Chocolate Pots de Crème and Almond Wafers

Bring the heavy cream, half of the sugar and the vanilla bean (scraped, plus whole pod) to a boil in a saucepan. Whisk together the egg yolks with the remaining other half of the sugar in a separate bowl. Whisk 1/3 of the boiling milk mixture into the egg yolks, stirring constantly. (Note: This is the "tempering" process, which ensures that you won't end up with scrambled eggs!) Return the combined egg/milk mixture to the saucepan with the remaining milk and continue cooking it for 15-20 seconds until slightly thickened. Strain the cream into a bowl containing the chocolate. Whisk until completely smooth. Pour the mixture into the aluminum cups and refrigerate until cooled. Top with Almond Wafers (recipe below).