This is the world’s best dessert. I think I’ve been searching for it ever since I was born, and the desire to taste this kind of magnificence is what has led me to spend so many hours of my life in the kitchen.
More than anything else I love chocolate. And I really love soft, succulent, rich and melty chocolate with a high fat content and a deep, intense but sweet flavor. Before I created this dessert I always had to choose between flavor and texture, it seems I could never get the exact right combination…until now.
It is even richer than a silk pie, more luscious than a mouse, far richer than pudding, and infinitely more delicious than just plain chocolate. If chocolate had a soul, this would be it.
And the recipe couldn’t be easier.
Chocolate Pots de Creme – makes 4 servings
1 14 ounce can of full fat coconut milk
5 ounces dark chocolate, I prefer mine to be sweet, not too bitter (EDIT – I’m working on the amount of chocolate, I think there needs to be more than 5oz to create the firm, mousse like texture I’m going for. I’ll update soon!)
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
- Break the chocolate up into pieces, put it into a food processor along with the agave nectar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon – don’t process it yet! Just wait….
- Bring the coconut milk up to a simmer on the stove, and then pour it over the ingredients in the food processor
- Blend everything together until smooth and creamy, pour into ramekins or coffee cups if that is all you have, and chill for about 5 hours until firm and creamy.
* I am the world’s foremost hater of all things coconut, but coconut milk is really growing on me. It is light and fragrant and not at all coconuty. Believe me, in this dessert you can’t even taste it!
Subscribe to RSS Feed!
Thank you thank you thank you
I can not praise this dessert enough. My 14 year old daughter found this site and made this dessert. We were instantly addicted and she has made it 6 times now. First time was single batch the next times a double batch and the most recent was a triple batch. I keep giving it to people and they all instantly love it.
For those who have not tried it yet… it is a thick mousse/pudding and it melts into flavour in your mouth. Unlike flour thickened pudding this does not coat your mouth with flours usual pastiness. It’s also not heavy and over filling like other puddings.
Wonderful!
I can’t thank you enough. I also feel like I’ve been looking for this dessert all my life. I would be more then satisfied if I had had this at a restaurant!
T
Hey, I converted all your measurements to metric (I’m in Australia), & made this last night (refrigerated for 20 or so hours). Looked great, tasted delicious…but it never set properly – it was still like sludge!! Is it meant to be cocounut cream rather than coconut milk?? I did sub in dark chocolate “melts” in place of dark chocolate & saw on another website that it’s a 1:1 ratio to sub in honey (I’d love to go vegan but can’t right now, doc’s orders). Any thoughts on where I went wrong? It was super tasty so I’d LOVE to make it again & have it turn out right for my Grandma’s birthday soon!
Thanks.
I’m sorry to hear about your pots de creme, and I wish I could help! You might see my note in the recipe, that I’m working on adding more chocolate to see if that helps it set up. I don’t want to add anything like cornstarch because I like how simple the recipe is, although it might help.
While I love to cook I’m really not that knowledgeable when it comes to the right chemistry for desserts to do this or that, so I’m still working on the recipe. Sometimes when I make the pots de creme it sets right up, but then other times it stays just like a pudding – and I have no idea why! Luckily, it always tastes delicious.
I’m really sorry I can’t be of more help, if I figure it out I will definitely let you know and I promise to keep working on it!
Hi! I made this twice this weekend, and both times I used 6 ounces of chocolate instead of 5, and both times it turned out perfectly. Thank you so much for posting this recipe: my sister is not able to have dairy products right now, and this was a great way to give her a rich, sinful birthday treat.
Thank you so much, glad you liked the recipe!
One batch my daughter made stayed pudding as well. Still tasty but didn’t have that wonderful consistency. Anyway she accidentally added double the vanilla AND usually she puts in one extra chocolate square but didn’t that time.
The last two times she made it with regular amount of vanilla and the extra square of chocolate and it set perfectly.
The coconut milk we use is really thick in the can, not watery coconut milk.
T
Hmm… thanks, guys. I’d forgotten that I did actually use a touch extra chocolate like you’d suggested – about 175g (5oz = 140g, roughly). I dug another can of coconut milk out of the covered & found it was 45% coconut extract (or such), but 55% water. I guess next time I’ll try with coconut cream & let you know!
BTW – I suck at cooking, so I totally love how easy the recipe is. And so tasty, even though texture wasn’t quite right. Cheers!
When I made this, I used 1 can of coconut milk and 2 3.5 oz bars of Lindt Excellence. The first time I barely scalded the milk before mixing, and it turned pudding-like. The second time, I forgot the milk boils quickly, so some of it evaporated. The creme was more dense and firm, as opposed to luscious. Also, all coconut milks aren’t equal. Some have more of a watery consistency then a cream one.
Doesn’t matter, each way was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
I tried this tonight but I only had low fat coconut milk and chocolate chips on hand — it turned out pretty well! It was much like a chocolate mousse or pudding.
My kids (one of whom is dairy allergic) watched me make it and were dying to try it. I’m sure they’ll love it!
I’m going to put full fat coconut milk on my shopping list for next time.
Thanks for the recipe.
I’d recommend using a blender instead of a food processor unless your processor has a rubber seal at the top. Mine didn’t and I spent the last three hours cleaning up the eight foot blast radius caused when everything came out from underneath the food processor lid.
Simmering coconut milk and melted chocolate all over your hands feels really good too.
Sorry Noah! Thanks for the suggestion. Although, just keeping the food processor speed on ‘low’ will solve that problem as well.
Can’t wait to give this a try!
Stumbled upon your website. Looks delicious and can’t wait to try! Sometimes ingredients are different in other countries–what we call coconut milk is rich and creamy here in the US, but can be more of a watery consistency in other countries. That might be why the Australian lady’s version didn’t work.
Good point, Barb! Some brands of coconut milk that I find are really thin, just like water, while other brands have a rich and thick consistency. Thanks!
NO!!!!!!!!!!! You’re not supposed to tell them about the secret vegan dessert!!!Don’t you remember the the oath?You are hereby *BANNED* from the vegan clubhouse!No more dandelion salad for you…DOH!, now you have me giving away the secrets too. Bad seed! Bad seed!
hey there. this looks delish..
what’s agave nectar and would it be known as any other name? how easy is this sourced. im from nz.
thanks.
It’s the nectar from the agave plant, and a vegan alternative to honey. It is fairly easy to find it here in Saudi Arabia, but I can’t tell you how easy it will be to find where you are. Good luck.
[...] My two must have desserts lately. Peanut Butter Bombshell Ice Cream from the A la Mode e-book from Bittersweet, and my very own Chocolate Pots de Creme. [...]
recently bought my first food processor (feel like a grownup for the first time! and i am 34!) and i think THIS might just be the perfect recipe to deflorate it! it sounds soooo incredibly lush and i bet it tastes perfect. i might want to twiddle with the original measurements (have to convert them to metric anyway) and i’ll post the result with a backlink on my blog!
can’t wait to taste that amazing chocolate-coconut combo!
this is the MOST AMAZING dessert recipe i have ever tried on the web!!!!!!! and one of the easier ones!! i love it!!!
Can you tell me what brand of dark choc. you used to make this?
I have used several kinds of dark chocolate to make it, whatever I can find at the store. Most varieties of high quality dark chocolate are vegan. I’ve used Endangered Species and Green and Blacks most frequently.
Just made this, waiting for it to set! Really excited
I used honey instead of agave nectar and 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips.
“I did sub in dark chocolate “melts” in place of dark chocolate…”
This might not have worked because of the way melts and real chocolate differ. The melts are more similar to white chocolate in what they’re made out of and how they function. It’s got a higher cocoa butter content or something, that’s why they melt so easily, are almost impossible to burn, and stay soft for so long. Real chocolate acts totally different, that’s why it sets so fast, is so delicate when you melt it and “flowers” (that weird white stuff when you refrigerate untempered chocolate). In a dish that needs the setting capabilities of real chocolate there is really no compromise. Hope that helped a little :/
And ps. I can’t wait to try this recipe out! Thank-you it looks fantastic!
I have made this quite a few times now and it seems that it tends to differ a few times when i make it. Most recently it has come out in a smoother creamier form that i do not find as good, but it is still delicious chocolate. When i originally made this it was thicker, more dense like and felt like thicker chocolate when you took a bite and could melt in your mouth. The last few times i have blended the chocolate and ingredients before the milk, or blended all of it together for longer, and the results were a creamy return. The first few times i made it i put everything together in a blender and mixed until chocolate was melted, and it came out denser. Any suggestions? also any idea on ways to keep a dense result but have a more light mousse likeness to it? shall be experimenting in days ahead to see how it works, thanks a ton for this recipe!
I’m excited to try this recipe, but I don’t have vanilla essence. Can I use vanilla extract?
Thanks! I’ve always used the two interchangeably so you should have no problem. Good luck!
I was turned off by the coconut until I read your note on it. Now I’m so excited to try this. It looks great!
Hello, I have been wanting to make this for a long time and I finally got around to it today.
It didn’t turn out as dense as I would like, but it tasted amazing. I did taste a hint of coconut and that’s ok… I like coconut.
I’m gonna play with this recipe in the coming weeks. I didn’t use the best quality chocolate. I’ll plan ahead a little better next time.
Oh… love the site.
Thank you so much, Chris! I’m still working on fixing the texture too. It is so strange, sometimes it comes out perfectly dense like a luscious mousse and other times it it more like a pudding. I can’t figure out why! But, no matter the texture, it is always delicious. Let me know if you figure it out!
Hi, i’m planning on making these for a posh picnic, will they be ok if made the night before and stored in the fridge over night? Has any one added a bit crumbled ginger biscuit or fruit as a surprise bottom layer, if so does it work? and last but not least has any one replaced the agave nectar with honey? did it turn out ok? sorry for lots of questions but i would like these to turn out perfect! thanks for any advice offered.
Honey will sub fine for the agave, but then it won’t be vegan. If that’s not a problem for you or your fellow picnickers then go for it! And yes, they should be fine if you store them in the fridge over night. Hope you like them!
Don’t forget, when you cook with any recipe…..your altitude counts….adjust accordingly and it should come out fine…..thickener in a pudding type recipe (can use tapioca pearls)…….
Ok, so I tried it again yesterday & had some better results than the first time. Used 400mL of coconut cream (90-something% coconut) rather than coconut milk, & it definitely set firmer…not *firm* nor mousse-y, but not liquidy like my first attempt. Very tasty!
Next time, though, I’ll use normal choc rather than melts, as Kelly suggested (thanks!). Just that I had to use the other half packet this time. Hopefully, next time it’ll be just right.
I did find that the one I poured first from the blender was foamier than the others & set the best – will try frothing even more next time.
Tasha, I do sub honey in place of agave nectar (can’t get the latter in my small town). I kind of expected it to give a grainy texture like when you put honey in the fridge – but no such problems! I added it when the coconut milk was hot & dissolved it thoroughly. Hope you had a great picnic
those look incredible, and must taste amazing
Ok, I did 3 fl oz coconut cream and 1 oz chocolate then added about 3 or 4 fl oz of soy milk and upped the spices loads. Perfect! I also crumbled up some old shortcake, put that in a big mug, poured over melted vegetable spread, then piled on the chocolate; this is really good, do it! This has been a great find for me; my friends and I are playing Come Dine With Me and I think this is going to clinch it
Come Dine with Me is my FAVORITE show ever! It comes on about a million times a day here and I watch every episode! What a fun idea to do it with friends. I’m glad you liked the recipe, your idea about the shortcake sounds delicious, I must give it a try.
I made it for a dinner party using 6 oz chocolate without having tried the recipe beforehand. It came out extremely dense – you could slice it with a knife. Although I made 7 small pots from the quantities given, it was actually too rich to eat that quantity – a bit like giving everyone 6 or more very rich, large truffles without the chocolate coating. Good try, but needs something to get some air into it, I think…
I wish I was a better cook so I could figure this recipe out once and for all! Sometimes, and for some people, it is luscious and smooth like a whipped mousse. And other times (my favorite times) it is dense and thick, just like it was for you. I can never get it to come out the same way every time. Grrr!