Prep time: 15 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 2 hours (chill time)
Serves: 4
Catherine de' Medici, an Italian noblewoman, introduced pastry cream or "crema pasticciera" to the French court in the sixteenth century. In turn, the French called it "creme patissiere". While traditional pastry cream is made with eggs, sugar, flour and milk, contemporary versions of this recipe have added flavorings. In the mid 1980's, at Alfonso's Restaurant in Ensenada, I created a chocolate pastry cream that was used as a filling for cakes or simply served with berries. After you try this no-fuss, elegant dessert, let me know how it turns out by posting comments. Rest assured that this is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
Ingredients:
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unbleached, all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups milk (2% is best - not too heavy and not too light)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed and cut into fourths lengthwise
1 cup fresh blueberries
Powdered sugar and cocoa, for dusting
In a 3-quart sauce pot, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until well-blended. Gradually and vigorously whisk in the flour, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, making sure that each addition is completely absorbed.
In a slow and steady stream, pour in the milk while whisking continuously until all the milk is absorbed.
Transfer the sauce pot containing the milk mixture to a stove burner set on medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until the cream has thickened. Remove saucepot from heat and stir in the melted chocolate chips and the vanilla.
Divide the chocolate pastry cream evenly among four 4-ounce ramekins. Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
At serving time, top the chocolate pastry cream with berries and powdered sugar. Set each ramekin on a flat dessert plate. Dust each plate with powdered cocoa and garnish with a strawberry and some blueberries.
Note: For more servings, just double or triple the recipe. Pour the cooked pastry cream into a porcelain or glass serving bowl, cool and refrigerate. At serving time, spoon the cream into individual bowls; dust with powdered sugar and cocoa. Garnish with fresh berries and mint leaves.
Variation: The milk can be substituted with soy milk, but the flavor will be different.
Text and Photographs © Nancy Real 2010
