Bittersweet Chocolate Custard (Baked Custard)

Decadent chocolate dessert with only 20 minutes of prep time? I had to try this one. I roped Eliza and Tessa into helping me, which was not too hard when they saw me take out the bag of chocolate chips. The recipe calls for 3/4 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, so I let them decide how many we needed; obviously, they went for the maximum amount. Once we poured the milk and chocolate in the pan, Eliza stirred it while it heated on the stove.


I should have gone with my instinct and used the stick blender to mix everything together in the pan I'd used for the milk and chocolate. I decided to follow the directions, though, and give the food processor a try. The recipe mentioned "wayward clumps of chocolate" that needed scraping down. This worried me. Would I see them on the side of the pan? I hated the thought of losing even a little bit of chocolaty goodness. Besides, the girls love to start and stop the Cuisinart, and I needed to keep my helpers happy. When I added the milk and chocolate mixture to the additional ingredients waiting in the food processor's bowl, the liquid started flowing out through the center hole where the blade sits. Eliza noticed it before I did and saved us from losing more of the mixture than we might have. I poured everything back into the empty pot and used the stick blender to whip the ingredients into a froth.


I don't have custard cups, so I baked the custard in ovenproof tea cups. At 45 minutes, they jiggled slightly in the center, but they looked pretty solid, so I took them out to cool. Aside from a bubbly-top (I think I will strain the liquid before pouring it into the cups next time), the custard had a smooth and creamy texture. It tasted great, too, but I had hoped for a more chocolaty flavor. I don't know how much chocolate spilled out of the food processor when disaster struck, so I'll just have to try it again. Darn.