Heat Stable Chocolate Cremeux

A note: This cremeux has been stabilized to be heated. It takes a few tries to discover the nuances in your kitchen oven that will heat the pudding through without frying the exterior. We bake the cremeux at 325 in a convection oven for 3 minutes. The resulting cremeux retains it’s exact shape that yields to a fork, dissolving into a warm creamy chocolate pudding on the tongue.

Chocolate Cremeux

200g        milk chocolate TCHO 53%

700g        dark chocolate TCHO 84%

4g            salt

500g        cream

100g        date condiment rare tea cellar

200g        glucose liquid

300g        yolks

4sheets     gelatin soaked in ice water

800g        water

14g          agar agar

  1. Place milk and dark chocolate in a bowl. Sprinkle the salt over the chocolates. Bring a pot of water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and place the bowl of chocolate over the pot to melt. When the chocolates have melted, remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Place cream, date condiment, and liquid glucose in a medium pot, and place over medium high heat. Cook, stirring to dissolve sugars until the solution comes to a boil. Temper with the yolks and cook as a custard. When the custard has thickened, add the gelatin, stirring to dissolve. Strain into a medium bowl and set aside.
  3. Place the water in a small pot and use a hand blender to incorporate the agar agar. Bring to a full rolling boil. When the mixture comes to a boil, set the timer for 1 minute. Continue boiling for one minute to fully hydrate the agar agar.
  4. When the 1 minute timer goes off, immediately strain the agar solution into the custard, and use a hand blender to incorporate evenly.
  5. Pour the custard mixture over the chocolates and whisk until the ganache is even and smooth. Immediately pour into a half sheet pan sprayed with pan spray.. Use a c-fold to help level the pan on the counter, and let the cremeux set at room temperature until it is no longer liquid, about 20 minutes. Once the pudding is set, transfer to the refrigerator to chill completely.