Chocolate pots
Hot cream, dark chocolate, and nothing else to get in the way
plus at least 2 hours setting
Doubles easily into four small pots. Small pots all set in about the same 2 hours, however many of them you make.
Chocolate pots are the shortest route in the book between an empty pan and something that tastes considered. Hot cream poured over broken chocolate does most of the work on its own, given two minutes to sit before you stir, which keeps the chocolate from seizing into a grainy mess. The egg yolks are cooked into the cream first, the way a custard is, so nothing raw goes into the pot, and they thicken it further as it cools. What goes into the fridge as a loose, glossy liquid comes out two hours later holding its shape under the back of a spoon. Choose a chocolate you would eat on its own, with nothing folded through it, since there is nowhere for a poor one to hide in a recipe this short.
Ingredients
Contains: Milk, Egg
- 150 gdark chocolate, plain, no fruit or nuts, broken into small even pieces
- 2egg yolks
- 250 mldouble cream
- 1 tspvanilla extract
- salt, a small pinch
Method
Put the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl and set a sieve over the top of it.
Whisk the egg yolks together in a second bowl until smooth.
Heat the cream in a small pan until it is steaming, with bubbles forming at the edge, close to boiling but not quite there.
Pour about a third of the hot cream onto the yolks, whisking as you go, then tip it all back into the pan. Cook over a low heat, stirring without stopping, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the custard thickens just enough to coat the back of the spoon and hold the line when you draw a finger through it. Do not let it boil.
If you have a thermometer, 82°C is where to stop. The yolks are cooked through by then and the custard is still smooth.
Pour the hot custard through the sieve straight onto the chocolate and leave it for 2 minutes without stirring.
Stir gently from the centre outwards until the chocolate has melted completely into the custard and the mixture is glossy and smooth, then stir in the vanilla extract and the pinch of salt.
If a few flecks of chocolate refuse to melt, set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water for a minute and stir again.
Divide the mixture between two small pots or ramekins of about 200 ml. Cool at room temperature for 15 minutes, then cover and chill for at least 2 hours, until fully set with a slight give when you press the surface.
Watch-points
- Use plain dark chocolate with nothing else in it, no fruit, no nuts, no honeycomb pieces. Read the label before you buy it.
- Cook the custard until it thickens on the spoon, so the egg yolk is cooked through rather than raw. Take it off the heat before it boils.
- Let the hot custard sit on the chocolate for a full 2 minutes before you stir, rather than stirring straight away, so the chocolate melts evenly instead of seizing.
- Keep the pots covered in the fridge and eat them within two days. If you are having chemotherapy, make them on the day you want them.
Make it more nourishing
- Whisk 1 tablespoon of skimmed milk powder into the cream before it heats. It vanishes into the chocolate and adds protein.
- Add a third egg yolk to the custard for a richer, firmer set and a little more protein.
- Top each pot with 2 tablespoons of thick whipped cream once set, for extra calories with almost no extra effort.
Swaps
- Instead of dark chocolate, use a milder plain chocolate, around 50 per cent cocoa
- a softer, sweeter set that suits a smaller appetite
- Instead of double cream, use a mix of double cream and whole milk
- a lighter pot, though the set is a little less firm