Chocolate by Francois: Cremes Brulees

A new baking group. Chocolate with Francois.  How could I resist? 

The first recipe has me hooked. It was chosen by our team leader, Julie of Little Bit of Everything.  Check out her site for the best details on how to make this delicious dessert.

I have never even thought of making Creme Brulee before. In fact, since I don’t eat dessert when we go out for dinner, I’ve never had Creme Brulee. 

Lets walk through this recipe because you will want to try this at home. Original recipe serves 8. The ingredients below is for 4 servings.

• 3 oz 72% chocolate chopped.  *I used Valrhona
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large egg yolks

• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 1/2 TBS heavy cream

Topping:   1/2 cup granulated sugar

I made this recipe over the course of 3 days. On the first day, I mixed up the ingredients when I was home for lunch.  Mixed,  ate my lunch, and cleaned up in 45 minutes. 

Day two, I baked the bruleees.  Day three, we ate the chocolate decadence. 

Instructions:

Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Combine the sugar and yolks in a medium bowl whisking until combined. 

Bring the cream to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.

Remove and stir into chocolate pieces until it is melted and smooth.

Slowly pour one fourth of the chocolate cream into the yolk mixture – whisk constantly otherwise the yolks will curdle. 

Pour all of the yolk mixture into the chocolate cream and whisk until all is combined.

Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  *If using cheese cloth, wet it and squeeze it dry (this removes any stray pieces of cloth).

At this point, you can refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 300 F.  Pour the custard into 6 ounce heat proof ramekins. Place the ramekins on a RIMMED baking sheet and put about 1/4 inch of water into the baking sheet where the ramekins sit. 

Bake for 1 hour.   Remove and let cool to room temperature then refrigerate until completely set, approximately 3 hours or up to 2 days.

To Finish and Serve the Dessert:

Preheat the oven to 500 F.  Place the rack as high as possible in your oven (like broiling).  Put the ramekins back on a baking sheet and top each with a layer of approx. 2 TBS sugar.  Place in oven. Watch closely for about 2 minutes or until the sugar melts and forms a wonderful crisp layer.  Enjoy immediately.

The crisp layer of caramelized sugar on top of a velvety rich smooth creamy chocolate custard is a reward your mouth will never forget.  Easy and versatile.  A dessert to share among friends.

Joanne