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Cleo Coyle, who is searching for new things to cover with chocolate, is author of The Coffeehouse Mysteries |
This is not your high school cafeteria’s chocolate custard. It’s a rich, smooth, sinfully satisfying experience. It’s also very easy to whip up. Like last week's classic egg custard, you need no special culinary skills to make this treat.

FYI...
This dessert, along with the modern gourmet philosophy of palate fatigue, plays a role in in my sixth Coffeehouse Mystery. To learn more about the book, click here: French Pressed.
Cleo Coyle’s
Chocolate Pots de Crème
To download this recipe
in a free PDF that you can
print, save, or share, click here.
print, save, or share, click here.
Servings: This recipe will produce 4 cups of liquid to divide among your ramekins, custard cups, or ovenproof coffee cups. Consequently, depending on the size of your containers, this recipe will give you 6 to 8 servings.
Ingredients:
12 ounces of good quality semisweet chocolate chopped (or chips)
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
6 egg yolks (extra large or jumbo size)
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Step 1: Melt the chocolate - Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Put your chopped chocolate (or chips) in a metal or glass bowl. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and milk until it’s just about to boil, but not yet boiling. Pour this hot liquid over your chocolate and let it sit for about a minute until the chocolate is softened. Then stir this mixture until it’s smooth. The stirring will take one to two minutes.


Step 5: Cover and Bake - Cover pan with foil, seal ends, and pierce in several places so that steam can escape. Bake for about 25 - 35 minutes in the center of your 300 degree F. oven until the tops of the pots de crème look solid, but the custard still jiggles slightly when you shake it. Don’t worry; the custard will firm up as it cools.
Step 6: Chill, baby! - Now carefully remove the hot pots from the oven and the hot pan and let them cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge. After they come to room temperature, make sure to cover these with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. The custards should be chilled at least 3 hours before serving.
VARIATIONS:
Because this is a classic French dessert, many versions exist in cookbooks and on the Internet. For variations on this basic recipe, reduce the vanilla to 2 teaspoons and add 2 tablespoons Kahlúa (or try dark rum, Grand Marnier, or coffee syrup).
Coffee syrup can be bought pre-made. It can also be made from scratch. My recipe can be found by clicking here or turning to the back of the fifth Coffeehouse Mystery Decaffeinated Corpse.
For many more ideas on variations
for French pots de crème, click here and have fun! There are some wonderful ideas there.
for French pots de crème, click here and have fun! There are some wonderful ideas there.
******************
Eat with joy!
To get more of my recipes, enter to win
free coffee, or learn about my books, including
my bestselling Haunted Bookshop series, visit my online coffeehouse: CoffeehouseMystery.com
free coffee, or learn about my books, including
my bestselling Haunted Bookshop series, visit my online coffeehouse: CoffeehouseMystery.com
The Coffeehouse Mysteries are national bestselling
culinary mysteries set in a landmark Greenwich Village
coffeehouse, and each of the ten titles includes the
added bonus of recipes.
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure Book #1 of The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, which Cleo writes under the name Alice Kimberly To learn more, click here. |
My first experience with pots de creme had me hearing angels singing too...is there any more perfect dessert on earth? Thanks for making its lusciousness look easily achievable. What kind of chocolate do you like to use in it?
ReplyDeleteLaine - Wonderful to see you in the Kitchen! Thank you for dropping in today...as far as the chocolate, there are some fantastic premium chocolates that are astounding in this dessert. It all comes down to budget and fuss.
DeleteThe French Valrhona is one of the best in the world; and then there's Scharffen Berger, America's first modern artisan chocolate maker. Closer to home in NYC, I'm a big fan of Mast Brothers Chocolate in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They bring in Stumptown coffee beans to make their dark chocolate mocha bar (bliss, bliss, bliss). Taza stone-ground discs are fun for a Mexican-style version of this dessert. For convenience, however, I'll often use Ghirardelli chocolate, which I can find in my local Queens grocery. :)
Thanks again for stopping by the Kitchen today, Laine!
Have a great week,
~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
Cleo Coyle on Twitter
It must be chocolate week at MLK--and we didn't even know it! Cleo, have you ever served these warm, maybe with some whipped cream on top? Seems like it would be hard to wait 3 hours...
ReplyDeleteOH my goodness...these look so good! =D
ReplyDeleteThe photos are so pretty! Thanks for sharing.
These are beautiful!
ReplyDelete~Avery