When isn’t it a good time to have chocolate? There have been books written about chocolate, the cocoa bean, the percentages of chocolate and the tempering thereof. It doesn’t take a lot of this choice product to make one feel the love. Chocolate is an aphrodisiac and a food that enhances the mood of romance, or even to comfort when there might be a lack of romance. Apparently this rich delight stimulates the senses. Aren’t we the fortunate ones.
May is National Chocolate Custard Month. Spoonfuls of this creamy dessert can make the taste buds sing with satisfaction. I made mine without nuts, but here is a recipe that pairs glorious hazelnuts and rich chocolate. It is oh, so good.
Read through it first to see how easy it is to make. You might want to make a double batch and have one serving of eight as a custard, and one serving of eight as a mousse. Simply divide into two bowls evenly. Pour into the ramekins to cool down and the other bowl fold in the extra whipped cream. Enjoy!
This takes about an hour and serves eight. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator and you can enjoy it for up to three days.
Hazelnut Chocolate Custard
Ingredients
2 cups hazelnuts
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
5 oz chocolate (bitter-sweet or semi-sweet) (chopped)
6 egg yolks (room temperature)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
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1) Preheat oven to 350º
2) Toast nuts for seven minutes
3) Using a towel, rub nuts briskly removing hulls
4) Set aside eight whole nuts.
5) Chop remaining nuts until finely ground
6) Using a heavy saucepan, scald heavy cream and milk (do not boil or burn)
7) Pour in ground nuts and simmer for three minutes
Remove from heat, cover and set aside for one hour
9) Strain through cheesecloth to remove all nuts (squeeze out all liquid)
10) Measure the liquid to make sure you have four cups (add more cream if needed)
11) Using a double boiler add sugar to liquid and stir until dissolved
12) Set pan over bottom pan of very hot water, using medium heat
13) Add in chopped chocolate, stirring until melted
14) In a medium-large mixing bowl whisk egg yolks (without adding air)
15) Temper the yolks by quickly whisking in about ½ cup of heated chocolate
16) Add eggs back to the top pan and stir
17) When the back of the wooden spoon is coated, it’s done
18) Stir in vanilla and strain custard to ensure smoothness
19) Divide equally among eight ramekins
20) Cool custard and then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled
21) Garnish with chocolate shavings and a hazelnut
Variation:
To make a mousse (which means to lighten), whip one cup of heavy cream until (loose) peaks just begin to form.
When custard has cooled to room temperature, gently fold in partially whipped cream pour into ramekins.
Refrigerate and allow to chill thoroughly
