Categories: Dessert

Ingredients

• 4 cups heavy cream
• 7 oz dark chocolate
• 12 lg egg yolks
• 1 cup Chateau Pomari, reduced to 3 oz
• 2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup sugar + extra to carmelize top

Directions

1. Using a wire whisk, vigorously whisk egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar in a lg bowl until mixture becomes light in color and sugar has dissolved a bit; set aside.

2. In a med-size saucepan, combine heavy cream with 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla bean . which has been carefully split down the center and black seeds scraped from the pod; combine both with the cream. Bring mixture to a simmer; when small bubbles form around the edges of the cream, it is ready. Add chocolate; stir until melted and add reduction.

3. Gradually pour the cream mixture into the egg/sugar mix, whisking gently by hand to combine.

4. oven to 275. Place individual 6-oz ramekins in a baking pan, large enough to hold 8 – 10 ramekins and deep enough to allow the water reaching at least halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

5. Fill ramekins 3/4 full. Place pan in preheated oven and pour hot water into baking pan so water level reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover pan with a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, sealing edges to retain steam.

6. Cook 40 – 50 mins or until custards are set. To test for doneness, gently shake the individual ramekins; if center is still a bit liquid-like or wobbly, return custards to oven and continue to cook, checking every 5 – 7 mins, until it has just set, with a small area in the center, the size of a quarter, still a bit loose.

7. Remove ramekins from baking pan and chill custard in refrigerator several hours or until chilled through.

8. To serve: sprinkle a thin layer of granulated sugar atop each custard. Using a blow torch, over a heat-and-flame-proof surface, caramelize sugar, working from the outside in towards the middle, keeping the torch in a constant motion. Sugar should be golden-brown and caramelize, never black,

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