Thread: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Cr=E8me_br=FBl=E9e_with_Chocolate_Truffle_=26_ Chocolate_S?==?ISO-8859-1?Q?auce=3A_Advice_Please=21?=

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:14:04 -0700 (PDT), Chef Adrien
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I'm cooking for my father, who likes creme brulee and also likes
>chocolate truffles, (Specifically, Cocoa Powder Dusted Truffles by
>Truffettes de France.) and I'm trying to figure out a way to "combine"
>the two.
>
>Here's what I'm envisioning: Crème brûlée that is made the regular
>way, but somehow top it with a layer of chocolate, then chill it.
>When I remove the crème from the ramekin I'd then flip it, so that the
>chocolate is now sitting on the bottom of the custard. Then of course
>I'd torch the sugar on top, top with a single chocolate truffle, and
>perhaps spoon a chocolate sauce of some sort around the custard on the
>plate.
>
>So here's my question: what sort of chocolate (recipe) would work to
>achieve the above? Would mousse be too light, and get squashed by
>the weight of the custard once flipped? Or is there some way of
>getting that layer of chocolate to be a bit stronger than the
>custard? Would just straight up melted chocolate pored into the top
>of the ramekin work, letting it harden in the fridge?
>
>And my second question: what sort of chocolate sauce do you think
>would work nicely spooned around the perimeter of the dish?
>
>(I executed Gordon Ramsay's Roasted Rhubard Crème brûlée dish and it
>turned out quite well, so I had the inspiration to replace the rhubard
>with chocolate and instead of jus de fraise, use chocolate. In case
>anyone's wondering.)
>
>Any suggestions or recommendations much appreciated!

I am *not* a dessert expert these days, but it seems to me that you'd
save yourself a lot of trouble by putting the chocolate at the bottom
rather than at the top. Then you don't have to worry about the
density issue, and you don't have to do any sort of flipping which is
both an extra step and a way for things to go wrong.

I had a dessert pretty much exactly like this at a restaurant last
week... the chocolate was a dense, thick layer, not straight
chocolate, but I wasn't thinking about making it, so I didn't pay that
much attention to consistency.

"Chef Adrien" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
>I'm cooking for my father, who likes creme brulee and also likes
>chocolate truffles, (Specifically, Cocoa Powder Dusted Truffles by
>Truffettes de France.) and I'm trying to figure out a way to "combine"
>the two.

Creme brulee is about my favorite dessert, and I am a chocolatier.

I wouldn't combine them.

In my view, good creme brulee depends on a delicate flavor and perfect
consistency, both of which are spoiled by adding extraneous stuff.

You can serve them side by side.

If you want to mimic the flavors in a composed-type dessert, I'd make a good
vanilla mousse and a good dark bitter chocolate mousse, and layer them in a
chocolate shell/band or glass, and top just before serving with some shards
of croquant or plain caramel (the hard glossy kind you make yourself and
grind up to add to other things). I'd probably go 3/4 vanilla to 1/4
chocolate, so as not to kill the vanilla flavor.

Chef Adrien <[email protected]> wrote:

> Here's what I'm envisioning: Cr??me br??l??e that is made the regular
> way, but somehow top it with a layer of chocolate, then chill it.
> When I remove the cr??me from the ramekin I'd then flip it, so that the
> chocolate is now sitting on the bottom of the custard. Then of course
> I'd torch the sugar on top, top with a single chocolate truffle, and
> perhaps spoon a chocolate sauce of some sort around the custard on the
> plate.

Sounds like a lot of work to ruin creme brulee. The genius of creme
brulee is its simplicity. Just my opinion, of course.

I would serve a simple creme brulee in the ramekin with a truffle
on the side.

> And my second question: what sort of chocolate sauce do you think
> would work nicely spooned around the perimeter of the dish?

If you must, a basic ganache made on the thin side would be the
way to go, I think.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.