Creme Brulee au Chocolat

IIngredients:

Method:

Pour both lots of cream into a bain-marie.(This is a bowl placed over a saucepan which has been filled about 1/2 way with water)

Split the vanilla pod lenght ways & scrape out the seeds. Stir the seeds into the cream and heat over a medium flame until scalding hot (approximately 50oC).

Strain the cream to remove the vanilla seeds & return to the pan.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a separate bain-marie. When melted, stir the chocolate into the cream.

Whisk up the egg yolks with the brown sugar & whisk into the chocolate - cream mixture.

Return the bain-marie to the heat and stir until the mixture thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon.

Strain the mixture into 4 ramekins or flame-proof dishes & chill for 3 hours or overnight.

When set, sprinkle the caster sugar over each dish in a fairly thick, even layer. Place under a hot grill until the sugar melts & caramelizes. Chill for another 30 minutes before serving with some almond biscuits such as Rataffia.

Do not leave the dish for too long before serving as the caramel crust begins to melt after a few hours in the refridgerator.

TIP: Instead of using a grill, an easy way to caramelize the sugar is to use a blow torch. Just make sure the kids don't try to copy this trick!