Fresh Approach Cooking

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Now me, I'm fully willing to admit that some things just sound better (and so much more luxe) when spoken of in French. Oui? Oui.

Case in point: which sounds more appetizing, as a sweet something to you to cap off your dinner...Cold Chocolate Pudding or Chocolat-Orange Pots de Crème? (And on your local restaurant menu, which one do you suppose costs $4 and which costs, oh, say $14.)

See? French titles make even the most common of comfort foods seem...faboo.

And while good ol' fashioned chocolate pudding cups are among the most wonderful incarnations of all dessert-delights, there is nothing wrong with occasionally fancifiying them too, right?

So my dears, if you too are compelled to elevate this treat from everyday to...French, change the name, and make sure to use the most divine, luscious, rich and dark chocolate you can get your dainty little hands on. I mean, you are about to consume a chocolate dessert, right? So bring on the chocolate my peaches!

Now try this, and revel in it's super-yummy-fantastic-glory.


1 orange
1 1/2 cups white sugar, divided
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp finely grated orange peel
1 Tbsp Grand Marnier (or other orange flavored alcohol)
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
8 large egg yolks
6 Tbsp sugar


Using your vegetable peeler, remove the zest from your orange in long strips. Cut those strips lengthwise into 1/8-inch-wide strips.

Stir 1 cup sugar and a cup of cold water in small saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Add in the orange peel and let that simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Put the rest of the sugar cup in a small bowl. Remove your peels from the syrup and toss to coat in the sugar. Cool, tossing occasionally. This can be made a day or so ahead. I did it three hours ahead and it was fine.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Bring milk, cream and Grand Marnier, to boil a in a medium sized saucepan. Remove from that from the heat. Add chocolate and stir it until it’s all melted and smooth.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl until pale yellow. You can use a hand mixer for this too. Then go on and whisk that egg into the chocolate. Strain into a container you can pour from (I used a large measuring cup)

Pour the chocolate into eight 4-ounce ramekins.

Put them into a baking dish, then add enough water to baking dish to come halfway up sides of the ramekins. Cover that tightly with tin foil and bake until the custard is set. That should take about 45 minutes.

When they are set, remove the cups from the water/pan. Put them into your refrigerator uncovered, until cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours. Garnish with candied orange peel, and serve. They can also be served warm. Tasty!


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Authorities have unsealed a 19-count indictment that alleges wine industry entrepreneur Mark S. Anderson of setting a $200-million fire at a Northern California wine storage warehouse to cover up a scheme to steal and then sell his clients' wine, authorities announced Monday. The 2005 blaze at Wines Central, which destroyed millions of bottles of premium wine, obliterating entire wine libraries as well as some highly rated blends that had not yet been tasted by the public. Numerous boutique wineries were forced out of business when their inventory was decimated. - LA Times.com

This was kinda-sorta adapted from an recipe in Gourmet Magazine I write all my own savory recipes, but baking, well, that's a whole other story!

Kraft Handi-Snacks Pudding Cups have less than 100 calories per serving.

Labels: Dessert