Chocolate pots de creme...

This luscious chocolate pot was the happy end to a long Sunday lunch, which also included goat cheese tarts and mushroom soup. It was all that I love in a chocolate dessert: strong flavour, not sweet and a dreamy, smooth texture.

Our friends had constructed the whole lunch from The Balthazar Cookbook [by Keith McNally, Riad Nasr & Lee Hanson], which we had given them, incidentally, as it's one of their all time favourite restaurants.

I like this cookbook a lot. It looks great but, most importantly, it's comprised of a great selection of achievable, well written and formatted recipes. It's straight forward, concise and each recipe is preceded by a introduction [something that all my favourite cookbooks seem to feature, I've noticed]. I like the way it places the recipe in a context and may give a tip or preparation/serving suggestion. There's also a chapter for the basics: sauces, dressings, stocks, confits, tapenade and mayonnaise - always handy.

Balthazar, in case you're not familiar, is a renowned brasserie in SoHo, Manhattan - so do something nice for yourself and pay a visit should you be visiting NYC.


Chocolate Pot De Creme

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
225g [8 ounces] Valrhona semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 large egg yolks

Preheat oven to 130 C or 250 F.

1. Combine cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in a medium saucepan.

2. Whisk to combine and bring to boil over a medium flame.

3. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until chocolate has melted.

4. Remove from the heat.

5. Lightly beat egg yolks in a medium sized bowl.

6. In a slow, steady stream, add egg yolks to the chocolate-cream mixture while whisking. Whisk until smooth.

7. Divide the mixture among 6 ramekins, bowls, pots or even espresso cups.

8. Place ramekins in a large casserole or high-sided baking dish and pour cold water into the baking dish so that it comes half way up the ramekins.

9.Cover tightly with foil and bake on the centre rack for 1 1/4 hours.

10. The custards should jiggle slightly in the centre when finished. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. Serve cool.


My friend served his chocolate pots with fresh raspberries but you could also serve a crispy biscuit on the side like a tuille or perhaps madelaines, as I enjoyed in Paris.

Balthazar Restaurant
80 Spring St
New York
NY 10012
[between Broadway and Crosby]

+1 [212] 965 1414 for reservations

www.balthazarny.com