Petit pots de crème

I'd seen recipes for Petit pots de crème on other sites, but they all seemed to require gelatine, and that just seemed wrong to me. I didn't know why, until I saw Laura's version, which I've slightly modified (of course) - just egg yolk, cream and chocolate... more or less. When I first made these it was for my Ben and my niece Isabelle, and they ate two each, enjoying the rich flavours, but after a full meal, then gorging on this unctuous, fatty chocolate, they felt sick afterwards. Oddly enough, I felt fine! Everything in moderation... even moderation.

NOTE: You may be tempted to use more than 4 oz of chocolate. Be forewarned that more chocolate will make a more dense pudding. The ratio of ingredients in the recipe below ensures a smooth, creamy pudding with loads of chocolate flavour.

(makes 6)

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

4 oz. chocolate (70%)

6 egg yolks

3 Tbsp. sugar (optional)

1. Heat the oven to 325F
2. Heat the cream, milk, vanilla and sugar, remove from heat just before it boils. Set aside to cool a bit.
3. Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie.
4. Whisk the yolks a bit. To avoid making scrambled eggs, slowly drizzle the hot melted chocolate into the yolk while whisking vigorously. When you've added all the chocolate, it will be thick. Whisk in a bit of the cream at first - it's quicker and easier this way, and you'll be sure that the yolk/chocolate mixture is well diluted into the cream.
5. Scoop off any froth, then strain to get rid of any particles, to have a smooth texture.
6. Pour into 6 ramekins and bake in a bain-marie until set at the edges, but slightly jiggly still in the centre, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Chocolate has a tendency to absorb flavours, so wrap the ramekins and refrigerate several hours before serving.