Chocolate Pots Food

CHOCOLATE POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Place the chocolate in a blender. Whisk the milk, 1 cup cream, egg yolks, granulated sugar and salt in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula and almost boiling, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Immediately pour the milk mixture over the chocolate in the blender. Cover and hold the lid with a thick kitchen towel; blend until combined and smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. Divide the chocolate mixture among ramekins or small cups and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
• Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the confectioners' sugar with a mixer or in the blender until soft peaks form. Top the chilled pots de creme with whipped cream.

CHOCOHOTOPOTS

Steps:

• Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
• Butter the ramekins with 1 tablespoon butter.
• Either in a microwave or in a bowl suspended over a pan over simmering water, melt the dark chocolate and 1 stick butter, then set aside to cool a little.
• In another bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar and flour with a hand whisk and beat in the cooled butter and chocolate mixture. Divide the mixture between the 4 buttered ramekins. Bake for about 20 minutes, by which time the tops will be cooked and cracked and the chocolate gooey underneath.
• Place each ramekin on a small plate with a teaspoon and serve. Make sure to warn people that these desserts will be HOT!

CHOCOLATE POTS

Steps:

• In a thick-bottomed pot, heat the cream until near boiling. Remove and set aside for 1 minute before adding chocolate. Stir in until melted and smooth. Once melted, stir in egg yolks and brandy. Cool slightly, add butter and stir until smooth and shiny. Pour into individual serving pots.
• PS. Sometimes if you add the butter when the chocolate isn't cool enough it will make the chocolate look as if it has split. To rectify this allow the mixture to cool a little longer before stirring in some cold milk, a little at a time, until you have a smooth consistency again.

CHOCOLATE POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream and the salt until scalded, then pour over the chocolate to melt it. Whisk the yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Temper the yolk mixture with the hot chocolate mixture then place on the stove over medium heat to thicken slightly, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pour mixture into ramekins and bake in a water bath at 300 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes until mostly set but a little jiggly in the center. Chill covered.
• To serve, whip the cream with the remaining 1/2 tablespoon sugar and orange rind. Dollop onto the pots de creme.
• Alternate Garnish: If you have vanilla beans lying around the house that have already been used, here's a great way to recycle them. Cut split vanilla beans into 3-inch sections. Place on a sheet pan in a preheated 300-degree oven and bake until dried. Keep in an airtight container. To garnish the pots de creme, lay the dried vanilla beans across the whipped cream.

CHOCOLATE POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a small pot, over low heat, bring the milk, half and half, almond extract, vanilla seeds and vanilla pod to a gentle simmer. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. In a large bowl, add the eggs, cocoa, and sugar and whisk to combine. Pour the heated milk mixture into the melted chocolate and whisk to combine. Temper the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, adding it slowly to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Do not overmix. You want the ingredients to be blended but not frothy or bubbly.
• Pour the mixture into the small cups, filling almost to the top. Put the cups in a baking pan and fill the pan with 2 inches of water. Cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil. This will prevent the custard from forming a tough skin as it cooks. Put the pan in the center of the oven and bake until the custards are set but still a little loose, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.
• Carefully remove the cups from the water bath and allow them to cool for 30 minutes Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or refrigerate overnight, before serving with the whipped cream.

WINTER BERRY & WHITE CHOCOLATE POTS

Steps:

• For the white chocolate layer, heat the cream in a saucepan until steaming and bubbles appear around the edge. Add the chocolate and lemon zest and stir until melted. Set six short tumblers tilted on their sides in a muffin tin (this is how you get a slanted layer). Pour the mixture into the glasses, then chill for 4 hrs, or until set.
• For the berry layer, put all the frozen berries in a food processor and whizz until puréed. Push through a sieve using a wooden spoon directly into a jug, then stir through the lemon juice. Put the cream and sugar in a saucepan and warm gently until the sugar melts. Increase the heat and boil for 3 mins, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and stir through the purée. Cool for 15 mins before sitting the glasses upright and pouring over the white chocolate layer. Chill for 4 hrs or until set.
• Heat the oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 3. Line a baking sheet with non-stick parchment. To make the shortbread, put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Mix in ¼ tsp fine sea salt, the flour and pistachios to get a stiff dough, then bring together with your hands into a smooth ball. Put between two sheets of baking parchment and roll out to around ½cm. Chill for 20 mins. Cut into 20 rounds about 4cm and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 mins, then slide off the sheet onto a wire rack and leave to cool. Can be made two days ahead and kept in an airtight container.
• When ready to serve, top the possets with the chopped pistachios and pomegranate seeds, and serve with the pistachio biscuits.

MILK CHOCOLATE POTS WITH CITRUS SHORTBREAD

Steps:

• Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan until it just boils, then pour it over the chocolate. Stir until smooth, then beat in the egg yolks. Tip the mixture into a jug, then pour into four individual pots and put in the fridge to set for at least 2 hrs.
• Meanwhile, put the flour, orange zest and butter in a large bowl and rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and egg yolk, mix gently and bring the biscuit dough together with your hands. Roll the shortbread out on a lightly floured surface until 1cm thick, then transfer to a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Leave to rest for 10 mins in the fridge.
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Bake for 23-25 mins until golden brown, then sprinkle with sugar. While still warm, cut into eight x 2cm biscuits, trimming off any excess, and leave to cool.
• When ready to eat, whip the cream to soft peaks, then spoon on top of the chocolate pots. Serve with the shortbreads on the side.