Dark Chocolate Pots of Creme #Recipe and #CoverReveal by @LibbyKlein #Valentine's Day

 Libby Klein  Valentine's Day means Chocolate! Believed by many to be an aphrodisiac, chocolate has long been considered the language of love. Anything made in miniature always seems fancy. These pots of crème are the perfect dessert to end a romantic Valentine's meal. Individual servings for two (or six) make the affair seem even more intimate. Pots of Crème are a cross between a baked pudding and a Crème Brûlée. You could probably carmelize some sugar on top of these and convince your guests they are chocolate Crème Brûlée if you really wanted to. Shown here with Earl Grey Madeleines, you could leave those off, sprinkle a little powdered sugar or a dollop of fresh whipped cream on top, and maybe add a raspberry right before serving.

And also... The very first appearance of my Christmas-themed mystery on the blog, Silent Nights Are Murder coming September 2024, is shown below! It's one of my favorite covers - look at little Figaro with a red bird Christmas ornament in his mouth. He is so naughty!

Dark Chocolate Pots de Crème

Earl Grey Madeleine Optional

Yield 6

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
⅛ teaspoon sea salt

 

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a heavy saucepan, bring cream and milk to a boil. Remove from heat; whisk in chopped chocolate until smooth.

2.    In a large bowl, whisk together the yolks, sugar and salt. Temper the yolks with a little of the hot chocolate. Then, whisking constantly, slowly pour the rest of the hot chocolate into yolks. Strain through a very fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup or a pitcher or your blender so its easy to pour.

3.    Divide mixture among 2- to 4-ounce espresso cups or small ramekins. I used ramekins and it made 6.

4.    Put a large roasting pan on the pulled-out rack in the center of the preheated oven. Set filled cups in the roasting pan while It’s in the oven. Add very hot tap water to pan, halfway up the sides of cups. Cover pan with foil; use a fork to prick holes in foil. Very gently put the rack into the oven so you don’t splash water into your chocolate pots.

5.    Bake until edges are lightly set (lifting foil to check) but center – about the size of a quarter or less - is still jiggly. It will set as it cools — 30 to 35 minutes. If the chocolate is still very runny in a wide area bigger than a quarter, you will need to bake it longer. Transfer cups to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving with whipped cream or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

 

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all . . .

 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/