I'm cooking for my father, who likes creme brulee and also likes
chocolate truffles, (Specifically, Cocoa Powder Dusted Truffles by
Truffettes de France.) and I'm trying to figure out a way to "combine"
the two.

Here's what I'm envisioning: Crème brûlée that is made the regular
way, but somehow top it with a layer of chocolate, then chill it.
When I remove the crème from the ramekin I'd then flip it, so that the
chocolate is now sitting on the bottom of the custard. Then of course
I'd torch the sugar on top, top with a single chocolate truffle, and
perhaps spoon a chocolate sauce of some sort around the custard on the
plate.

So here's my question: what sort of chocolate (recipe) would work to
achieve the above? Would mousse be too light, and get squashed by
the weight of the custard once flipped? Or is there some way of
getting that layer of chocolate to be a bit stronger than the
custard? Would just straight up melted chocolate pored into the top
of the ramekin work, letting it harden in the fridge?

And my second question: what sort of chocolate sauce do you think
would work nicely spooned around the perimeter of the dish?

(I executed Gordon Ramsay's Roasted Rhubard Crème brûlée dish and it
turned out quite well, so I had the inspiration to replace the rhubard
with chocolate and instead of jus de fraise, use chocolate. In case
anyone's wondering.)

Any suggestions or recommendations much appreciated!

"Chef Adrien" > wrote in message
...
>I'm cooking for my father, who likes creme brulee and also likes
>chocolate truffles, (Specifically, Cocoa Powder Dusted Truffles by
>Truffettes de France.) and I'm trying to figure out a way to "combine"
>the two.

Creme brulee is about my favorite dessert, and I am a chocolatier.

I wouldn't combine them.

In my view, good creme brulee depends on a delicate flavor and perfect
consistency, both of which are spoiled by adding extraneous stuff.

You can serve them side by side.

If you want to mimic the flavors in a composed-type dessert, I'd make a good
vanilla mousse and a good dark bitter chocolate mousse, and layer them in a
chocolate shell/band or glass, and top just before serving with some shards
of croquant or plain caramel (the hard glossy kind you make yourself and
grind up to add to other things). I'd probably go 3/4 vanilla to 1/4
chocolate, so as not to kill the vanilla flavor.

Chef Adrien > wrote:

> Here's what I'm envisioning: Cr??me br??l??e that is made the regular
> way, but somehow top it with a layer of chocolate, then chill it.
> When I remove the cr??me from the ramekin I'd then flip it, so that the
> chocolate is now sitting on the bottom of the custard. Then of course
> I'd torch the sugar on top, top with a single chocolate truffle, and
> perhaps spoon a chocolate sauce of some sort around the custard on the
> plate.

Sounds like a lot of work to ruin creme brulee. The genius of creme
brulee is its simplicity. Just my opinion, of course.

I would serve a simple creme brulee in the ramekin with a truffle
on the side.

> And my second question: what sort of chocolate sauce do you think
> would work nicely spooned around the perimeter of the dish?

If you must, a basic ganache made on the thin side would be the
way to go, I think.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.