Recipes
ÉCLAT CHOCOLATE POTS DE CRÈME
Makes 4-5 portionsIngredients:
- 193 grams Eclat Chocolate 70% or another chocolate of your choice, finely chopped
- 240 grams whole milk
- 240 grams heavy cream
- 80 grams egg yolks
- 12 grams granulated sugar or vanilla sugar
- 1 gram kosher salt
- Crème Chantilly (recipe below)
- Block chocolate for garnish
Kitchen Equipment:
- Small bowl
- Medium saucepan
- Medium mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Instant read thermometer
- Immersion blender (optional)
- Disposable piping bags
- Small glass containers such as ramekins, mason jars, or wine glasses
- Offset spatula
- Microplane grater
Method:
Slowly heat milk and heavy cream to a light simmer in saucepan over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt together in a medium mixing bowl until incorporated. Slowly pour 50% of the hot milk-cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture while continuously whisking. This process of tempering the egg yolks is important to prevent overcooking or curdling of the egg yolks. Pour the incorporated mixture back into the original pot. Whisk to combine. Return the pot to the stove over low heat and continuously stir until thermometer reaches 85oC/185oF. Remove from heat and immediately add the finely chopped chocolate to stop the cooking process. Gently whisk all ingredients until the surface has a nice shine. The end result should have a pourable consistency. Optional: Use immersion blender to blend mixture to ensure a lighter final texture and that the chocolate is completely emulsified.Chantilly Crème
- 200 grams fresh whipping cream
- 25 grams granulated sugar or vanilla sugar.
- Whip by hand or with Kitchen Aid until very soft peaks.
- The less whipped the cream is the easier to fill without air pockets.
Assembly:
Carefully pour the chocolate mixture into glass containers. Cover and chill until set, at least 3 hours. Put Chantilly Crème into piping bag, then pipe on top of the chocolate custard, staying in the middle of the container so it flows evenly across the surface and moves up the sides of the glass. This will create the least amount of air pockets. Slightly overfill and remove excess with offset spatula for a flat surface at the rim. Keep refrigerated until 15-30 minutes before service. Allow to warm up slightly to increase flavor and consistency. Garnish with block chocolate grated over the top using a Microplane grater before serving.ÉCLAT HOT CHOCOLATE
Éclat Hot Chocolate base:
- 4 C whole milk
- 1 1/4 C Éclat Dark Chocolate
- 1 Tbsp Éclat Cocoa Powder
Preparation
- Bring milk to a boil. Infuse milk with desired spices or herbs* All herbs should be infused into the milk and strained before the chocolate and cocoa powder is added. When working with dried and fresh herbs, always re-measure after straining to make sure you have the proper amount of liquid. For an even better hot chocolate, use an electric hand mixer or whisk to add foam into the hot chocolate before serving. The fresh herbs should be added when the cream is at it’s hottest and steep like you would any tea. This is also a great time to adjust the amount of flavor.
- After straining hot milk, pour slowly into the cocoa powder and whisk vigorously until there are no more lumps.
- Melt chocolate in bowl.
- Pour 1/3 of the liquid into the melted chocolate. Mix so as to obtain a smooth, elastic and shiny texture, then pour the rest of the liquid while making sure to preserve this texture, and strain into a pan.
- Heat the chocolate mixture just before a boil, whipping vigorously to obtain a light and creamy froth.
* Possible herbs and spices for infusing into a hot chocolate: Lemon mint, chocolate mint, rosemary, thyme, fresh ginger, dried herbs, cinnamon, lavender, Earl Grey tea, Aleppo Chili, Peruvian Aji Panca Chili, Balinese long pepper, allspice, star anise, cardamom, sichuan pepper corn, or a pinch of salt.
