Recipe: Little Chocolate "Pots"

Little Chocolate "Pots"

Serves 4 to 6

"It's like eating miolten chocolate," said my chocoholic friend after savoring these pots de crème, a classic French dessert. I have adapted the recipe from Short and Sweet, a charming dessert cookbook by Melanie Barnard.

You'll need six 1/2-cup or four 1/4-cup heatproof ramekins to make this hard-to-stop-eating dessert.

12 minutes high pressure, plus natural pressure release

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups half-and-half
6 tablespoons sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
Sweetened whipped cream, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Combine the half-and-half and sugar and heat in a microwave for 2 minutes (or gently heat in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves).

Place the chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the hot half-and-half over them. Let the mixture sit for 1 minute. Whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Divide the mixture among the ramekins.

Pour 2 cups water into a 6-quart or larger cooker. Set a trivet in place and set a steaming basket or rack on top of the trivet. Place a layer of ramekins in the basket and then, if necessary, stack a second layer, pyramid-style.

Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to corne down naturally. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

After the steam has subsided, lift the basket or individual ramekins from the cooker with tongs and set on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped crearn if desired.

Variations

• Garnish each portion with fresh raspberries or mint leaves.

• Blend a drop or two of mint extract (go easy!) into batter.

Buy the Book!

from:
Pressure Perfect
Two Hour Taste in Twenty Minutes Using Your Pressure Cooker
by Lorna J. Sass
William Morrow
Hardcover, 368 pages
$24.95; $38.95 (CAN)
ISBN: 0060505346
Recipe reprinted by permission.