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Feb 09

Bailey’s Chocolate Creams

 

Bailey's Chocolate Creams3

 

 

Greetings, one and all to yet another one of my ‘quick-fix’ dessert recipes.

 

This one came about because I happened to have leftover egg yolks which I had no immediate use for. I made a big batch of Swiss buttercream today because I have to ice two birthday cakes on the weekend, and as you all know Swiss buttercream incorporates the use of meringue in the recipe. So six eggs whites and a ton of sugar later, I had myself a tub of luscious pink Swiss buttercream … first time I ever made buttercream this way. True story.

 

 

Anyway, the leftover yolks were promptly turned into a basic vanilla custard, but for some reason it tasted funny. Must be the new vanilla extract I bought from a random store ~ I bet it’s a cheap imitation. So rather than throw everything down the drain, I tried to salvage it by drowning out this odd flavour.  I took dark chocolate and some Bailey’s Irish Cream and mixed it all in. EUREKA!! It worked, and the pudding was good to go. So good in fact that I gave some away to R’s boss at the office.

 

 

It’s a great make ahead dessert with a rich velvety texture … perfect for unexpected dinner engagements. Whip it up in the morning and poof! … you have dessert by night. Valentine’s day is right round the corner too; so this would be perfect for a romantic night in accompanied by a home-cooked dinner for two. It’s still pretty chilly outside these days, so a splash of warming liquor in your special dessert would be much appreciated.

 

 

It’s been raining everyday for the past two weeks straight with no end in sight. This morning I was awoken by a brilliant flash of lightning and the ensuing clap of thunder. Storms like these are quite rare here in the Netherlands, but then again the weather has been all over the place lately. Across the channel, England has been battered relentlessly by severe storms and freakish weather for months, bringing widespread floods and power cuts. It hasn’t been a happy time for the Brits, bless them. We kinda get the remnants of this bad weather after Britain has had it’s fill. As I write this post, it is snowing heavily outside, blanketing everything in white powder. Walking the dog tomorrow is going to be fun.

 

 

 

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Weather such as this definitely calls for a stream of comfort foods to suit: soups, casseroles, slow-cooked stews and the like. However, I am starting with dessert today ~ best way to start! The ingredient list is pretty basic, which also translates to this being an economic pudding to make. Begin by getting your ingredients ready at hand: eggs, milk, sugar, cream, cornflour, butter, vanilla extract (of good quality), dark chocolate and Bailey’s Irish Cream. By the way, pour yourself a glass while you’re at it.

 

 

 

Heat the milk and cream in a non-stick pot until just before it boils.

 

 

Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks with sugar, vanilla extract and cornstarch in a clean, heat-proof mixing bowl. You are not required to whisk air into the egg mixture, but you do need to ensure the mixture is free of lumps.

 

 

Now take the milk off the heat. Add a ladleful of hot milk into the egg mixture, stirring constantly to avoid curdling. Keep adding a bit of hot milk a little at a time until everything has been added to the egg mixture.

 

 

Return the milk + egg mixture to the pot and place it back on the heat. Keep the heat on low to avoid the custard catching on the bottom and burning or forming huge lumps. Keep whisking and from this point on you MUST NOT leave the pot unattended. It will take sometime for the mixture to thicken, about 10 minutes or so.

 

 

Once the custard reaches the desired thickness, take it off the heat and immediately whisk in a knob of cold butter and the chopped up chocolate pieces. Make sure the custard comes off the heat thicker than you’d normally expect custard to be because you will be adding a healthy splash of Bailey’s. Once the Bailey’s is in, keep whisking to cool down the custard as much as possible. You can do this over an ice bath.

 

 

To keep that awful pudding skin from forming on the surface, place a sheet of cling film (plastic wrap) directly on the surface of the still-warm custard and shove it in the fridge immediately. Leave for a minimum of 8 hours (if you really cannot wait), or preferably overnight. The mixture will thicken even further as it cools and by tomorrow you will have a pot of luscious chocolate cream, albeit a little on the boozey side. Definitely not for a kids’ party.

 

 

To serve, spoon out generous dollops into chilled serving glasses and garnish accordingly. I like mine with freshly whipped Chantilly cream and grated chocolate over the top. Chocolate chip biscotti would be a nice accompaniment, so have a plate of them nearby and your guests can dunk them into the pudding ~ it’s nice having a bit of textural variety.

 

 

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 500 mls full-cream milk
  • 200 mls cream
  • 200 g dark chocolate, chopped
  • 50 g unsalted butter, cold
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 85 g white sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornflour or custard powder
  • 100 mls original Bailey’s Irish Cream (however, I think the coffee flavoured one would be nice too)

 

 

 

Bailey’s is such a lovely choice of cream-based liquor (liqueur? I can never tell) to have at the end of a meal, especially on chilly nights. Warms you right up from within. Am soooo happy to have moved halfway round the world, to Europe, where stuff like this is way cheaper compared to back home. In Malaysia there is something like a 400% tax on all alcoholic beverages, which is just absurd. It is not unusual to spend RM 400 (USD 129; € 97) on a single bottle of Absolut® Vodka or Jack Daniel’s at a club. If you buy the bottle off the shelf at a store it will still be in the realm of RM 100 and above. Anything cheaper is probably fake or smuggled goods. Which is why everyone has a habit of asking if you are going or returning from a trip overseas. The lucky person who gets you on the phone first gets to place his order, so you can pick up the bottle of choice at the airport duty free on his behalf. As a Malaysian, having a friend (or friends) in the airline business, is a smart thing to do.

 

 

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Anyway, I hope this recipe makes it to your list of things to try out, and when you do I hope to hear about it; the good, the bad and the down right ugly. Until next time then. Next week I will be sharing some sweet and savoury pancake recipes in conjunction with Shrove Tuesday & Mardi Gras week.  In the meantime, happy cooking!

 

 

 

~ Enjoy! ~

 

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4 comments

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  1. Liz

    Beautiful! This is so creamy and decadent… absolutely divine with a side of vanilla ice-cream! Great recipe, thanks 🙂

    1. bubviv

      Happy to hear that you enjoyed it. And thanks for letting me know what you thought of it.

  2. Liliana

    Viv

    This is an amazing dessert .. Rich, creamy and delicious!

    I have found that there is not much that you can’t eat this with . However it is at its best eaten straight from the jar.

    Thanks Viv .. Another tasty triumph!

    1. bubviv

      You are most welcome, Lil. Glad you liked it.

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