Dad loves crème brûlée. (Note: since my original posting he now denies this.) Aside from anything caramel, it’s his favorite dessert. (I swear it’s the only dessert I’ve ever seen him consistently order when out to eat.) So when grandma sent me a recipe for chocolate crème brûlée, I suggested testing the recipe which peaked Dad’s interest.
I truly don’t know who would do this, but the original recipe printed in the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel was for the low-fat version. But why would you want low-fat chocolate anything? I adapted the recipe for a full-fat (read: full flavor) version.
ingredients.
- 3 c. half-and-half
- 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 6 eggs
- 2/3 c. sugar
- 3 T. plus 1 tsp. mini chocolate chips
- 20 tsp. sugar
- raspberries (optional)
directions.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a medium microwave safe bowl, whisk together half-and-half and cocoa (mixture will be lumpy). Cover with plastic wrap.
- Microwave on high power 60 to 90 seconds, or until slightly warm. Whisk again to help dissolve lumps.
- Whisk in eggs and sugar. Pour 1/2 c. mixture into each of 10 6-oz. broiler proof custard cups.
- Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mini chocolate chips in the center of each dish.
- Place custard cups on a 17 x 2 x 1-inch rimmed baking sheet. Fill baking sheet half full with warm water. Bake in preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set (doesn’t jiggle when gently shaken).
- Transfer baking sheet to a cooling rack. Carefully transfer custard cups to another cooling rack. Let cool 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours to 2 days.
- At serving time, preheat broiler proof pan and remove cover from custard cups.
- Sprinkle two teaspoons of sugar across each custard cup. Broil with the cups about two inches from heat for 2 to 4 minutes, or until sugar is caramelized (watch carefully so it doesn’t burn).
- To serve, place each custard cup on plate. Garnish with raspberries, if desired.
I cut the recipe in half, which works out well if you’re not feeding 10 people. I bought three flat crème brûlée dishes this afternoon (the entire stock at New Seasons in Sellwood) and used two Pampered Chef 1-cup glass prep bowls. I baked in batches assuming the flat crème brûlée dishes would cook faster than the prep bowls. I was right.
The flat dishes took about 35 minutes to cook, the prep bowls took close to 45.
The worst part about this recipe is taking the baking pan filled with water in and out of the oven. The best part is eating it. Let it cool or put it back in the fridge before serving. It’s basically chocolate pudding with a sugar crust. But oh so good!
Oops! Read the recipe wrong. Accidentally dumped one tablespoon of sugar on each custard cup instead of the recommended two teaspoons. (I read two tablespoons and as I was pouring an entire tablespoon onto the custard dish, I thought … This looks like a large amount of sugar. Sure enough, it was.)
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 