I had promised that the next chocolate post would be about cute little cookies that you can fill with the best chocolate frosting ever, but that post takes some work to write (just like the cookies take some work to make). In the meantime, here is a way to make something that looks fancy with very little effort. I’ve just made it tonight (hence the lack of decent lighting and bad image quality).

First, make some basic custard (crème pâtissière). If you have a favourite recipe, feel free to use that, but if not, here is a suggestion, based on a recipe from my favourite “Mastering the art of French cooking” by Julia Child.

Heat 2 cups (1/2 litre) milk on the stove until it boils. Beat 5 egg yolks with about 2/3 cup (130 g) of sugar in a mixing bowl until it’s thick and pale yellow. This will make the custard not too sweet; if you like it sweeter, use close to a cup of sugar. Beat in about 1/2 cup (60 g) of flour – less if you like your custard less thick. Add the hot milk slowly while still beating. Then transfer the mixture to a clean saucepan and heat over moderate heat to boil, stirring continuously with a whisk. When it boils, reduce heat and keep beating vigorously for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour. Don’t be scared of the lumps, they will disappear as you beat them. Turn off the heat and stir in 1 Tb butter.

That’s your basic custard, to which you can add any flavouring you want. For this dessert I divided it in half, and added 3 tsp of vanilla extract to one half, and half a bar (50g) of melted dark chocolate to the other. A word of warning: if you leave the custard to stand for more than a minute or two, it will form a skin. Prevent this by pressing plastic wrap directly onto the surface whenever you stop working with it.

Now to make it fancy, layer the two custards on top of each other in a wine glass. The chocolate is thicker, so it’s best to start with that. Top with berries, and then with some lightly whipped cream. You should call the lightly whipped cream chantilly, because everything sounds more decadent in French.

Happy Friday!