Let’s Cook With Viki: Pot de Creme and Super Fudgy Brownies!

Ta-da! This week, we offer a special DOUBLE recipe edition of “Let’s Cook with Viki” — why, you ask? Because this week’s theme was inspired by this man:

Vanness Wu, Taiwanese American Superstar

Who is Vanness Wu? He’s an American-born Taiwanese singer who also has acted in a few of our favorite Taiwanese dramas, including “Autumn’s Concerto”and “Ti Amo Chocolate.” So of course, we thought, with autumn right around the corner — and our love for chocolate and Vanness’ chocolate abs — why not make this week’s theme chocolate? And since we’re talking about Vanness Wu, we can’t make just one dish, we have to make two since he’s doubly awesome!


Alright, enough fan-girling, let’s get cooking!

As always, make sure your work space is clean and your hands are washed!

For the Pot de Creme:

• 5 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon
• 2 large egg yolks (the whites can be saved for an egg-white omelette, perhaps?)
• 4 ramekins or other small, oven-safe bowls
• 1 high-sided baking dish or roasting pan

Preheat your oven to 350º F and while that’s warming up, go ahead and heat up the cream (but don’t bring it to a boil), whisk in your sugar until it’s melted, and once that’s done, go ahead and add your chocolate chips, making sure that it melts smoothly and evenly.

Tip: When melting chocolate, do not use a plastic bowl. Instead, use a double boiler, or place a metal bowl filled with chocolate and cream over a bowl of gently boiling water. If absolutely necessary, you can use a microwave-safe bowl and simply microwave your chocolate to melt it.



This next step can be a bit tricky, so I recommend reading through this thoroughly before trying — or at least looking up a video that shows what it means to “temper.” In a small bowl, whisk the two egg yolks together and slowly add a bit of the warm chocolate mixture to the yolks to temper them. Whisk the chocolate-egg mixture until it is well combined and then add it to the rest of the chocolate mixture — at this point, the chocolate should have a slightly glossy sheen to it.



Next, pour your tempered chocolate mixture into the four ramekins. Place the ramekins into your high-sided baking pan, and fill the baking dish with water until it reaches a little higher than the halfway point on your ramekins.



Bake your pot de creme for about 30 minutes in the 350º oven, or until the centers are still a bit jiggly. Remove from the oven and place the ramekins in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

To serve:

Garnish with whip cream (homemade or store-bought is fine) and a sprig of mint — it’s a great way to turn these small little chocolate custards into something that would impress anyone!





For Super Fudgy Brownies:

• 1 box of brownie mix (or you could make a tray of your favorite brownies)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of milk or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup of butter
• 1 1/3 cups of chocolate chips

Boil the sugar, milk and butter together for about 1 minute — stir occasionally and be sure that it doesn’t burn. Once done, remove from burner and add the chocolate chips, stirring until everything has melted together. Then pour the mixture over your warm brownies and let everything cool down together — the fudge mixture actually sets as it cools down, and the longer you leave the fudge on top, the more the fudge and brownies mix together.

Like this week’s edition of “Let’s Cook With Viki”? Comment below and let us know what we ought to make next week!