Chocolate Crémeux

Chocolate crémeux, or crémeux au chocolat, is the perfect dessert for Valentine's day, date night or just to spoil yourself.

Rich, creamy and totally delicious, this is a homemade custard, flavoured with Baileys, and mixed with dark chocolate for a truly decadent dessert.

It's perfect if you want to get ahead and make it in advance, and lasts for a few days in the fridge, (but it won't!)

If you like chocolate mousse, you will love this recipe.

Bon appétit!   

Jump to:

• 🤔 FAQS
• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 EquipmentGrater
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️Cooking Time
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🤔 FAQS

Dipping your spoon into this dessert is a very decadent affair. It's extremely creamy, chocolatey but not overly sweet. It's definitely one to make for the chocoholics in your life.

However, if you are on your own, or your other half isn't keen on desserts, (my husband isn't), this is the perfect dessert as it makes 4 delicious portions that you can even freeze for later.

You can even use this for filling sweet tart shells or icing a cake too.

❤️ Why you will love this dish

• Make in advance.
• Perfect idea for entertaining.
• Vary the flavours easily.
• Serve with fruit or biscuits or just on it's own.

💙 Save this recipe for later

Did you know? When you see the 💙 on the right hand side you can bookmark this page, to save it for later or share it too.

🥘 Ingredients

• Cream - double or heavy cream.
• Sugar - caster sugar.
• Milk - normally whole milk is used, however, I used semi skimmed and it makes no difference to the taste or texture.
• Baileys - or other Irish cream liqueur, or leave it out and add the same amount of milk instead. A standard ration would be the same amount of milk and cream.
• Egg - free range egg yolks.
• Chocolate - for the best flavour use chocolate which is around 75% cocoa. 85% is far too bitter. Obviously, the lower the percentage of cocoa solide, the less flavour will be in the dessert.

💭 Top Tip

• I normally store my eggs at room temperature, but if you put your eggs in the fridge for an hour or so before you are ready to use them, then they will be easier to separate.
• Separate each egg putting the yolk and whites in separate bowls, using the half shell or your hand to let the egg white drain away. This makes it easier in case you come across a bad egg without wasting the rest.
• If you don't need the egg whites straightaway they can be frozen. The easiest way is to pour them into a small container or ice cube tray, then transfer into another container when frozen. They will keep for up to 12 months.
• Eggs whites are often used in cakes. Try  Nutella Chocolate Meringues, Gluten Free Friands , Almond Financiers, or how about Macarons?

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 EquipmentGrater

• grater
• 2 mixing bowls
• saucepan
• wooden spoon
• 4 ramekins or small bowls
• whisk

🔪 Instructions

Finely chop the chocolate or use the coarse side of a box grater, then chop any remaining pieces.

This is important to make sure that the chocolate melts in the hot cream without further heating.

Place the chocolate in a large bowl.

Put the egg yolks and sugar in another mixing bowl and whisk together for a minute until foamy.

⏲️Cooking Time

Add the cream and milk to a saucepan and place over a low to medium heat.

Bring to a simmer then turn off the heat. Leave to cool for a minute.

Pour the hot milk mixture slowly onto the egg yolks, whisking continuously until combined.

Start with a small amount. This helps to temper the mixture so that the eggs don't cook too quickly and turnto scrambled eggs.

Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan over a low heat.

Stir continuously for about 5 minutes until the custard has thickened.

💭 Top Tip

• The custard will be thick enough when it coat the back of the wooden spoon. You can check this by dipping in the spoon then drawing a horizontal line in the custard with your finger. If it stays clean then the custard is thick enough.
• Alternatively, use a thermometer to check. The custard will be ready when the temperature reaches between 82 - 84 degrees C or 180 - 184 F.

Remove the custard from the heat and pour over the chopped chocolate.

Leave the mixture for a few minutes then stir to combine.

The chocolate crémeux should be smooth and silky.

Transfer to ramekins and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before eating.

This makes sure that the chocolate flavour is at its best.

🥗 Side Dishes

Serve this chocolate dessert on its own or with a dollop of whipped or clotted cream.

Crème fraiche is a really good accompaniment as it has a slight tang that cuts through the richness.

Serve with an extra grating of chocolate and fruits such as strawberries, raspberries or peaches.

Alternatively, it is nice to serve a small portion with a small cake or biscuit with an espresso. This is known as a café gourmand. This is typically served in a restaurant as an after dinner coffee served with 3 small desserts, which are designed to counteract the bitterness of the coffee.

Try some of these ideas

• Nutella Macarons
• Chocolate Meringues
• Chocolate Mendiants
• Friands
• Sable Biscuits
• Linzer Cookies
• Viennese Finger Biscuits
• Chocolate Shortbread with Hazelnuts

🥙 Substitutions

• Caster sugar - use granulated sugar instead

📖 Variations

• Chocolate - use milk or plain chocolate if you prefer. Keep in mind that white chocolate can be unstable and the end result may be different.
• Orange - use a few drops of orange flavouring to the chopped chocolate or the zest of half an orange.
• Coffee - use 4 teaspoons of espresso powder mixed with a little hot water from a kettle and add with the chocolate.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - freeze in airtight containers for up to a month. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• Make up to 3 days in advance and store in the fridge.

Let me know what you think in the comments or you can post a picture and tag me on Twitter @chezlereve, Instagram @chezlerevefrancais, or Facebook @chezlerevefrancais

More chocolate desserts to try

• Chocolate Bavarian Cream or bavarois
• Chocolate Roulade
• Chocolate Delice
• Chocolate Marquise
• Chocolate Mousse
• Chocolate Meringues
• Chocolate Mendiants

📋 Recipe

More French desserts

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.

However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.