Chocolate Creme Brulee (includes metric)

You know how some people have very set ideas of what a birthday celebration should be?  My family typically serves cake, usually chocolate.  Ice cream is an occasional afterthought.  I had to laugh when a girlfriend told me that her husband and son (who had been with us for a birthday celebration while she was out of town) were so surprised that I hadn’t served ice cream with the cake that they had to stop at Dairy Queen on their way home – it just didn’t seem like a birthday to them without it.

I hope my coworkers aren’t so set in their ways.  Today was the November birthday party and the overwhelming request from the birthday kids was chocolate.  So I made chocolate creme brulee – no cake, no ice cream.  You’ll notice that my sugar technique needs a little work, but the comments were very positive.  I think Sandi compared it to a thicker, creamier hot chocolate.

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

1 quart heavy cream (945 ml)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10 ml)
1/2 cup sugar (100 g)
9 egg yolks
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (170 g)
Turbinado sugar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325F (165 C)
• Place 8-6 ounce ramekins on baking sheet.
• Combine cream with vanilla and sugar in a saucepan.  Heat until simmering.
• Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl.  Slowly add hot cream mixture, whisking in 2 tablespoons at a time, until you’ve added about 1 cup.
• Then add remaining cream, whisk.
• Add chocolate chips, wait 5 minutes, then whisk.
• Ladle into ramekins.
• Bake 20 – 25 minutes, until just set, center may still have a little jiggle to it.
• Cool 45 minutes, then refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving.
• Sprinkle the top of the custard with a thin layer of turbinado sugar.  Melt and caramelize the sugar with a torch or under the broiler.

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Lois Britton

An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,  she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.