Recipe: Dark Chocolate Cream

Preparing a "crème pâtissiere" (pastry cream):

Put a spoonful of water in a saucepan so that the milk will not stick to the bttom of the pan, boil the milk with the vanilla pod cut in half. Keep a whisk at hand in order to keep the milk from spilling.

During this time whisk the egg yolks and the sugar together until the mixture becomes a light yellow, then add the flour and mix well.

When the milk starts to boil, remove the vanilla pod halves and pour 1/3 of the milk into the egg/sugar/flour mixture. Blend well using a whisk, put everything back in the saucepan, making sure you keep stirring. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it boil for 2 min. Remove from the heat and pour the cream into a large bowl.

Add the cocoa powder mixing properly until it is well blended.

Crush the hazelnuts using the back of a pan. Grill these haazelnuts in a frying pan, using no fat. This will make them brown. You may then add 1 spoonful of sugar. Mix well until your hazelnuts have caramelized, then take them aside and separate them from each other.

Leave your chocolate cream to cool sprinkling some icing sugar over the tôp so that no crust will form.

When the cream has cooled down, add the hazelnuts and mix slowly.

Composition:

Sink the finger biscuits halfway into the cream all around the bowl. Each guest will take some (or a lot of) chocolate cream using a finger biscuit� This has to be the greatest dessert�

Ps: We never like to mention any brands in our recipes but Van Houten cocoa powder is really unique, so there!!!