I have a family FULL of pudding lovers! They all love the creamy goodness of a homemade pudding, a cream pie, or even a box of Instant Pistachio Jell-o makes them so stinking happy! I love asking people at Thanksgiving time what kind of a pie family they are? When I was growing up we NEVER had a cream pie. EVER! We loved fruit pies, and pecan pies, pumpkin pie, and lemon meringue, but there was rarely a cream pie at our dessert table. Maybe if an aunt or someone brought it to the meal. But my mom never made them. Since those early years:) my dad has now made it known that any cream pie is a favorite of his. Who’d have thought!
Well my husband would eat a creamy, fluffy, smooth dessert any day of the week. My kids stand behind him 100%. So when I decided to try making Chocolate Creme Brulee last week, I was instantly the best mutha on the planet! There is nothing more gratifying than having a child walk into the kitchen and ask what you’re making, and get a response like this, “YES!! I love you!!” It’s just not that hard to be the favorite mom at my house.
I’ve tried making Creme Brulee before with not a whole lot of success. It took forever to bake in the oven. It was still WAY to jiggly, so I turned up the oven temp, and curdled the pudding. Another time I was impatient with my kitchen torch and so I broiled the puddings, and again, it wasn’t a happy ending. You CAN place you’re puddings under the broiler element in your oven, but it has a tendency to heat the whole pudding too much and causes curdling. I actually gave up on Creme Brulee until last week. I thought I’d give it one more shot using a water bath technique. It worked fantastic!! Wonderful actually, and I will make these again this Sunday. And then I’ll probably make them for Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day and you know someone will be graduating soon, so I’ll make it in honor of them too. Enjoy the deliciousness of this dessert, and the chocolate variation worked fantastic for us! Next time I make it, I’m making a coconut version. Stay tuned!
(A quick note on my brulee-ing of the sugar. I used a propane torch that my husband owns for manly purposes. It worked fantastic, BUT is was a bit large:) I owned a kitchen torch at one time, that my husband thought was a nose hair clipper when I bought it, that was just a little wimpy. The broiler in your oven will work. It just doesn’t brulee you puddings to evenly, but it that’s all you’ve got, then by all means use it! got, then by all means use it! )
Recipe is inspired by this one from Alton Brown. I love that man!
Ingredients Instructions Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream, half and half in a saucepan and bring to a soft simmer. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes while you prepare the rest.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. At this point I have a whisk ready and ladle a small scoop of hot cream into the egg mixture. Whisk your little guts out so you don't get scrambled eggs. This is called tempering your eggs. I'll usually ladle 1 or 2 more scoops of the hot cream into the eggs. At this point your eggs are tempered and shouldn't curdle when you add them to the warm cream. Add the egg mixture a little at a time, stirring continually. Add your chocolate chips now and continue stirring until they are completely melted. You may need to taste the liquid now just to make sure it's not poison, and you'll make lots of yummy sounds! Pour the liquid into 6-8 ramekins. My ramekins are all different sizes and shapes, but I completely filled 8 ramekins. In the bottom of a large cake pan or roasting pan (my pan is a 11x15 inch cake pan. It has 2 inch sides) I placed a dishtowel in the bottom and then placed the ramekins full of pudding on the towel. It just added a little stability. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 30-40 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. If you don't cover the puddings they get a little bit of a rubbery top, but if you brulee the tops of the pudding it won't matter. If you aren't going to brulee then cover the puddings before you refrigerate them.
Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator and sprinkle 1 t. of sugar on each pudding. I tilt each pudding and tap the sides until the sugar is spread evenly. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Top with fresh berries and enjoy!
I would have to say DK Chocolate Creme Brûlée is my FAVORITE dessert. As you probably know… I don’t make it PAUL does. It is so delicious! I love it when he is making it and I take spoonfuls to mouth. I love it out of the oven. I love it from the fridge. I love it warmed in the microwave. Oh…. and I love it on Mothers Day!!!!!! Thanks for reminding me that I need to make that request!!!!! Paul has alway baked it in the bath 🙂 Simply delicious (and I DONT care for pudding)
I’m French and I can be very picky when it comes to crème brûlée. But let me tell you that your chocolate version is just AMAZING! Congrats on the good job 🙂
Thanks so much for your kind word Delphine! It made my day that I got a real French girls approval:) xoxo Lisa