October Birthday: Petit pots de crème au chocolat accompagnée de crème Chantilly de thé au jasmin ~ 法式巧克力布丁佐茉莉香堤麗鮮奶油

Foremost, I apologize to have kept you waiting for the October birthday treat. Both my personal and work life has had some drastic changes keeping me rather busy for the past couple weeks. Things are slowly taking its form so I have more time to spare. Lets get cooking!

Now that the weather has turned rather chilly, fresh fruit and refreshing icy treats will no longer do. My thoughts turn to what I call comfort food – chocolate! Guess what comes to mind? Luscious chocolate pot de crème (pronounced poh-duh-KREHM), which may known to some as chocolate pudding, is just what I would like to get a mouth full of on these chilly autumn nights. Pot de crème means pot of cream, literally. Basically is a baked custard; steamed long and slow in a water bath to give it that satiny texture. The original flavor is vanilla, I like it but I love the chocolate variation more and caramel is a close second =)



Since I picked up pastry/baking as a hobby, I happily stirred my way through pudding recipes from the most tried-and-true source, Martha Stewart, food network, and many celebrity chefs’ cookbooks. They were all yummy of course but not enough to have me going back for 2nd until I tried this recipe in Koji Tsuchiya’s Chocolats de Chocolatier book. This got to be the closest to how the French (it is originated from France hence the name) make them. This, my friends, is the ultimate, profoundly fudgy, satiny, and rich chocolate pot de crème that I ever tasted! Ultra luxurious, barely set, with a haunting bittersweet flavor and a texture like a silk camisole, one bite will transport you to haven! Besides that it is insanely yummy, the best part of the whole thing is that they’re super easy to whip up. Literally, you warm the cream/milk/vanilla seeds in a saucepan with the chocolate/cocoa powder; then, in a mixing bowl, whisk the muscovado sugar and yolks together. Then you combine the two, whisk the hot mixture into the bowl of egg yolks, pour it through a sieve to get rid of any lumps and bumps, mix in the Grand Marnier and pour it into ramekins/pots, bake them, cool them, and eat them with fresh whipped cream! Easy?! I know!



Although Tsuchiya’s recipe is almost close to perfection, I need it to be a bit fudgier so I played around with the recipe a bit and varying the ingredients too. I read somewhere that classic French recipe use only milk so you may want to try that if you prefer a lighter taste. I think either way, the outcome will be just as delicious.

I served the pot de crème with a dollop of fresh whipped cream delicately perfumed with jasmine tea. Though the floral note is sublimely subtle but it beautifully exploits the pure and intense flavor of the bittersweet chocolate.

This is going to be a regular dessert for me for sure and I hope it will find its way into your top desserts' list as well =)



Prep:
- Chop the chocolate into tiny pieces; sift the cocoa powder once.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and set aside.

I thought you should know:
- You must let the pots de crème set overnight before serving or it may turn out runny.


Pots de crème au chocolate - pots of chocolate cream
makes 4 (5oz)

175g whipping cream
175g milk
40g muscovado or brown sugar
2 egg yolks
40g bittersweet chocolate, 64 -66 % cocoa
½ vanilla bean, split open and seeds scraped out
1tbs unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1½tbs Grand Marnier liquor



Bring the cream, milk, vanilla bean, and the seeds to a boil over medium heat. Turn the heat down to low then add the chopped chocolate pieces and cocoa powder. Using a hand whisk and whisk until chocolate completely melted and combined; bring mixture to a boil again then remove from heat. Remove the vanilla bean, set aside to cool slightly.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 320°F/160°C. Next, whisk the egg yolks with the muscovado sugar until combined then add the hot milk mixture slowly while beating. Pour it through a sieve to get rid of any lumps and bumps, mix in the Grand Marnier and stir until combined. Place a napkin directly on the mixture to remove the foam that have formed on top then pour mixture into ramekins/pots until 2/3 full. Place ramekins/pots in a deep pan or roast pan, pour hot water into the pan until half way up the ramekins/pots – also know as hot water bath baking method.

Place in the oven and bake for about 1 hour. Check regularly after 45 minutes. Shake it a little, when the side is set but the center still is moving a little then they are done. Remove from oven and leave to cool. Place a plastic wrap on top and place them in the fridge to set overnight. Serve with Jasmine tea scented Chantilly cream and or chocolate curls.

Crème Chantilly de thé au jasmin - jasmine tea scented Chantilly cream
makes 1 1/2 cup

100g heavy whipping cream, chilled
2tbs caster sugar
1tbs premium loose-leaf Jasmine tea

Combine chilled cream and tea in bowl. Cover and chill overnight. Strain cream-tea mixture through fine strainer into mixing bowl, add caster sugar then using a handheld mixer and beat from low speed and gradually turn to higher speed until peaks form.



十月壽星的禮物終于送出了﹗很抱歉晚了﹐因為換了工作的緣故﹐這些天忙著趕進度﹐其次是忙著解決生活裡林林總總的煩心瑣碎的事﹐真的夠忙的﹗好不容易逮到空閑﹐急不及待的捲起衣袖做甜點囉=)

說那麼快的秋天已經到臨﹐天氣漸漸的轉涼了﹐讓愛吃清爽冰品的我口味也跟著變了。一到這個季節﹐我就想到巧克力。這是不是他人說的食物屬性呢? Anyways﹐最近做了很多時令水果製成的點心真的怪想念巧克力製的甜點的﹗為了治這饞嘴病只好動手了﹐不多想就決定做土屋公二的Chocolats de Chocolatier 一書裡的巧克力布丁。原因很簡單 – 看起來非常可口的樣子﹗

這道法式布丁﹐名字叫做pot de crème (唸 poh-duh-KREHM)﹐直翻是小罐的奶油(?!)﹐簡單說就是以低溫放熱水浴中慢慢烘烤再放冰箱冷卻凝固的奶酪。只靠蛋黃不加魚膠凝結的緣故﹐無法脫模享用﹐法人就用小巧可愛的耐熱玻璃小容器(glass pot)來盛裝(名字的來源應該就是這樣來的)。傳統的口味是香草﹐後來演變成各式各樣的口味。我的最愛當然就是巧克力口味囉﹗焦糖也很讚^^

巧克力布丁我做過很多次了﹐不過不是照著同一個食譜的﹐因為我在找尋那個有著非常細膩纖柔的精緻唯美質地的夢幻布丁(這樣說會不會太過了呵呵。。)﹗話說嘗試過無數名廚的做法而土屋師傅的布丁是最接近我要的那個口感的。嚐起來不僅僅輕盈還香﹑滑﹑潤。不僅美味懾人﹐做法還簡單到不成﹐看完以下的做法就知道有多簡單了=)

雖然已經很美味了﹐但我這個巧克力狂迷將巧克力份量加重了及微微的改了食譜。還有為了讓布丁口感更豐富﹐可以佐香堤麗奶油一起享用。我覺得巧克力跟茉莉茶很搭配﹐所以將香堤麗奶油做成茉莉口味的。是怎麼的一種滋味呢? 香醇的巧克力味兒裡帶有一點點橙橘酒香﹐口感非常纖細綿軟、雲般輕柔爽淨的慕斯質地，入口即溶。與透著淡雅迷人茉莉茶香﹑質地非常細膩纖柔的的香堤麗鮮奶油顯得極端精緻唯美、豐富﹐令人回味再三，令人難忘。



法式巧克力布丁 – 4個布丁

175g 鮮奶油
175g 牛奶
40g 黑糖
2 個 蛋黃
40g 苦甜巧克力﹐64 -66 % 可可亞成份
½ 條 香草豆﹐開半刮籽
1湯匙 無糖Dutch-process 可可粉
1½湯匙 橙橘香甜酒 (Grand Marnier)

事前準備:
- 可可粉過篩1次﹐備用。
- 煮開一壺開水﹐備用。

要注意什麼呢?
- 布丁一定要放冰箱凝固一個晚上才能食用﹐要不然可能無法凝固

把牛奶、鮮奶油混合倒進小鍋裡﹐用小刀將香草豆開半﹐取去其中的籽﹐將籽和香草豆一起放入鍋裡﹐用中火加熱﹐沸騰後轉為小火。倒進切碎的巧克力和篩過的可可粉﹐攪拌至完全融化混合﹐轉中火邊煮邊攪拌以免燒焦﹐再次沸騰後離火﹔丟掉香草豆﹐備用。

預熱烤箱至320°F/160°C。在另一碗裡將蛋黃和黑糖一起用攪拌器打散﹐確實拌勻後﹐邊攪拌邊慢慢地小量地加入溫奶漿﹐待溫奶漿完全跟蛋漿混勻到柔滑後過濾奶漿。加入橙橘香甜酒﹐攪拌至混合均勻﹐然後在奶漿上方鋪上一片餐巾紙﹐輕輕地吸取掉泡沫。最後倒進磁烤杯中至七分滿﹐再將磁烤杯排放在有深度的烤盤裡﹐然後注入熱開水達磁烤杯一半的高度﹐放進預熱過的烤箱裡烘烤60分鐘(45分鐘後要不停的查看以免烤焦)。當搖晃磁烤杯時布丁中央會抖動但週邊不動即烤好了。取出﹐待室溫放涼後﹐蓋上保鮮膜﹐放冰箱凝固一個晚上。食用時佐茉莉香堤麗鮮奶油即可。

茉莉香堤麗鮮奶油 – 約1 ½ 杯份量

100g 鮮奶油
2湯匙 細砂糖
1湯匙 茉莉花茶葉 (品質越上等味道越清香)

鮮奶油與茶葉混合﹐蓋上保鮮膜﹐放進冰箱泡浸一個晚上。過濾鮮奶油後加入細砂糖﹐用電動打蛋器先以低速打發鮮奶油至起泡﹐再轉中速攪打至出現尖角的程度。將鮮奶油放冰箱冷藏10分鐘即完成。