chocolate pots
via Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef Takes Off
serves 4 (or 2 if you’re greedy)
1 cup light cream
7 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
2 large egg yolks
3 tbsp brandy (or any alcohol that you think goes well with chocolate)
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp butter
Optional: 1 tsp of espresso powder and/or vanilla extract
Heat the cream until nearly boiling. Remove from heat and add brandy (book says to add at the very end but it turned out way too strong). Pour over chocolate, let it sit for a minute, and stir until chocolate is melted and smooth. Beat in egg yolks and stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly before stirring in the butter. Pour into individual serving pots.
Book notes: if you don’t allow the chocolate mixture to cool a little before adding the butter, it will look like chocolate has split. Rectify by letting it cool more and adding some cold milk until consistency is smooth again. Also, if texture is too rich, whip the egg whites (leftover from the 2 yolks) until they are stiff and fold into chocolate mixture before pouring into pots.
