Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée

Do you love chocolate? Do you love easy desserts that are just super impressive? I know the answer for me is yes on both counts.

This Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée has been on my hit list for a while but I finally made it a couple of weeks ago when we had friends over for dinner.

The Crème Brûlée couldn't have been easier to make and so perfectly silky and chocolatey. Just make sure to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time

for the dessert to chill. Also, it is best to use a high quality chocolate that you love the taste of, because that is the taste that is really going to come through.

Here's to 2010 - I hope this is the best year yet for you all!

Dark Chocolate Crème BrûléeBon Appétit | March 1996

From the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona. Yield: Serves 8 2 cups whipping cream 2 cups half and half 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 8 large egg yolks 1/3 cup plus 8 tablespoons sugar Preheat oven to 300°F. Bring cream and half and half to boil in heavy large saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk yolks and 1/3 cup sugar in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in hot chocolate mixture. Strain. Divide custard among eight 3/4-cup custard cups. Place cups in large baking pan. Add enough hot water to pan to come halfway up sides of cups. Bake until custards are set, about 50 minutes. Remove from water; chill 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat broiler. Sprinkle each custard with 1 tablespoon sugar. Broil until sugar turns golden, watching closely to avoid burning, about 3 minutes. Refrigerate until custards are set, 1 to 2 hours.

TWD: Creme Brulee

Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake selected Creme Brulee for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. I still remember my very first encounter with creme brulee several years ago at a fancy restaurant - flavored with Tahitian Vanilla (which, incidentally, isn't my favorite) - all I went away from the experience with was the memory of a floral tasting custard with a crunchy top.

My second experience was much tastier, but complicated, at another fancy restaurant where the dessert was three mini creme brulee in chocolate, vanilla and something else that was obviously forgettable. It took an excessively long time to get the dessert, actually because their torch ran out of fuel and they couldn't finish preparing the dessert.

So, now all my impression of creme brulee at this point was that I didn't love the flavor and it sounded difficult and fussy to make. It was a few years later when I finally decided to just try making it myself. I was so glad I did because, even though the recipes I tried were rather fussy, it was so much better than what I got from the restaurants. I liked it so much I even used a gift card from a good friend to get my very own torch. So now it is also super fun to make - well, if you are like me and like to fire up the torch in the kitchen. Dorie's recipe isn't fussy at all either and had a really great flavor so that was an added bonus - I'll definitely give this another try soon!

Don't forget to check out the blogroll for more creme brulee and I'm sure some rewinds. As always, get the book and if you want to join in the baking fun with the group then go get your book and jump on the baking wagon by Oct. 31st before you miss your chance!

SHF #43: Citrus! Orange Mousse Creme Brulee

Let's just get this out of the way - this is not your traditional creme brulee or mousse. However, since the components lend themselves to those names that's what I'm calling it - until and unless someone else comes up with a better name anyway. I'm also calling it delicious.

The orange creme is light, silky and super yummy plus - I love a sugary crust on just about anything - hmmm, let me think about that...... yeah, pretty much anything.


So, I give you my version of an Orange Mousse Creme Brulee for this month's Sugar High Friday, the super fabulous event created by Jennifer, the Domestic Goddess, and hosted this month by Helen of Tartlette. Helen chose the theme Citrus! and really got me thinking about all the different citrusy things I love. I've really been putting more citrus into just about everything lately, so this one was only difficult for me in trying to decide what to make. I had a lot of big plans, one of which included making a meringue, but the time has come to make my dessert and we have three days of rain, rain, and more rain. So, I am not going to attempt the meringue and have the meringue elves turn it into a fiasco - that idea will just have to wait.

Anyway, the flavor for this is light pure orange and creamy and the texture? It is a bit harder to describe - not quite a custard, not a mousse - more like a silky smooth cross between the two - thus the name.

For the recipe below I borrowed some of the ingredients and method from the Lemon Creme Tart in BFMHTY with a few additions and the obvious change from lemon to orange. I realize that there is an Orange version in the book, but it has a mixture of citrus in it and for this I chose to just go all orange. I added some cream and some vanilla to get the texture and flavor I was looking for and, as shown, I served this in either a hollowed out orange or a ramekin - whichever you prefer.

Orange Mousse Creme Brulee
(Adapted from Pierre Herme's Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart
- makes 4 servings -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange (2 if they are smaller)
2 large eggs
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1 large orange)
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Getting ready:
Have a thermometer, preferably an instant-read, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at the ready. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

1. Put the sugar and zest in a large metal bowl that can be fitted into the pan of simmering water. Off heat, work the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs followed by the orange juice.

2. Fit the bowl into the pan (make certain the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) and cook, stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. You want to cook the cream until it reaches 180°F. As you whisk the cream over heat—and you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as the cream is getting closer to 180°F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking and don’t stop checking the temperature. And have patience—depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes or more!

3. As soon as you reach 180°F, pull the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of a blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream rest at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140°F, about 10 minutes.

4. Turn the blender to high and, with the machine going, add about 3 pieces of butter at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed while you’re incorporating the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going—to get the perfect light, airy texture of orange-cream dreams, you must continue to beat the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats. Add the cream and powdered sugar and continue to beat for 1 to 2 minutes more until well incorporated.

5. Pour the cream into your individual serving dishes and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and chill the cream for at least 3 hours or until ready to serve.

6. Just before you are ready to serve cover the surface of the creme with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and brulee/melt the sugar with a kitchen torch or under a broiler.

Storing:
The orange creme can be kept in the frige for 4 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Mini Pie Revolution - Caramel Cashew Creme Brulee Tartletts

Viva la Revolucion! I was once again looking for inspiration on IMBB for things to make to keep myself busy with an adult activity during our enforced confinement this winter and stumbled upon this "Mini Pie Revolution" event. This time the theme was for sweet creations.

Now, I have to admit here, that though I love this event and it was fun to do, I actually like a really good cupcake. Notice, I do qualify that as a really good one. I hope that doesn't get me booted out of the revolution altogether because I also L-O-V-E tarts in any shape or size. The mini tart idea though I am loving, so here is my contribution to the fight.

Though these mini tarts didn't turn out as pretty as I wanted them to I don't mind the more rustic look here, especially since they were so delicious. I thought of the flavor combination because of a local restaurant here that serves frozen custard concoctions called "concrete." It is basically a super thick milkshake made with their frozen custard and whatever flavors you choose to mix in. Probably one of their most popular combinations, and my husband's favorite is the caramel cashew so these tarts were the birthday dessert for our little celebration for him this year (and don't I get extra credit for replacing cake with mini tarts for a birthday!).

So, here you have it. A cashew nut crust with a beautiful creamy caramel custard with a sugary bruleed top. It was like getting that bruleed flavor all the way down to a tender nutty crust. Yum!

Caramel Cashew Creme Brulee Tartletts

Makes 12 mini-tarts (using regular size muffin tin)

For the Crust:

(Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Pie & Tart Cookbook Basic Tart Dough Recipe)

1 large egg yolk

2 Tbsp very cold water

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp ground roasted cashews

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

In a small bowl, stir together the egg yolk, water, and vanilla. Set aside.

To make the dough in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and ground cashews in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and mix just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball, and roll into a cylinder 12-inches long. Cut into 12 1-inch pieces and place one piece each in the muffin tin. Press into bottom and up sides to create tart shell. Prick dough on bottom and sides a few times with fork.

Partially bake tart shells in 350 degree oven for 8 minutes or until mostly set. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees.

For the Caramel Creme (Custard):

(Adapted from Martha Stewart Living Cookbook)

(Oven should be preheated at 300 degrees with a rack in the center of the oven)

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped

4 large egg yolks

1/8 tsp kosher salt

6 tsp sugar for brulee topping

Place 1/2 cup sugar in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar has caramelized and is golden brown, about 3 minutes, brushing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent crystallizing. Swirl the pan, dissolving the unmelted sugar; reduce heat to low.

Slowly whisk in the cream and milk. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the pan, and add the pod. Increase heat to medium high, cover, and bring to a boil; remove the pan from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, the egg yolks, and salt; continue whisking until pale yellow in color. Slowly add the hot cream mixture to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour this new mixture through a fine sieve set over a large liquid measuring cup; discard vanilla pod. Use a spoon or small ladle to skim the top of liquid to remove all visible air bubbles.

Pour enough custard liquid into each cooled tart shell almost to the top of the shell but not overflowing. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and place in the oven to bake for about 25 minutes or until set in the center and the custard is not longer liquidy.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack or refrigerate until ready to brulee and serve.

When you are ready to serve place about 1/2 tsp of sugar on the top of each custard tartlett. Use a kitchen torch to brulee and melt the sugar into a crackly crust.