on Facebook

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Disclosure: I received a basket of Riviera Petit Pot samples and compensation in return for promoting the products and developing this recipe. All opinions 100% my own and if you could see my kitchen cupboards, you’d realise my love affair with glass yoghurt pots is a long-term one 😉

14 thoughts on “French Fridays: Les Petits Pots”

  1. I would start eating yogurt again if they came jn these pots!! So cute!!! The recipe looks delicious. Off to see if they sell near me 🙂

    Reply
  2. And I thought I was the only crazy woman who came back from every trip to France with a suitcase loaded down with empty yogurt pots. I collect the colored clay ones in addition to the clear ones.I envy you being able to get them in Canada. We don’t have them in the States.

    Reply
  3. As much as I enjoy their setstyle yogourts, for me it is the butter that is the best! I love that the jar already has a lid too!

    I plan on using the empty petits pots for my spices..

    Reply

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