Bittersweet Chocolate Crémeux

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Crémeux (French for “creamy”) is a dense, soft, classic pudding that’s the new darling of many American pastry chefs. Leong gives her super-chocolaty version a salty edge; it’s delightful with fruit, cookies and ice cream, or topped with a dab of whipped cream. Slideshow: Innovative Pudding Recipes 

Bittersweet Chocolate Crémeux
Photo: © Christina Holmes
Total Time:
30 mins
Yield:
8
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk

  • 5 large egg yolks

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt

  • 9 ounces dark chocolate (70 to 72 percent cacao), such as Valrhona Guanaja, finely chopped

  • Sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings, for serving

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan, bring the cream and milk to a simmer. Remove from the heat. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and salt. Gradually whisk in the hot cream. Transfer the mixture to the saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is slightly thickened and coats the back of the spoon, about 5 minutes.

  2. Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl. Add the chopped chocolate and let stand until melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk vigorously until smooth, then pour the crémeux into a shallow glass or ceramic dish. Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the crémeux and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours or overnight. Spoon the crémeux into glasses, top with sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings and serve.

Make Ahead

The chocolate crémeux can be tightly wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Notes

Leong likes Valrhona Guanaja's balance of bitter and sweet. It's available at specialty food shops and from valrhona-chocolate.com.

Suggested Pairing

Toffee-and-chocolate-scented Madeira: Broadbent 5-Year Reserve.

Originally appeared: July 2013

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