Milk Chocolate Cremosa--Valentine's Dessert that Can Melt Any Heart

I took many pictures yesterday but still wasn't really satisfied with any of them. Then I realized that I simply did not like the combination of red or pink and brown, so only the first photo will be in these Valentine's colors.

There is a well-known proverb in English as in Polish, "The way to man's heart is through his stomach". There is also another famous quote from George Bernard Shaw "There is no love more sincere than the love of food". I think both of these statements are true and I made yesterday a dessert that I think can win any heart or make anyone fall in love (if not with the cook, at least with the dessert itself).

I decided to make a chocolate dessert, which is served by Chef Michael Schwartz in his Miami restaurant. According to Metropolitan Home, this dessert has become a great hit. It is served with sea salt and olive oil. I was intrigued but not surprised to see these ingredients being used in a dessert because I knew from an Italian friend that vanilla ice cream in certain parts of Italy was served with a drizzle of olive oil and salt.

I love good quality milk chocolate, although I am not a chocolate dessert person and have always preferred fruit desserts. But, believe me, this dessert is divine! It is one of the best chocolate desserts I (a humble me!)have ever made or tasted .

As always, I experimented a bit, but I hope I only improved the already excellent taste of this cremosa. I added a tablespoon of Frangelico liqueur, and put a dollop of mascarpone cheese on top instead of mocca parfait (if you you want to make it lighter, you could add some unsweetened whipped cream instead or nothing at all). The secret of this dessert lies in the quality of the chocolate. Chocolate chips are not suitable for this purpose. I used a block of Belgian milk chocolate from Trader Joe's. This dessert is not really on the light side, quite the opposite, it is very rich and satisfying, but it is definitely worth the sin, especially to celebrate your Valentine's Day.

Milk Chocolate Cremosa

Ingredients:
1 1/2 (11 oz) cup good quality chocolate broken into small pieces,
1 1/3 cup cream,
3 tbsp sugar,
3 egg yolks,
1 tbsp Frangelico liqueur (optional),
1/2 cup heavy whipped cream or a couple of spoons of mascarpone cheese,
1 2 cup toasted hazelnuts ,chopped
extra virgin olive oil,
coarse sea salt.

Preparation:
1. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
2. Whisk egg yolks with sugar in another heatproof bowl until smooth.
3. Put cream in a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
4. Whisking constantly add the hot cream to the yolks mixture.
5. Return the mixture to the saucepan where the cream was cooked and cook whisking until slightly thickens, about 2 minutes, but do not allow to boil.
6. Pour the hot mixture over the chopped chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
7. Add liqueur and chill the cremosa for a minimum two hours.

To serve put a a generous spoon of cremosa on a dessert plate

and put a dollop of cream or mascarpone cheese and some roasted hazelnuts on top. The dessert was superb already now...

....but when I drizzled it with olive oil and sea salt, it was just out of this world.