Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée

Everyone loves creme brulee. I think… Well if you do enjoy a good creme brulee now and then, then this easy dark chocolate creme brulee is just the right thing for you. Happy Valentine’s Day and enjoy:

Dark Chocolate Crème Brûlée

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces 53 percent dark chocolate, broken into small pieces, or 2/3 cup (4 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup plus 6 teaspoons granulated sugar, divided

Directions:

Yield: 6 servings

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place cream, half-and-half and vanilla in large saucepan. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until melted and smooth.

Whisk egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar in large mixer bowl. Gradually whisk in chocolate mixture.

Pour mixture through fine sieve into six 4-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Place ramekins in 13-by-9-inch baking dish; fill pan with hot water to 1-inch depth.

Bake for 40 minutes or until custards jiggle slightly when pan is shaken. Cool custards in water until cool enough to handle. Remove custards from water; refrigerate for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap; continue to refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Preheat broiler. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over top of each custard. Place custards on baking sheet. Broil for 3 minutes or until sugar is melted and caramelized (rotate pan as needed to prevent burning). Alternately, tops can be caramelized using kitchen torch. Refrigerate for 2 hours so that the topping can harden and the custard can cool and set.

*Recipe and photo from Nestle