Chocolate Caramel Picnic Pudding
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, shaved
Preheat oven to 300. Arrange six 4oz jam jars or oven safe ramekins in a large roasting pan and set aside.
Place 1/2 cup sugar in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Melt sugar, swirling pan as needed, until sugar turns a molten golden caramel brown, about 3 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Slowly add the milk and 1 cup cream. The sugar will spit and harden so use caution. Add vanilla, set over low heat and simmer so that hardened sugar can now dissolve into milk.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1/4 cup sugar, egg yolks and salt until pale yellow. Bring milk mixture to a simmer and slowly add to eggs, tempering eggs first, and whisking constantly. Pass mixture through a fine sieve. Add chocolate (reserving just a tiny bit for garnish) and stir until melted. Ladle about 1/2 cup mixture into each jam jar. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to about 1 inch from top of jar. Cover roasting pan with foil and poke a few holes for steam to escape. Transfer to oven (careful of sloshing hot water) and bake until just set, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cook, uncovered, on wire rack. Chill completely in refrigerator, whip remaining cream and serve with a sprinkle of chocolate.