Creme Brulee with Ganache

A while back I was given a few bars of Green and Black's Maya Gold organic dark chocolate to use in my Mexican Compost Bars  and I was left with just a little bit of chocolate at the end of it all. It sat in my cupboard, sad and lonely with the knowledge that it was destined for bigger things than being shoved down my throat at 1am in the throes of a late night sugar attack. That is what Trader Joe's Spekulas Cookie Butter and a tea spoon is for.


Maya Gold is a really fragrant, spiced dark chocolate, full of orange, nutmeg, cinnamon with a bit of vanilla and I had just enough to make a tiny batch of ganache and that is how this recipe for Creme Brulee with Ganache came about. It is a much more honourable fate for this majestic chocolate, right?

You can cook this without the pressure cooker in a water bath in a 300F oven for 40-45 minutes if you like but using a pressure cooker is quicker and more efficient

Creme Brulee with Ganache

makes 6 ramekins

36 g dark chocolate, chopped up fairly finely (I used Maya Gold from Green & Black's
53g (scant 1/4 cup heavy cream)

4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup heavy cream

6 tbls sugar

Make the ganache by heating the milk in a steel bowl set over a simmering pot of water or in the microwave for 30 seconds, then take out and stir and put in for another 15 seconds. Mix the chopped chocolate in with the cream and stir gently, until it starts to melt and then let it sit for a few minutes before giving a final few stirs until the chocolate is completely melted

Divide the ganache evenly between 4 to 6 ramekins and put those in the freezer to harden.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until the yolks are pale yellow and then whisk in the cream, making sure it's totally incorporated. Pour through a fine strainer into a bowl with a pouring spout. Take the ramekins out of the freezer and divide the custard evenly between them. Cover each ramekin with tin foil and put four down on top of the trivet in your cooking pot (add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pot to build steam).
Carefully stack the next two on top of the bottom four, cover and cook at high pressure for 8 minutes with a 2 min quick release
(it took about 6 minutes to come to pressure so that makes a total of 16 minutes from start to finish)

Remove from the pot and let cool to room temperature before putting them in the fridge where they should remain for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Right before serving, remove them from the fridge, sprinkle each one with 1 tbls of sugar, fire up your blow torch and torch each one until the sugar bubbles, browns and turns into a nice sugary crust.