Let’s just say, hypothetically, that you were invited to dinner at a friend’s house and you say “what can I bring?” and it ends up that you’re bringing dessert. And then let’s just say, for example, that you had bought a bag of lemons and were planning to make a lemon tart, but then the crumb crust that you put in the oven while your dear spouse is taking a nap on a Saturday afternoon starts leaking butter into the bottom of the oven and billowing smoke sending you running into the hallway with a towel to frantically wave under the fire alarm in the direction of the kitchen window that you flung open so that it doesn’t go off and wake everyone up. And then just say you are totally out of ingredients to make the crust again and your totally fed up with crusts anyway and are completely over pastry in general and don’t feel like going to the grocery store but are still on the hook for dessert in a couple of hours. What is one to do? Hypothetically, you know. Ahem.
Chocolate Cream Pots
serves 4
– 1 cup heavy cream
– 6 ounces dark chocolate (I used 72%)
– 2 egg yolks
– 2 tablespoons raw sugar
– 1 tablespoon strong coffee or espresso
– 1 tablespoon rum
– 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
– tiny pinch of cayenne pepper
– sweetened whipped cream*
Chop the chocolate into little bits. Heat the cream in a heavy bottomed pan until it comes to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the chocolate; let the chocolate sit in the cream for a minute or two and then whisk together until dark and smooth. Beat the two egg yolks together with the sugar and then pour a little of the hot cream into the eggs to heat them up. Put the pan back over low heat and whisk the egg mixture back in. Heat until the faintest wisps of steam begin to rise, stirring the whole time; it should only take a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the coffee, rum, butter, and cayenne, whisking to melt the butter and blend everything into a silky smooth custard.
Pour the hot custard into small bowls, espresso cups, or ramekins (I used little jam jars) and allow it to cool. Because this is such a rich dessert, it only takes a small amount to satisfy; and because of this richness, it’s best not served cold, but at a softer, silkier room temperature.
Top with a generous drift of sweetened whipped cream. *I whipped the cream with sugar and a splash of rum and vanilla extract. The contrast of airy vanilla scented cream and meltingly truffle-like chocolate is heavenly.
Cognitive Leeks 
I just can’t imagine something as described in your first paragraph, happening to YOU!!
The Chocolate pot dessert sounds like a deliciously good solution to the dilemma one might face!!!
Yummy….Chocolate is my favorite, the darker the better!!
YUM! Now what I would do with this is add a bit of fabric under the ring of the jar lid to totally top off the cuteness.
I had some cute retro lids with fruit on them that I used this time, but fabric or paper would be a really fun way to dress it up.
Mmmm, sure does look tasty. It sounds like the smoking pastry was a blessing in disguise because it led to this 🙂
Well….you can’t go wrong with chocolate, however you get there. These are so cute!
If you have access to manufacturing cream, that would be the only thing that could make it even better. Heavy cream is 32% butterfat; manufacturing cream is around 42%. My local dairy place sells it. Heavenly in ganache.
I would love to try it with a higher butterfat cream, even a cultured one for a little tang. Thanks for the tip!
I’m new to this homemade thing, so question:
Doesn’t the whipped cream “unwhip” if it sits for a while?
Yes, over time the bubbles of air that have been whipped into the cream will pop, making the cream less light. It takes a while though- I made these about 3 hours before we ate them and they were still fine. If you want to, you can make the chocolate ahead of time and then top them with whipped cream at the last minute.
If I omit the rum and coffee, do I need to replace those 2 tbsp of liquid with something else?
Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi there- I would probably add a little vanilla extract (maybe a teaspoon) and then an extra tablespoon or so of cream. The liquid helps keep the chocolate soft and silky, so also make sure not to serve them cold- more cool.
Thank you!