Last year when I was in Paris, while shopping for food, one thing in particular had caught my attention: a huge variety of excellent ready-made desserts, chocolate including.
I tried many of them, including crème brûlée, white chocolate and raspberry mousse, and all the milk- and dark-chocolate choices. Not only were they beautifully served, often in ceramic or glass pots, but also tasted amazing. Honestly, if I lived in France I probably would not bother making any desserts and I am not sure I would have any culinary aspirations.
I usually prefer fruit or vanilla desserts, but those chocolate I discovered were irresistible. I got totally addicted to two of them. One was milk chocolate mousse, layered with thin flakes of dark chocolate. The other one was chocolate cream. It was something between a cream and custard, but more on a creamy side. So delicious that every single day during the week I spent in Paris I had at least two of them one after another. I even carefully washed the cute little pots they were served in and brought them back home to show how supermarket desserts are sold in France.
The memory of that chocolate cream was coming to my mind every time I looked at these pots and I looked everywhere for a recipe that would imitate this dessert, which reminded closely a very thick chocolate pudding, but much more rich in chocolate than a regular pudding. And I think I have finally found something almost as good and easy to make.
Chocolate Cream
(Serves six)
Ingredients:
3 tbsp granulated sugar,
1 tbsp all purpose flour,
1 and 1/3 cup whole milk,
4 oz( about 100 g) good quality milk or dark chocolate,
2 tbsp Amaretto liqueur,
1 tbsp unsalted butter,
1 tbsp roasted slivered almonds for decoration.
Preparation:
1. In a medium pot, using a whisker, mix until smooth sugar and flour with 3 tbsp milk. Heat it over medium heat until ingredients make a creamy, custard like mixture.
2. Whisking continuously add the rest of milk and follow with chopped chocolate. Mix until it thickens. At the last moment add butter and incorporate it into the mix.
3. Divide the mix among six small glass bowls and chill for a minimum of two hours.
4. Serve decorated with roasted almond slivers and amaretto biscuits.
