DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PASTRY CREAM

Double Chocolate Pastry Cream
1½ cups heavy cream

1½ cups whole milk

3/4 cups sugar

8 yolks

3 level tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon real vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla pod steeped in milk and crream)

1 cup dark bittersweet chocolate chips (I use Guittard bittersweet chocolate)

Place the 1 cup of bittersweet chocolate into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Add the cream and milk into a medium sized pot and heat until it has scalded (hot but not boiling). Separate your eggs and add the yolks to a medium sized bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla to the yolks and whisk well together, then sift the cornstarch into this egg yolk mixture. Whisk it all together again until it is well incorporated with no lumps.

Once the cream/milk is scalded, pour this gently over the egg yolk mixture and whisk it all in. make sure it is well combined and then pour the entire mixture back into the pot that previously held the milk/cream. Place the pot onto a moderate flame and begin whisking until the pudding has thickened, about 10 minutes. DO NOT let this sit on the flame unattended without whisking it continuously, as it will burn.

Once it has thickened, pour this over the bittersweet chocolate that you previously placed in a bowl. Let the custard melt the chocolate for a minute or so, and then use a spoon to stir everything together until it is well incorporated without streaks or remaining bits of chocolate.

While the custard is still warm, you must immediately cover the surface of the chocolate pastry cream with a piece of plastic so that it does not form a skin. Make sure that the plastic wrap covers the entire surface by gently pressing the plastic over the pastry cream. Allow this to cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate it until ready to use.