Little pots.....little pots of chocolate!

Sometimes you just need chocolate! and after the crazy post holiday week I've had....I definitely need CHOCOLATE!

And what better way to kill two birds......as in my needs and a dessert for tomorrows Sunday lunch, than to indulge in some 'scelerisque' that's latin for chocolate by the way....note the word 'risque' is in there....as in too much is 'risqué' on the hips!....eater beware!

So a quick and easy dessert to whip up is my little pots of chocolate, which aren't exactly served up in little pots, but that's how the French used to serve this kind of thing, so there's the history behind that!

This is a delectable, rich, dark, bitter, intense, 'sinful' dessert with lots of flavor....indulge at leisure!

you will need: makes 6 portions

• 250 g good dark chocolate min 65% cocoa solids
• 25 g unsalted butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 5 tablespoons of Irish whiskey cream liqueur e.g Baileys, Shannon's or whichever is your favorite, you can always use other liqueurs such as Cointreau, kirsch, cherry brandy or amaretto to achieve different flavours
• 1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
• 2 pinches good quality chilli powder.....yes, I'm serious!
• 150 ml whipping cream
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon castor sugar

a selection of glasses or cups or ramekins or whatever you have on hand, washed and clean ready to be filled

how to make:

• boil a kettle while you arm yourself with a good sized heatproof bowl that will sit snugly over the top of a saucepan...we are going to make a 'bain marie' in which we will melt the chocolate, use a glass or stainless steel bowl.
• half fill the saucepan with the hot water then sit the bowl on top and place the pan over a low heat. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is NOT touching the water as this will just ruin your mix.
• break the chocolate into small pieces and place in the bowl, add the butter and chilli powder and stir gently while the chocolate melts and the butter melts into it
•  add your liqueur and mix really well, probably best to use a whisk! you will notice that the mixture thickens and you will think it is ruined, it's NOT! it's supposed to do that, it's just the chemical reaction between booze and chocolate, it will become smooth once more if you keep whisking although the texture will be slightly thicker, remove your bowl of chocolate from the pot of water
• at this point the chocolate mix will be surprisingly warm, warm enough that it will cook the egg yolks, so add your egg yolks now and whisk well until all is smooth once more, set aside.
• in a clean bowl whip your cream until it it starts to thicken but is not fully whipped, place in the fridge to chill slightly
• using a free standing mixer or hand mixer, add the castor sugar to the egg whites and whisk on high speed until it begins to resemble meringue and is firm, be careful not to over whip the whites as they will look very grainy, we want them firm yet smooth
• take your cream from the fridge and fold gently into the chocolate mixture, then fold in your egg whites gently, we want to keep quite a lot of the air that's in the whites and cream so be gentle but mix well, no white bits should be left visible.
• transfer your chocolate mix to a jug then pour into your glasses, tea cups, shot glasses or what ever you fancy, place in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours or overnight

how to enjoy:

• you can of course eat these as they are but if having friends or family over you can always whip a little more cream and spread some on top, dust with a little bitter cocoa powder or crumble some chocolate flake on top, zest a bit of orange or lemon or even lime or toast some nuts and crush, even better is any nut brittle! give it a bash in a plastic bag with a rolling pin and scatter the shards on top
• for serious decadence you could dust some gold leaf which is now available in many supermarkets at a price of course!
• you can also serve these with a nice shortbread biscuit for dipping or those sugar roll biscuits otherwise known as 'tuiles' in the trade
• if you are adventurous and dexterous with a chefs 'blow torch' then leave out the cream but top with some mini marshmallows and toast with your blow torch......yum!