Chocolate Crème Caramel

I knew this caramel covered custard was going to be a hit before I made it last week.  Sometimes it is nice to get advance warning from my fellow bakers who made this recipe earlier in the month.  They all said it was fantastic and that was echoed by ALL of my tasters….even those that weren’t quite sure they would like this one.

Everyone said it looked like flan, but did not have the consistency and of course not the taste since it was chocolate.  My tasters said the custard had a mousse like quality and that the richness of the chocolate was perfect.  I used 6, 4 ounce ramekins instead of the 4, 6 ounce…mostly because that is what I had and also it works better for sharing.  I think the size worked out perfectly to hear from my tasters.  They thought it was just the right amount.

One thing I did find interesting was my caramel hardened up in the ramekins before I poured in my custard.  I was scared it would remain that way after cooking and then chilling for so long in the fridge.  You can imagine my delight as I turned this first one over and the liquid caramel flowed out over the top. 🙂

Cheesecake, Alsace Style

 

In our overview we are told that this tall cake, with its yogurt cream filling and sturdy crust is typical of Alsace, France’s easternmost region.  It is remarkably light, and just a little rich and just a little sweet.  I was instantly curious how this cake was going to taste like a cheesecake when it had no cream cheese in it at all.  🙂

This was a fun one.  It had a little bit of mystery and a little bit of adventure, which always creates excitement.  We all have the Galette dough down by now, found the golden raisins and the thick Greek yogurt…but the alcohol got me.  I was all of a sudden on a quest to find dark rum or cognac….neither of which I have or know anything about.   I hated to buy a bottle of either when we needed only a tablespoon.  Checked in with a friend and she had spiced rum….hmmm is that the same as dark rum….no idea.  Ran down to Total Wine to check out their single serving sizes to see if they had dark rum…only spiced rum….again, is that the same thing??  No idea.  Had to ask.  Apparently, according to the employee, it is the same.  Anyway, I used spiced rum…and you know what….no one claimed to even taste any rum so I guess I didn’t need to worry so much haha!

This cheesecake was very easy and, I think, very grand looking.  It is a statement dessert. I am not a cheesecake fan so I was waiting on my tasters…who are all fans and were quite interested in tasting the greek yogurt version of cheesecake.  They all LOVED it…my husband tried it first and requested I not give away ALL of it…to save him one more piece.  You see, usually I set his aside and then send the rest away with my tried and true tasters. I had a feeling everyone was going to love it and they did!

Everyone had the same reactions:

• The cheesecake is delicious! Has the cheesecake flavor but fluffier!!
• The French cheesecake was fantastic! We really liked the light texture of the cake.
• YUM!!!!  It is light, airy and yet total cheesecake flavor!!!  LOVED!!!

A side note….Some of you might be thinking…she bakes and gives it all away…why bake?  Through my 7 years of so baking and blogging with this group I have come to realize the short answer is, I just love it.  It is my creative outlet and my love language.  It has nothing to do with actually eating what I create.  It is about the success of the creation and sharing it with others. :).  Anyone else out there relate?