Truffles

I decided to make truffles for Christmas gifts this year. They turned out quite well but took much more effort and time than I've expected.

Coffee Truffles (makes 25-30 pieces)
120ml heavy cream
1 tbsp light corn syrup
1.5 tbsp instant coffee granules
1 tbsp (15g) butter, soft
200g dark chocolate (manjari) chopped
1.5 tbsp whiskey
Valrhona cocoa powder for garnish

Combine cream and corn syrup in saucepan and bring to a boil.
Add coffee and stir well to dissolve.

Add cream to chocolate and butter. Start stirring after about 2 minutes and stir until smooth and homogenous. Use a whisk if necc and whisk in the whiskey slowly.

Pour ganache into a bowl/baking pan and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 1hour or more till the ganache is firm.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scope out balls of ganache using #100 scope and place on sheet pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Roll each portion into round ball. Dust with cocoa powder.
Serve

**yum yum yum. dark and smooth with essence of coffee.


Salted caramel truffles (makes 30-40 pieces) - adapted from epicurious

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (caribe), finely chopped, divided
2/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons water
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel

Place 8 ounces chocolate in metal bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until chocolate is smooth. Remove chocolate from over water.

Combine sugar and water in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, occasionally brushing sides of pan with wet pastry brush. Increase heat; boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides and swirling pan occasionally, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add cream slowly. (mixture will bubble!!). Stir over very low heat until caramel is smooth. Mix caramel and 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel into melted chocolate. Chill until truffle filling is firm, at least 3 hours.

Pipe into candy cups and chill till firm. Sprinkle some fleur de sel just before serving.

**my favourite truffle thus far. nuff said.

Rum & raisin truffles (makes 40-50 truffles)

125 g heavy cream
350 g dark & milk chocolate, chopped
15 g butter
40 g raisins soaked in 60g dark rum overnight

Heat the cream until hot to the touch and turn off the heat. Add the chocolate and butter to the hot cream, and stir until the chocolate melts.

Place the raisins & rum in blender and process until the raisins are finely minced. Stir the raisin mixture into the chocolate mixture and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight to cool.

Scoop balls of the rum raisin mixture and place them on sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Dip in tempered dark chocolate. Chill and serve.

**the taste of rum may be a bit strong for some people. And a little too sweet for my taste. May try with dark chocolate and less rum next time.

Learning points: If ganache splits, whisk. If it still doesn't work, add 1tbsp of liqueur slowly while whisking. You can feel the ganache coming together as it gets slightly harder to whisk as the mixture emulsifies. The well mixed ganache looks glossy and not oily.

Chocolate surprise (lemon) cake

Made this for E's birthday today. It turned out surprisingly well except for the glaze. I say surprisingly because I came up with this myself. Hee ;-)

So the layers are as follows: (from the base)

1. German chocolate cake (1cm) made from Rose's heavenly cake with 200g instead of 300g of sugar and 1 extra egg as the eggs I have are rather small

2. Chocolate praline layer (0.5cm) adapted from Pierre Herme using 50g dark chocolate, 200g nutella, 15g butter and 1 +1/3 cup feuilletine

3. Thin layer of chocolate mousse using 70% valrhona, cream, milk, 1 tbsp each of rum & Cointreau

4. Frozen lemon cream (0.5cm) courtesy of Pierre Herme

5. Thin layer of chocolate mousse

6. Cake 1cm

7. Remaining mouse 1cm

8. Chocolate lacquer glaze from RHC

Next time, I'll use valrhona 64% for the mousse instead or maybe try the mousse recipe from either Pierrre Herme or Hidemi Sugino.

Moist chocolate raspberry genoise

Finally got around making this. It turned out much heavier than expected.

The taste was moist and chocolatly with a hint of raspberry, somewhat similar to the sacher torte I made the last time since they are made of essentially the same elements. Will I make this again? Most likely not. I'll much rather make the sacher torte.

I

Classic genoise with strawberries and chocolate whipped cream

Made this over the weekend as I wanted to try out my new 6 inch cake pans. So I made the classic genoise batter for a 9 inch cake and divided into two 6 inch pans. The pans managed ffto fit into the tiny oven together. I was planning to make one cake at first but the two small cakes turned out taller than the usual 9 inch one. Hence, I ended but filling & frosting both cakes in the end, after slicing the cake into 3 layers each. It was filled with chocolate whipped cream and strawberries, covered with chocolate ganache. It turned out rather yummy actually.

Thomas Keller's chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Ad Hoc at Home (makes about thirty 3-inch cookies)

Thomas Keller writes in the book: This is our version of what is arguably the best cookie ever. I like to use different chocolates, one sweeter, one with a more complex bittersweet balance. After you chop the chocolate, sift it to remove any tiny fragments to give the cookies a cleaner look. If you like softer cookies, don’t underbake them, just mist them with water before baking.

2 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 ounces 55 percent chocolate, cut into chip-sized pieces
5 ounces 70 to 72 percent chocolate, cut into chip-sized pieces
8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup packed dark brown sugar, preferably molasses sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Position racks in the lower and upper thirds of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
Sift flour and baking soda into a medium bowl. Stir in the salt.
Put chips in a fine-mesh basket strainer and shake to remove any chocolate “dust” (small fragments).

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat half the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both sugars and the remaining butter, and beat until well combined, then beat for a few minutes, until mixture is light and creamy. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating until the first one is incorporated before adding the next and scraping the bowl as necessary. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine. Mix in chocolate.
Remove bowl from mixer and fold dough with a spatula to be sure the chocolate is evenly incorporated.

The dough or shaped cookies can be refrigerated, well wrapped, for up to 5 days or frozen for 2 weeks. Freeze shaped cookies on the baking sheets until firm, then transfer to
freezer containers. (Defrost frozen cookies overnight in the refrigerator before baking.)

Using about 2 level tablespoons per cookie, shape dough into balls. Arrange 8 cookies on each pan, leaving about 2 inches between them, because the dough will spread. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the tops are no longer shiny, switching the position and rotating pans halfway through baking.

Cool cookies on the pans on cooling racks for about 2 minutes to firm up a bit, then transfer to the racks to cool completely. Repeat with second batch of cookies. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

I used self-raising flour instead as it was available in the pantry and forgot to add the salt in. Also, I used only 1/2 cup of sugar instead of the 3/4 cup called for by the recipe. For the chocolate, I used Cadbury 70% and macadamia milk chocolate which turned out to be great as I love the nuts in the cookies.

Well, these cookies are good. Not the best I've ever had but nevertheless good. Crispy edges with chewy centers, somewhat reminds me of those sold at subway. However, I'll probably cut some of the sugar the next time AND maybe rest it overnight in the refrigerator for the flavors to meld, as suggested by Amanda Hesser.

Flourless chocolate almond cake

Read about this on Times online and Little Teochew and felt that I need to try it. This is also known as Queen of Sheba cake although I'm not sure why.


Flourless chocolate almond cake

200g dark, bitter chocolate (I used Valrhona 66 %)
1 tbsp strong espresso coffee (omitted)
1 tbsp rum or brandy
120g caster sugar
150g butter
100g ground almonds
5 eggs, separated (used 6 small eggs instead)
Icing sugar for dusting

Melt the chocolate, coffee, rum or brandy, half the sugar and butter in a bowl sitting in a pot of barely simmering water. Remove from the heat and stir until well mixed.

Add the ground almonds and mix well. Beat in the egg yolks, one by one.

Beat the egg whites until soft peak, add sugar and beat till stiff and glossy. Stir a couple of spoonfuls into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, before gently folding in the rest.

Turn into a buttered and floured 20cm (8in) round or square cake tin and bake at 180C for 40 to 50 minutes (less if you like it fudgey, more if you like it cakey) at the lowest rack.

The cake will rise almost to the top of the tin before cracking and falling. Leave to cool before removing gently from the tin, and dust with icing sugar to serve.

Tasting notes & learning points: The cake was intensely chocolaty with a mousse-like texture. The ground almond gives it a slight nutty texture. I might cut the sugar to 100g the next time as I like dark bitter chocolate more and maybe try a cake without the almond for a pure chocolate indulgence.

Pierre Herme's Black Forest Cake

Finally made this cake with Elaine's help today. Thank goodness for Mingtze's optimism and faith in the recipe. It was actually quite yummy. No need to cut the sugar as the sweet cake balances the sourish cherries and cream very well.

Tasting notes & learning points: I only used 2-3tbsp of syrup per cake layer and trimmed the cake to fit a 8 inch ring. I will probably use more cherries next time as I used 200g of cherries but I don't think it is enough. Also, need to fold the meringue properly into the batter. A topping of chocolate shavings will be perfect and I think more whipped cream is not necc. And perhaps to make it less stressful, prepare the chocolate whipped cream, cherries, syrup and cocoa cake the day before. Assemble the cake and chill it for at least 3 hours.

white chocolate sour cream frosting

White chocolate sour cream frosting (for a 9inch cake)
120g white chocolate, chopped
120g sour cream
240 heavy cream

Heat white chocolate and sour cream in double boiler till it is completely melted. Stir often.
Cool to room temperature
Whip heavy cream and fold it into white chocolate.
Frost.


Tasting notes & learning points: It was difficult to melt the white chocolate and I had to put the mixture through a fine sieve to make it smooth before folding in the whipped cream. The sour cream helps to temper the sweetness of the white chocolate.

Tiramisu layer cake 2

Made this again yesterday for tonight's dinner party.

Some changes to the recipe.

1. Added 4tsp of coffee extract to the chocolate genoise while melting the cocoa powder

2. For the cream: Whisk 8 egg yolks, 1/3 cup +1 tbsp sugar + 1/2 cup rum over double boiler to make zabagloine. Whip 500g mascarpone cheese briefly and add zabagloine followed by gelatine mixture and 1tbsp rum to it. Used 300ml of cream instead.

3. Syrup = 120ml coffee + 3tbsp kahlua + 3 tbsp bailey's. Use 6tbsp per layer (12tbsp per cake)

Tasting notes & learning points: yummy, moist & flavourful with a punch. May use less cream next time, maybe 240ml instead of 300

sacher torte

I was planning to try Rose's moist chocolate genoise and came across a post on sacher torte by Chubby Hubby. In the post, S used the same genoise to create the cake. Hence, I decided to try to do the same. There's just one tiny problem, how do you create a cake you've never tried before? Hmm...


Sacher torte

Make the parts

1/2 recipe of moist chocolate genoise gives a 9-inch cake which is sliced into 2 after removing top, sides and bottom - takes 25-35mins (30minutes) to bake

syrup = 80ml cocoa syrup (p189 of Rose's heavenly cake) + 1 tbsp each of dark rum, kirsch and orange liquor

1.5cup of bittersweet chocolate glaze (p306 of Tish Boyle's The Cake Book)

Apricot filling made by heating 1 bottle (250ml) of St Dalfour apricot jam and 3 tbsp of water in saucepan at medium heat till it bubbles. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.

Assemble the cake.

Brush 2 tbsp of syrup on each side of the cake slice. (total 8tbsp needed for the whole cake)
Once the syrup is absorbed, spread 1/3 of jam over the cake layer. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread top and sides of cake with remaining jam. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30mnutes.

While waiting for cake to chill, make the glaze. Pour glaze over cake once cake is chilled.

Allow cake to stand for at least 1hour before serving.

Learning points and tasting notes.
The cake was moist and soft. Not overly sweet and the apricot gave a nice tangy-ness. However, the glaze was a little disappointing looks-wise as it did not look as glossy and dark as I thought it should. Maybe I'll try the version on Chubby Hubby next time. Everyone liked the cake but could not discern the apricot flavor, might have to try another brand of jam or make my own the next time. Also, the sponge needs more time to absorb the syrup before putting the jam.

Tiramisu layer cake

I wanted to try the chocolate genoise from Rose's Cake Bible. Hence, decided to make it into a tiramisu layer cake.


Tiramisu layer cake

First, bake the chocolate genoise (recipe from The Cake Bible). I did not change anything from this recipe and the chocolate genoise turned out perfectly moist and soft.

Then, make the coffee soaking syrup by adding 1tbsp of kahlua to 6tbsp of cooled espresso coffee (2x nespresso espresso).

Followed by the mascarpone whipped cream
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup castor sugar
½ cup brandy/rum
250g mascarpone cheese
400ml heavy whipping cream
1.5tsp gelatine melted in 3tbsp water

Whisk (5-10mins) egg yolk, sugar & rum in bowl over simmering water until thick to make zabaglione. Keep whisking even when removed from water till it cools down. (to avoid making sweet scrambled egg)

Add gelatine mixture to zabaglione. Whisk well to combine. Whisk mascarpone in standmixer for 30sec, add zabaglione (room temperature) and whisk till combined. Keep in fridge.

In separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into above mixture.

Finally, assemble the cake.

Torte the cake and slice it into 2 layers to fit into 8inch cake ring. Place 1 cake layer into cake ring and sprinkle 3 tbsp of coffee syrup. Put 1/2 of mascarpone whipped cream on the cake layer. Repeat with the 2nd cake layer. It will come up to almost the top of the 3 inch high cake ring. Seal the top with cling wrap and place cake in fridge for 24hours for the flavours to meld.

To serve, remove cake ring and dust a layer of cocoa powder on the top.

Tasting notes & learning points: The cake turned out nice and soft and light. However, there seems to be lacking the oomph flavour. Will consider putting 4tbsp of syrup per layer instead the next time and maybe add some rum in the whipped cream. The flavour of rum was very strong initially but seemed to disappear by the second day. Or, maybe add some baileys to the coffee syrup.

chocolate cake for a dear friend

My friend Alex is finally getting married. Hence, I decided to make a small cake for him and his wife and our dear friend, Jianying who came back to sg for the wedding.

This is a smaller 6-inch version of the chocolate mousse layer cake I made previously, using 2/3 of the recipe. The cake was covered with whipped cream as I used 70% dark chocolate for the mousse this time and hence the whipped cream helped to temper the bitterness of the chocolate.

I did however, 1/2 the coffee used in the chocolate mousse which helped accentuate the taste of the chocolate and yet no coffee flavour. I'll probably 1/2 the rum the next time round.

lemon curd and chocolate mousse crumble

I had this dessert from da Paolo gastronomia with HJ the other day and it was yummilious! Never thought of pairing chocolate with lemon curd. The tangy smooth lemon curd helps to break the monotony of the dark seductive chocolate mousse and crumble. It's like a little twist in an otherwise 'boring' dessert.


Lemon curd and chocolate mousse crumble (serves 4 hungry chocoholics)

First, prepare the CRUMBLE (adapted from Avec Eric)

1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup (56g) cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
4 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp light brown sugar
pinch of salt

Stir all the ingredients in a large bowl until it forms a pebble-like consistency. (Alternative: rub the butter into the dry ingredients.)
Cover and chill for 1 hour.
Spread crumble onto baking sheet and bake at 325F (162C) for 10-15minutes or until crumble is golden brown.

While waiting for the crumble to chill and bake, prepare the LEMON CURD

1 egg + 3 egg yolks
120g sugar
80g chilled unsalted butter
zest & juice of 3 lemons

Whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar in saucepan until smooth.
Place pan over low heat and add butter, juice and zest.
Whisk continuously until thickened.
Strain through a sieve and allow to cool.

Next, prepare the CHOCOLATE MOUSSE (adapted from Pierre Herme)

1 3/4 cups heavy cream
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (Valrhona Manjari), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water

Beat the cream until it holds medium-firm peaks, then cover and chill. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and egg yolks at the lowest speed for a few seconds, just to break up the eggs; set aside while you prepare the chocolate and sugar syrups.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave oven or in a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove the chocolate from the heat, and, if necessary, pour it into a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients for the mousse. Cool the chocolate until an instant-read thermometer registers 114 degrees.

While the chocolate is melting and cooling, place the sugar and water in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally and washing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil the syrup over high heat without stirring until an instant-read thermometer registers 257 degrees, about 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove it from the heat.

With the mixer on the lowest speed, beat the eggs for a few seconds, then very slowly add the hot sugar syrup in a thin, steady stream. To avoid splatters, try to pour the syrup down the side of the bowl, not into the spinning whisk. (Inevitably, some will splatter, but don't attempt to scrape the hardened syrup into the eggs -- you'll get lumps.) Increase mixer speed to high, and beat eggs for about 5 minutes, or until they are pale and have more than doubled their original volume. If the mixture is still warm, reduce the speed to medium and continue to beat until eggs are at room temperature.

Using a large rubber spatula, fold about 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate. Fold in the rest of the cream, and then, very delicately, fold in whipped egg mixture.

Finally, make the GANACHE and assemble the crumble

200g dark chocolate (Valrhona Caraibe)
200ml heavy cream

Heat the heavy cream and let it boil for 1 minute
Add hot cream to chocolate and let it sit for 3 minutes.
Stir mixture in concentric circles, starting from a small circle in the middle and slowly enlarging the circle to obtain a smooth glossy ganache.
Allow to sit at (aircon) room temperature for 40-60minutes until it sets.

Tasting notes & learning points:
The lemon curd was too sour and not "lemony" enough. MT suggested using the lemon cream recipe from Pierre Herme which I intend to try next time. Most importantly, do NOT reduce the sugar in the lemon curd.
My ganache separated!!! But I managed to salvage it in the end, all thanks to Edward Notter. He suggested stirring warm split ganache into a few tablespoons of heated cream slowly. The method worked perfectly and the ganache was soooo smooth and glossy.

almost famous amos chocolate chip cookies

I had a short break from work on saturday and decided to do something which begets instant gratification. What is better that chocolate chip cookies? Quick and easy to put together, the alluring aroma of cookies baking in the oven starts to hit you within 30 minutes of the idea popping in your head. Hmm.. and not to forget the crunchy yummy cookies which is highly addictive. I NEED to give them away... let's share the calories.. hee

Crunchy chocolate chip cookies (makes ~40 cookies)

125g Butter
70g Castor sugar
70g Brown sugar
2 tsp Vanilla essence
1 Egg
260g Self-raising flour (= 260g plain flour + 3 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp salt)
1 tbsp cocoa power - natural unsweeten
130g Chocolate chips (bittersweet 70%) - I simply chopped up a bar of bittersweet chocolate

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C. (preferably fan mode)
2. Sift the flour & cocoa powder, set aside.
3. Beat butter, essence and sugars using mixer until smooth.
4. Add egg and beat until well combined.
5. Stir in sifted flour and the remaining ingredients.
6. Place rounded teaspoon of batter about 4cm apart on patchment paper in baking tray

7. Bake in pre heated oven for 15 minutes or until browned. (~18mins on middlerack)

8. Cool in trays for short while and transfer to wire rack for cooling.

The cookies are initially soft when they first came out from the oven but became incredibly crunchy when cooled. I may consider cutting the sugar and butter the next time.

Chocolate mousse layer cake

Decided to make a mousse cake since KK does not like cakes. Well, took me a while to realise that he only likes the cream and mousse on the cake, and not the actual cake itself. No wonder he is always complaining that my cakes are dry.. tsk tsk.

Found the recipe in The Cake Book by Tish Boyle. It looks easy enough and everything was going fine till the final part where the chocolate glaze separated! My heart sank when I saw the cake once the glaze set as there were patches of fat solids. OMG!

Thankfully I managed to save it by scraping off the glaze and whipping it to make it smooth again. Reapplied the glaze but it was not going to look glossy so decided to grind up some oreos and sprinkle it on top of the cake. It actually looked quite pretty... ha ha.

Everyone loved the cake but there were some comments on the rum being a little strong. O wells, I thought a little bit more booze wouldn't hurt right??? The oreos was salty and kinda help balance out the otherwise very rich cake.


Chocolate mousse layer cake (modified from Tish Boyle's)
First, make the sour cream chocolate cake which is yummy on its own

1 3/4 cups (212g) all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups (332g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (28g) natural cocoa powder *Hershey's
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs / 3 small eggs (1 large egg in shell ~60-70g)
1/2 cup (121g) sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (113g) butter melted and cooled
1/3 cup (80ml) corn oil
3/4 cup (180ml) ice cold water


1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line the bottom of a 9x3 inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the bottom and sides of the pan, dust with flour and tap out the excess.

2. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.

3. Whisk eggs till blended in another bowl. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla extract till blended.

4. Using a mixer, whisk melted butter and oil together at low speed. Add cold water and mix to blend. Add the dry ingredients at all at once and mix at medium-low speed for 1 minute. Add egg mixture and mix for another minute. Scrape bather into pan.

5. Bake cake for 45-50minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Set pan on wire rack and cool cake for 20minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool completely right side up.

Then, make the chocolate mousse filling

255g coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate *Valrhona Manjari 64%
1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
1 tsp instant espresso powder
pinch of salt
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
3 tbsp rum

6. Place chocolate in food process and process until finely ground.

7. Combine milk, espresso powder and salt in small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. With the food processor running, pour hot milk through feed tube and process until chocolate is completely melted. Scrap mixture into large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.

8. Whisk heavy cream at high-speed till soft peak, adding rum during whisking. Fold whipped cream into chocolate in thirds until completely blended.

Finally, assemble the cake

9. Level the cake by trimming off domed top and cut the cake horizontally into 2 layers.

10. Place one of the cake layers in bottom of 9x3 inch springform pan. (Brush 1 tbsp of rum over cake - to omit if too alcoholic) Scrape 1/2 of chocolate mousse over cake layer and spread it evenly. Top with the other cake layer and scrape remaining mousse on top.

11. Cover top of pan with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 3hours till firm.

12. Prepare glaze by adding 2/3 cup (160ml) of heated heavy cream to 170g of chopped bittersweet chocolate (*Valrhona caraibe 66%) in bowl. Stir till chocolate completely melted and stir in 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Whisk till smooth if needed. Cover surface of glaze with plastic wrap and cool for 10 minutes before using.

13. Remove cake from pan and place on wire rack. Pour warm glaze over the top of the cake and smooth it evenly over top and sides.

14. Refrigerate for at least 1hour (to thaw) before serving. Dust top with grounded oreos if desired.

hot chocolate (from Laurent Bernard)

Heat 300ml of milk (preferably full cream) with 30ml of cream till boiling point. DO NOT BOIL

Add scalded milk/cream to 100g of finely chopped good quality dark chocolate, I used Araguani, 72% Valrhona.. Mmm... deep, dark and delicious.

Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste to milk and chocolate mixture.

Mix well with whisk.

Enjoy.

Serves 1-2