Chocolate Pots de Creme

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream, divided
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 5 large egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• Pinch of salt

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300° F. Line a large roasting pan or baking dish with two layers of paper towels. Place eight ramekins, espresso cups, custard cups or pots de crème pots in the pan. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Once the water comes to a boil, remove from the heat and cover.

In the meantime, place the chopped chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring ½ cup of the heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Once the cream reaches a boil, pour it over the chocolate and let stand for 1 minute. Stir with a rubber spatula, starting in the center of the bowl and working outward in a circular motion, until the ganache is smooth; set aside.

Combine the remaining heavy cream and the whole milk in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolks, sugar, and salt until slightly thickened and pale yellow in color. Drizzle in a small amount of the hot cream-milk mixture, whisking constantly, to temper the eggs. Pour in the remainder of the hot liquid, still whisking constantly, until completely incorporated. Finally, gently whisk the egg mixture into the ganache until incorporated.

Spoon any skin that has formed off the top of the custard. Divide the custard evenly between the prepared cups. Pour some of the previously set aside hot water into the baking dish around the custard cups so that it reaches about halfway up the sides of the cups. Cover the top of the pan tightly with foil, poking two holes in opposite corners. Very carefully slide the pan into the oven.

Bake 35-40 minutes, or until the custard jiggles only a bit in the center when tapped or lightly shaken. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to a cooling rack. Allow the custards to rest in their warm water bath for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and very carefully transfer the cups from the water to the cooling rack. Once they come to room temperature, cover individually with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.