Strawberry Mousse Chiffon Cake - Brought to you from the mystical lands of Atlanta!

Chiffon sounds interesting right? I bet it was the only reason why clicked this link. Well sorry to disappoint you but, a chiffon cake is nothing but a sponge cake in French. Disappointing right…wait, I bet you don’t even know how to make a sponge cake. Hypocritess ;) This cake is light and fluffy, layered with my Five-Second Strawberry Mousse, and covered with whipped cream. For the holidays I flew to Atlanta to see how the great bakers there bake their cakes, and to also share this delicious chow-fection to the entire world (otherwise known as the 5 people who have visted this blog and my immediate family). The recipe demonstrated in this blogpost is none other than of famous Chinese chef, Victor Hsu, also known as my uncle, and also referred to as “who is that guy?” Well you would be right, he is a nobody, but there’s one thing he is known for, Chiffon Cakes. After smuggling from Taiwan the secrets to making perfectly light, fluffy chiffon, he perfected it with his own mad scientific flair. Littered below are his many pro tips on how to make a perfect chiffon cake that will surely impress your relatives and friends this holiday season. So without two twists of a peacock’s feathers let’s get bakin’ so we can get cakin’.

Uncle Vic begins his recipe by weighing out his dry and wet ingredients. For me I don't have a digital scale, or any scale for that matter, so in the recipe below I converted all the measurements to volume, however a part of me agrees that weight measurements would be more precise. Once your mise en place is complete we can begin to mix the meringue for the cake. The thing with a chiffon cake is that it doesn't have baking soda nor baking powder in the batter. For a cake to rise you need one of the two components, a mechanical leavener, or a chemical leavener. Usually in cakes and cookies we add baking soda or powder, these are called chemical leaveners. When they are baked they cause a chemical reaction in the batter that rises the cake. In things like puff pastry, or chiffon cake there are certain components in the dessert that cause it to rise. In puff pastry it is because of all the layers of fat and flour that expand when they're stack on top of each other. In chiffon cakes the air pockets in the meringue expand with steam causing the cake to rise. These are called mechanical leaveners. 

To make the meringue we will begin to whip our egg whites. Gradually add in 7 tablespoons of sugar when the whites are frothy and continue to beat until they reach stiff peaks. Just look at the picture. Set the bowl aside so we can make the base of our cake. 

Whisk egg yolks and sugar until they are ribbon-like and pale. This is called blanchiring and it will make sure that our batter is smooth and lump free. Add the juice of about a quarter of a lemon to brighten the cake and lemon zest to showcase that lemon flavor. You could also use a teaspoon of lemon extract if fresh lemons are not in season. Drizzle in veggie oil to ensure that the cake is moist and tender. Add in the water. As you all know water and oil do not combine. If you're batter looks like it's split do not be alarmed, once we add in the dry ingredients everything will mix perfectly. In a separate bowl I want you to combine milk powder, cake flour, and salt until it is lump-free and add it into the cake. 

Stir till it is just combined. We don’t want to over work this, especially when we add in the meringue. You worked so hard for those delicate air bubbles in the meringue, take some care when you go through these final steps. The cake will continue to mix as we fold in the meringue so keep that in mind while you think about over mixing the cake. Begin by taking a third of the egg whites and mixing it into the batter. This helps to loosen the batter before we fold in the rest of the whites. Now comes the handiwork. Gently, gently fold in the meringue scraping from the bottom of the bowl around to the top, letting the bottom batter drop onto the top batter. Continue until almost all of the whites have disappeared. 

If you haven’t before, preheat the oven to 360. Lightly grease an 8x8 spring form pan and pour the batter in. Tap the cake on your countertop to release the bubbles trapped under the surface. This also makes sure that your cake rises evenly and the batter touches all of the corners of the pan. Bake the cake for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out cleanly. 

Uncle Vic taught me a pro tip that he learned in Taiwan. To defend against deflated and or concaved centers, while the cake is cooling flip it over on a wire rack. Because the cooler denser air surrounding the cake is much heavier than the hot airy cake center of the Chiffon, these types of cakes are notorious for their crater-like centers. By flipping the cake over you prevent gravity from making you look like a fool when you go to serve. But it probably won’t even matter because we'll be covering this entire cake with whipped cream anyways so who would know. You know what, you would know, and so would I, so don’t forget this critical step. Let it cool completely before you unmold it. The best would be overnight in the fridge. 

This cake is thick enough to slice into three layers. I suggest getting one of these turntables for perfect slicing and decorating. Even if you’re like me and cannot decorate for your life, it still makes it a lot easier to mess up your cake faster. So using a serrated knife go around the cake to make sure you have straight level layers. Once you are positive that every layer is perfect go ahead and color in the picture. For some reason slicing a cake reminds of those simpler days when I used spend my days in coloring books. Like for example...two days ago when I was scribbling in my favorite Toy Story coloring book, I first outlined Woody’s shoes before fully coloring inside the picture. It’s the same way with a cake, you have to outline before you cut. I'm not sure if you get the analogy but you get the idea. Now it's time to make the strawberry mousse.

This is my Five Second Strawberry Mousse. The first step is going to the store and buying a can of strawberry topping. You can find this in the pie filling aisle. Normally I wouldnt use this stuff but I think for something like this, where you've just baked an entire cake, this would be a necessary shortcut. The second step is using some of this non-dairy whip topping. 

It's similar to a cool whip except in liquid form. Actually if you could buy real heavy cream and make your own whipped cream, but this is all we had and it’s like ten times cheaper. Whip until stiff peaks, and fold in your strawberry topping. Use as much strawberry topping as you want, or until its to the color you want. If you're feeling daring, you could add fresh strawberries to the mix to cut that richness. And that's done! Now you can layer your cake. 

Take the bottom layer and spread on enough strawberry mousse to barely touch the edge. Remember when you stack up the layers the weight is going to squeeze some of the mousse to the edges so only spread the mousse barely to the edge. Repeat with the next layer. When you go to stack up the final layer flip the layer upside down so it has that professional inverted shape. Cover with regular white topping. You can use cool whip, whipped cream, frosting, or any like thing you can think of. Be creative, this cake is all up to the limits of your imagination. You can sprinkle on nuts or garnish with strawberries, even drizzle with chocolate. And you don’t have to layer it with strawberry mousse, you can make whatever filling you wanted. Like I said think outside of the box and let your wildest dreams run loose. After all if it taste terrible just drop it on the potluck table at your next get together and no one will even say a word. 

But that is it for this chow-fection. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or hannakuh, I hope I spelled that right, I’m sure there are like 20 different spellings of that holiday. Anyways I hope you make this cake for New Years, and from the bottom of our Chowfectionary Studios family (me, myself, and I), I want to wish you all a happy, wonder-filled new years. And as always, 

Chow!

Recipe

Lemon Chiffon Cake

3/4 cup of cake flour
5 egg whites
4 egg yolks
4 1/2 tablespoon of milk powder
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
9 tablespoons of granulated sugar divided 
1/4 cup of water
1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
a couple tablespoons of lemon juice
the zest of half a lemon

Five-Second Strawberry Mousse
1 cup of whipped topping
1/4 cup or so of strawberry topping

Whipped Topping for outside slathering
Nuts, berries, or other accompaniments are welcomed

You Might Like:

Roasted Strawberry Tart
Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Non Dairy Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

Chocolate Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake - A Little Booze Never Hurt Anyone

My Photoshoping skills couldn't make up for the fact that I waited way too late to take this picture.

Happy Day After Black Friday I hope ya'll had a wonderful holiday but, it's time to get back to work. Toiling away in the kitchen, testing recipes and writing blogs. I know, such a tough life. I can't complain though if I get to eat cakes like this after; so let's dispense with the cordial banter and get started. 

I'm not saying I'm an alcoholic but, every chance that presents itself I have to take advantage of it. Sometimes I even play a game where I see how much booze I can slip into a dessert without someone noticing. I'm not sure if I won or lost, I can't really remember anything after that. But that's not the point seeing that this blog is about cooking and not about my personal life. 

After foraging through all of my cookbooks I couldn't find a decent cheesecake recipe that ticked all my boxes. Naturally I decided to create my own, knowingly winning over my mom by adding her favorite Bailey's Irish Cream. But then I felt guilty so I made a chocolate mousse to satisfy my dad. This gave birth to a new Post-Black Friday Chow inspired chow-fection. 

Take 3 tablespoons of butter and the cream cheese out to soften. You don't need to do what I did and leave the whole thing out. We'll use them later. So to start we're going to blind bake our chocolate graham cracker crust. When a recipe calls to blind bake something it means to bake without the filling. In your mini food processor pulse together the crackers, the sugar, your melted butter, salt, and cocoa powder. All you want is the mixture to resemble wet crumbs and when you press them together they slightly hold their shape. 

Grease a 9x9 inch pan, I used a spring-form but you are welcome to use any form of pan you want. A very helpful tip I learned is not to throw away the wrapper from your butter. There's always some grease stuck to the paper and you can use that to oil your pan. Dump the crumbs and using your knuckles or the back of spoon, pack the crumbs into one even layer. Bake in the middle of the oven at 400, uncovered, for 6-9 minutes, or until the edges are golden. Although mine tasted good I would have liked a more a chocolatey flavor. So keep in mind that the picture does not represent what yours might look like. In the recipe below I adjusted the measurements. Let it cool. I threw mine in the freezer.. 

Now, while the crust is cooling we can make the cheesecake. Because we had just come back from our holiday shopping I was really tired so I used a hand mixer, but you could totally make this without. Whip the heavy cream and the sugar until it reaches stiff peaks. Reserve that in a separate bowl. Combine the vanilla and eggs and beat until pale and smooth.

Where'd you come from Mickey?

Add 4 tablespoons of brown sugar. This will add a richness that you won't get with white sugar. Your butter and cream cheese should be super soft by now. Cream the cheese and the butter into the mixture until it's nice and smooth. Now it's time to add in the secret ingredient. Well not that secret seeing that it's in the title but anyways add the booze. I really love the flavor and the richness the Irish cream adds to this dish, plus I think it's a delicious variation to the standard plain cheesecake. Lastly toss in 2 tablespoons of instant coffee. I'm sure you knew that coffee and chocolate work good together, but did you know that coffee and Bailey's do as well. So due to the transitive property of equality the three must all work wonders together. Don't give me that look you learned that in 6th grade Trigonometry. 

Fold the reserved whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and pour onto the crust. Place the cheesecake in a pan tall enough to pour water halfway up the side. Instead of pouring the water in and then moving it to the oven. I put the pan on the oven rack and then pour the water in. It's much easier that way. Turn the oven down to 325 and bake the cheesecake for 45-55 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown but the center jiggles. 

In the meantime let's make the chocolate mousse. In a saucepan separate 4 yolks and add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 3/4 of a cup of heavy cream. Stir this on medium low or until it can coat the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture to ensure that you're left with a smooth mousse and transfer it back onto the stove to melt the chocolate. I just used the regular, semi sweet chocolate chips that you can find at Costco. Of course you could use good, expensive chocolate, in fact I debated to, but I wanted to make this recipe as accessible as possible to everyone. Turn the heat on low and toss the chocolate in. The residual heat should be enough to slowly melt the chocolate. Also throw in 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Because the cacao levels in the chocolate aren't very high, the cocoa powder will give the chocolate a deeper, chocolatey flavor. Add in the tiniest bit of vanilla and two tablespoons of Bailey's. We're not done yet. Take the rest of the heavy cream (1 1/4 cups) and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Whisk this until stiff peaks, just like what we did with the cheesecake. To make this a mousse we need to fold in our whipped cream. Take the first third of cream and stir that in, just to loosen the mixture. After that you need to be careful not to pop the air bubbles. Fold it until you cannot see any streaks of white. Refrigerate until cold. It should be slightly thick but once it cools it'll thicken even more. When everything is chilled, about twenty minutes, top the cake with the mousse. Fridge again.

I made the fatal mistake of waiting until dark to take these pictures so keep in mind that this looks way better in person.


When everyone is ready to eat, unmold the pan and serve. 
The smooth mousse rolls into the light rich cheesecake and the chocolate crust provides that crunch that the cake needs. Not only can you taste the coffee and the chocolate, two combinations that work so well together, but the Bailey's flavor runs throughout. Trust me all your friends will go crazy over this. Thanks for joining me on another chow-fectionary creation. And as always, 

Chow!


Recipe

For the Crust
1 1/2 sleeves of graham crackers
1/2 tablespoon of  white sugar
2 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tablespoon of butter
pinch of salt

For the Cheesecake
1 cup of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of white sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of softened butter
3 cups of softened cream cheese
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream
1 1/2 tablespoons of instant coffee granules or 1 1/2 tablespoons of strong coffee

For the Chocolate Mousse
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons of white sugar--divided
2 cups heavy cream--divided
1 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips--a.k.a 8 ounces of chocolate
2 tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

You Might Like:

Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Churro Balls
The Best Zucchini Bread 

Spiced Caramel Swirled Ice Cream

This Thanksgiving I'll be showing you how to make your own ice cream. That's right! But now just any ice cream, a Spiced Caramel Ice Cream. Once you go Cold and Creamy you won't go back! Not only is this ice cream easy to make, but it costs a billion times less than in the supermarkets (statistics not to scale). 

I spiked this classic creamy vanilla ice cream with autumn spices and smooth thick caramel. You'll be kicking yourself in the head why you ever purchased store bought caramel in the past after you try this recipe. And by the way, to anyone reading this blog it's not carmels. Never pronounce caramel carmel, there's an extra letter after the r. You know what happens when you leave off an extra letter, your dessert becomes a desert. 

Now for me, I prefer an American style  ice cream. This style is definitely not as rich as a French Style with egg yolks, but who needs the calories. I think the heavy cream is plenty enough rich but mostly I think the egg yolks mask any flavoring you want to add. Some people also like to do a combination of cream and milk. Call me indulgent, or lazy but only cream for me please. How it works is the less water that is in your base, milk i.e., the less ice crystals are in your finished product, which means a creamier ice cream. You should experiment with different proportions of dairy to find your "perfect scoop", or just copy me, whatever you want. But if you do copy me you have to pay a 5 dollars patent use. :)

So to start this ice cream off we need to put our ice cream bowl in the freezer. I'm using a hamilton beach model but a cuisinart would really be best. Now you know what to give me for Christmas--hint, hint. For all of those readers who also have a small ice cream maker bowl just do two batches like I did. 

So now that we got that squared away we can begin the cooking, which will totally only take you five minutes. Begin by taking your cream and your vanilla extract and bring that to a rolling boil. 

Combine the ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon together. Don't do what I did in the picture, the spices did not mix with the cold cream. Something about cinnamon and other spices that are hydrophobic, I don't know, I didn't listen much in science class. But anyways learn from my mistake and add 2/3 of your spices after your cream has come to a boil. Reserve a pinch of the spice mix for the caramel.

It might not look like it's combining but keep stirring and most of it will work itself in. If you are worried that your spices aren't combining well with the cream don't be. Even my batch turned out great and I'm as smart as a doorknob. When we put this in the machine all those spices will evenly distribute and you'll be left with nice little specks of cinnamon and ginger. With your spices you are going to add the sugar and the salt. Salt is very important to balance out the sugar and bring out the spices so please don't forget to add that. Once you have thoroughly combined the flavorings throw it in the refrigerator cool slightly. And by the way please do not literally throw your mixture in the fridge, you'll just make a mess and a fool out of yourself. 

At this point you can set up your machine. Take the bowl out of the freezer, which should be ice cold because you left it in there overnight, don't try to cut corners or else your cream will never ice. After twenty minutes take out the ice cream from the refrigerator  You should have a yellowy film of spice and cream on top of the mixture, just stir that back in. Pour it in the machine, turn it on, and get your caramel started. 

To be forewarned if you are clumsy or have parkinsons please do not make this sauce, have the ones who you care about less like the kids or your little brother make it for you instead. Also in an effort to clean as little dishes as possible, use the same pot you used to make the ice cream in--we want to work smart, not hard.

Pour in the sugar and a teaspoon of water-- the water is just to start the melting process. Whenever I make caramel I always go through the same process. 

I look at it.












I wonder what I did wrong.
I get sad. 

I get optimistic. 
I burn it.
I start over. I didn't want to show you the pictures where I burned it.
But I eventually succeed.
Cook the sugar on medium high until it turns a light amber color which will take about 3 minutes, just look at the picture. At this point shut of the flame and wait a couple seconds. I just stare at it. It'll continue to get darker from the residual heat. Once you think it is the right color get ready, you know what caramel looks like. Be very careful. Throw in your chunk of butter and stir it in with a long wooden spoon--a freakishly long chopstick will do great. Because the sugar is so molten hot it's going to make the butter very mad. After the butter has melted in add your cream. Keep in mind that the sugar does not like cream either. 

Add in a pinch of the remainder spice mix that we used for the ice cream, and throw in a generous pinch of salt--I used sea salt. You know how good salted caramel tastes, so be generous with the salt. 

Oh wow, doesn't that sauce look so sexy. I just want to lick it off the bowl and swirl my finger in it all day--sorry i was getting a little pg 13. 

You might think it looks a little thin but it'll thicken up when it gets cool. Once it is sufficiently cooled, with the mixer running, drizzle in the caramel into the ice cream. Stop once the caramel has swirled. You should have caramel to spare. If your ice cream maker only works with the lid on, swirl in your caramel with a toothpick.   

Freeze the ice cream in a container and serve with whatever toppings you want. Scroll down below for all the ingredients, and as always, 

Chow!

For the Ice Cream

3 cups of heavy cream
3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 tablespoon of ground ginger
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
pinch of salt

For the Salted Caramel

1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of water
3 tablespoons of butter
1/4 of heavy cream
And sea salt

You Might Like:

Dairy Free Strawberry Banana Ice Cream
Mini Blueberry Tarts
Faux Macaroons

  

Lemon Chess Pie - Checkmate!

Don't be discouraged, you don't need to be a grandmaster to make this pie. Oh, look at how the sun glistens on that custard...sorry i got a little distracted.

Chess pie is a classic Southern dessert, basically a custard in a pie crust. The origin of the name is not clear, but some people think it's because of an old custom of calling custard "cheese". Imagine a southern grandma saying cheese really fast blindfolded, it'll sound close enough. Anyways it's not about the name it's about the taste. But before i go along with the baking a hats off to Angie Mosier whose recipe I adapted this from.

For the crust:

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, in cubes
1/4 cup plus 1/2 a tablespoon of chilled vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons ice water


Custard:

4 eggs
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon white cornmeal ( it's just for binding and some extra flavor, substitute with 1 tablespoon of flour)
1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 tablespoons of butter, melted
1/2 cup of buttermilk
1/3 fresh lemon juice
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

One kitchen tool that I use the least often is the food processor. I feel it has it's place in a kitchen, but for me it seems more practical to do things the old-fashioned way, plus it's just a hassle to wash. So instead of pulsing this in a food processor, I'm going to use a pastry blender. For those of you that aren't familiar with this kitchen tool this is what it looks like. And I took the power and energy to scour the internet to find you the best deal on one so there'll be a link at the bottom of the post. 

As therapeutic as cutting butter into flour is, it also makes for b-e-a-u-tiful crust, like me on Google+ if you know which movie that's from. So to do this we are just going to combine the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. And you're going to hear me say this a million times over, but your butter has to be cold. I'm not sure the scientific reason as to why, but all I know is that if your butter melts, the dough will be one single unit, which means no layers. If your butter is cold it can't melt into the flour creating a flakier, crispier crust.Take your cold butter, and cold shortening out of the freezer and start cutting it up with that pastry blender. Once your butter and flour mixture resembles small peas, or coarse sand, drizzle in your water and mix with your hands. You're hands were going to get dirty anyways so stop complaining. And if you were thinking to yourself about skipping the water because you thought a couple tablespoons wouldn't change a thing I think it's time we part our separate ways. You will see once you add that ice water, again it has to be cold, your dough will start coming together. And right now is as a good as any time, (well not anytime 'cause we're trying to work quickly), to pat this into a disk and wrap it in plastic to chill. 

Read a book, watch your DVR list, do those chores that you promised to do a week ago, because it's just a waiting game now. If you couldn't think of anything to do because you forgot to have a life, clean out your oven, you know the thing you store all your brand-new baking equipment in, and preheat it to 350. I'm not judging I'm simply stating to facts.

So by now your dough should be sufficiently chilled so on a floured work surface carefully roll out the pastry to a 14 inch round. Ever so gently transfer it to a 9 inch pie or tart tin, and decoratively crimp the edges to your liking. No one likes a perfectionist in the kitchen so what ever crimp style you concoct just stand behind. And just by the way I said "No one likes a perfectionist in the kitchen", and I emphasize that because without perfectionists the environmentalists would be mad about all the rocket shrapnel in the ocean. But back to the cooking, the last step before the baking is to freeze the pie shell for about 5 minutes, or until it is just chilled. 

Line the pastry with parchment paper and pie weights and bake for 20 minutes, until nearly set. Some tips on this step would be to remember to completely cover the dough. We don't want to see much color because later we are going to be baking it again. Also instead of going at and spending money on pie weights, just fill the pie tin with baking beans and reuse. Once you finished the first baking, pour out the beans uncover the parchment and bake again for five minutes. It should have any color but now it should be set. 

Now if you were smart, while your pie was baking you made your filling, and it's just as easy mixing. First whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Then add all of the ingredients together and in one fell swoop whisk until smooth. 

Pour the filling into the warm pie shell. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the custard is golden brown, and nearly set but still quite jiggly. Don't worry it'll harden up in the oven. Oh and a reminder, half-way through cover the edges of the pie crust with tin foil so they don't get to dark.

This pie should be eaten cold, your patience will be rewarded. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a smile. 

To buy a Pastry Blender click the link below
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/stainless-steel-pastry-blender/

Welcome to Chow-fectionary Creations

Hello Foodies, or Non-Foodies around the world (I don't judge). Welcome to Chow-fectionary Creations! As egotistical as it seems, it's because my last name is Chow, I thought it was pretty ingenious. At this blogpost I'll share with you my favorite desserts, tips, and tricks that are sure to impress your friends, family, and yourself. But let's dispense with the formalities and get on with cooking!

Because we're heading into the fuzzy slippers and pajamas season, I thought I would use that as an excuse to make one of my all time favorite desserts. Chocolate Creme Brulee! That's right and if you don't know what a creme brulee is then you have no life. I'm just joking...but seriously. Creme Brulee is a decadent custard topped with that crackly sugar, just to die for. And you know adding chocolate to it is just gonna make you die twice. I adapted this recipe from my Julia Child's Recipe Book that my grandfather gave to me and this dish is kind of like my homage to him, love you Aagong. Of course this dish did not have any chocolate in Julia's version, but we had to up the ante on 101. And I have to say it was delicious.

Here are the ingredients to get you started.
4 egg yolks
5 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
1/4 cup of Unsweetened Cacao Powder (I use Rockwell)
1 3/4 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Vanilla Bean
Brown or White Sugar for topping

So to start beat the egg yolks with the 5 tablespoons of sugar for about 3 minutes, until ribbon form. Then beat in the cornstarch for another minute.

In medium saucepan over medium-low heat, and bring the heavy cream and scraped vanilla bean (you can even throw the whole pod in there as well) to a boil.

Take a ladle of cream and pour it into the eggs whisking all the while to temper the eggs. This means to slowly bring the eggs up to temperature so they don't curdle. One you have incorporated half of the cream through this process you can go ahead and pour all of the eggs into the saucepan.

Over moderate heat, watching very closely, and never allow it to simmer. Stir constantly. The sauce will thicken as it cooks – but do not let it unattended because it will burn. At this poit you can go ahead and add the chocolate. We do this step last so the chocolate doesn't get a chance to burn. And no one likes burnt chocolate. NOBODY!!! A trick you know it's done is that it should be thick enough to coat the back of your spoon.

Pour your creme into ramekins of your preference and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Sprinkle with sugar and use your torch to crystallize it, or, alternatively, place in a preheated broiler for about 5 minutes. The second one is safer. Top with fresh fruit and whipped cream or if you like dust with powdered sugar and cocoa. As you know coffee is a naturally flavor enhancer of chocolate so I suggest you pair this chow-fection with a nice coffee. 

And as always, 

Chow!