When your husband brings home a bag of chocolate pistoles, there’s only one thing to do and that’s to make the most decadent chocolate dessert you can think of. In my book, this is Chocolate Pot de Crème.
Meaning “pot of cream” in French, this smooth and silky custard dessert is baked in individual ramekins and served cold. For a comprehensive list of custards, and a recipe for Instant Pot Crème Brûlée, check out Andrea’s blog.
The recipe only contains five ingredients – chocolate, half and half, egg yolks, vanilla and sugar – so it’s important you’re using the best ingredients you can get your hands on. In my opinion, procuring and utilizing high quality chocolate is the priority here.
There are so many varieties of chocolate produced, and it can be overwhelming when having to choose which one, but as Chef Lisa says “the best chocolate is the one you like the most,” and I couldn’t agree more! Read her blog to get a full understanding of the different chocolates available so you can make an informed decision.
Back to the pistoles my husband brought home - how do chocolate pistoles differ from chocolate chips? Pistoles are slightly larger and flatter than chips, and because of their disk-like shape, they melt more quickly than chips. They typically contain more fat (cocoa butter) than chocolate chips and therefore tend to lose their shape when baked, which is why they are great for melting. With that said, I have used chocolate pistoles for chocolate chip cookies, and they are pretty darn great.
Now that you have selected your favorite chocolate, it’s time to make your custard by following these tips:
- When heating the half and half, use low heat (so it doesn’t scorch) just until you see steam rising from the top. This indicates the half and half is hot enough to melt the chocolate.
- There are several ways to separate eggs, but I like the method where you crack the whole egg into a bowl and then carefully use your hands to retrieve the yolk. Hands are much softer than egg shells, and you reduce the risk of puncturing your yolk.
- When measuring together the egg yolks and sugar, be sure to whisk them together right away. Allowing sugar to sit on egg yolks for a prolonged time will create hard lumps.
- Temper! In order to successfully combine the hot half and half with the yolk-sugar mixture, it’s imperative that you do it slowly to raise the temperature a little bit at a time to prevent scrambling.
- Don’t forget to strain before pouring into ramekins. Even if the mixture looks smooth, it’s good practice to strain to in order to achieve the ultimate silky texture.
- Bake in a water bath. This helps insulate the custard and prevent the eggs from scrambling while baking. You can use super-hot tap water or heat up your water in a tea kettle. Either way, place your custard-filled ramekins in a baking dish, set the dish on your oven rack and then pour in the hot water.
- Don’t be afraid of the jiggle! Bake the custards until they are just set with a slight jiggle. I always say it’s better to have more jiggle than not enough, because the custards will continue to cook and set for a while when cooling.
- Make these custards a day or two in advance, so they are fully chilled all the way through.
- Top with whipped cream and enjoy!
If you follow these steps, you will have a delicious and impressive dessert perfect for your next summer dinner party or on a random Tuesday when you just need some chocolate.
Dark Chocolate Pot de Crème
Yield: 4 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 25 minutes
Inactive time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
Chocolate shavings
- Preheat the oven to 350° using the conventional setting on your oven, not convection.
- Place the half and half and vanilla extract or paste in a small saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Heat until the half and half is steaming and tiny bubbles form around the edges.
- Add the chocolate to the saucepan, and whisk until completely melted and smooth.
- While the half and half is heating, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a medium-size bowl.
- Slowly temper the warm half and half mixture into the eggs, and whisk until smooth.
- Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a large measuring cup.
- Place the ramekins in a baking dish, and pour in the custard until they are 3/4 full. Fill the baking dish halfway up the sides with hot water.
- Cover with foil and bake until slightly jiggly, about 25 minutes.
- Remove from the water bath, and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until cold. (May be refrigerated overnight.)
- While the custards are chilling, prepare the whipped cream. In a large bowl, measure together the heavy cream and powdered sugar. Using a whisk or an electric mixer, beat the cream until you have soft peaks.
- To serve the pot de crème, place a dollop of the whipped cream on top of the custard, and top with chocolate shavings.
Don’t miss your opportunity to prepare Lavender Crème Brûlée in our new French Riviera class! It’s being offered on Bastille Day, Monday, July 14 at 6pm and again on Thursday, July 31 at 6pm.
And, if you are ready to take a deep dive into chocolate and prepare recipes such as Chocolate Caramel Mousse Tart, Chocolate Truffles and White Chocolate-Brioche Bread Pudding to name a few, then you must plan to join us for our popular hands-on Chocolate Boot Camp on Sunday, December 14 at 10am at Lincoln Square. There's nothing like chocolate around the holidays!
Dark Chocolate Pot de Crème
Ingredients
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon powdered sugar
- Chocolate shavings
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° using the conventional setting on your oven, not convection.
- Place the half and half and vanilla extract or paste in a small saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Heat until the half and half is steaming and tiny bubbles form around the edges.
- Add the chocolate to the saucepan, and whisk until completely melted and smooth.
- While the half and half is heating, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a medium-size bowl.
- Slowly temper the warm half and half mixture into the eggs, and whisk until smooth.
- Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a large measuring cup.
- Place the ramekins in a baking dish, and pour in the custard until they are 3/4 full. Fill the baking dish halfway up the sides with hot water.
- Cover with foil and bake until slightly jiggly, about 25 minutes.
- Remove from the water bath, and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until cold. (May be refrigerated overnight.)
- While the custards are chilling, prepare the whipped cream. In a large bowl, measure together the heavy cream and powdered sugar. Using a whisk or an electric mixer, beat the cream until you have soft peaks.
- To serve the pot de crème, place a dollop of the whipped cream on top of the custard, and top with chocolate shavings.
