Exquisitely velvety and divinely decadent, this Chocolate Pot de Crème is deliciously rich and topped with a buttery salted caramel!
Merry Day After Christmas, everyone!
I hope you all had a festive, fun, and of course, food-filled holiday with your friends and family! Although I absolutely love the cheerfulness of the holidays, by the time Dec. 26th comes around, I’m SO looking forward to some downtime. After all the hustling and bustling that comes with buying presents, attending gatherings, and baking up a storm, I definitely need a little time to recover afterward. So when it comes to New Year’s Eve, I’m more of a stay-home-chillax-and-binge-on-Netflix-shows-and-sweets kind of person.
However, just because I don’t have any special plans for New Year’s Eve, doesn’t mean I can’t make anything special to celebrate the arrival of the New Year…
This Chocolate Pot de Crème with Salted Caramel not only sounds luxurious, it IS luxurious. With a deep dark chocolatey custard that’s smooth as silk, a blanket of buttery salted caramel, and a cloud of whipped cream, this dessert is the perfect way to ring in the New Year!
And as fancy schmancy as this classic French dessert sounds, you might be surprised to find out how incredibly simple it is to make. With no baking involved and very little preparation, this Chocolate Pot de Creme comes together rather quickly. The only hard part is waiting for the delicious custard to set up.
To start things off, you’ll whisk some egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla, salt, and a little bit of instant espresso powder together in a medium saucepan. The instant espresso powder just intensifies the flavor of the chocolate, so you won’t taste any coffee.
After heavy cream and milk are whisked into the mixture, the saucepan goes on the stove over medium heat, and everything cooks together until it begins to boil. Once it reaches the boiling point, reduce the heat to low and continue stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Then the hot mixture is poured over some chopped semi-sweet/dark chocolate. Cover it up with plastic wrap and wait about 5 minutes to allow the mixture to melt the chocolate.
After those 5 minutes are up, remove the plastic wrap and stir everything together until smooth and velvety. Pour this heavenly chocolate mixture into 4-5 ramekins or glass dishes, then chill in the refrigerator until set. This usually takes about 4 hours.
In the meantime, you can make the salted caramel. Just pour water and granulated sugar into a medium heavy-bottom saucepan, and place on the stove over medium heat. Add a little corn syrup, which helps to prevent crystallization. Instead of stirring, I prefer to swirl the pan around occasionally as the mixture heats up. After a few minutes the mixture should begin to boil. Continue boiling (and swirling) for 5-10 minutes, or until it reaches a deep golden amber color.
Once the desired color is reached, immediately remove the saucepan from the stove, and stir in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up quite a bit, so be careful when whisking in the cream. Place the saucepan back on the stove over low heat, add the salt, and continue stirring until completely smooth. Allow the caramel to cool to room temperature before pouring it on top of the Chocolate Pots de Crème.
Now that you’ve suffered through the waiting time, it’s finally time to reap the rewards. Take the salted caramel and pour about a tablespoon of it on top of each custard. Gently tilt the ramekin/dish to spread the caramel along the surface of the custard, and then top it off with a little sprinkling a coarse salt as well as a dollop of whipped cream!
Now THIS is what I call a great New Year’s Eve kiss…
Chocolate Pot de Crème with Salted Caramel
Ingredients
Chocolate Pot De Creme:
- 8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 5 egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup milk
Salted Caramel:
- ¼ cup water
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon corn syrup
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon salt
For Garnishing:
- Coarse salt
- Whipped cream
Instructions
Make the Pot De Creme:
- Place chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, espresso powder, vanilla, and salt together until smooth. Pour in the heavy cream and milk, stirring until smooth.
- Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Once the mixture begins to boil, decrease the heat to low and continue stirring until the mixture is thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour mixture over the chocolate. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.
- Remove the plastic wrap, and whisk until smooth. Pour custard into ramekins, about 3/4 full. I used 4 ounce glass dishes. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until set.
Make the Salted Caramel:
- Pour the water into a medium saucepan. Pour the sugar into the center of the pan, making sure none of the sugar crystals hit the sides. Add the corn syrup.
- Place pan over medium heat, leaving it alone for the first 5 minutes or until it the color begins to turn yellowish. Once you see some color, gently swirl the pan around occasionally as it boils. Continue boiling until the caramel reaches a golden amber color, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove pan from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Caramel will sizzle and bubble up. Stir in the salt, and continue whisking until caramel is smooth. If needed, return pan over medium-low heat, stirring until caramel is smooth. Transfer to dish or glass measuring cup to cool completely. Caramel will continue to thicken as it cools.
To Assemble:
- Once the custard has set, pour about a tablespoon of the cooled salted caramel on top. Sprinkle with coarse salt, then top with whipped cream. Serve immediately.