The easiest easy chocolate pudding! Sophisticated in its simplicity, this is a moreish, intensely chocolatey French Dark Chocolate Cremeux. A 4 ingredient delight!
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⭐ Star Features to Love
- Chocolate Intense. Chocolate dominates. Choose your favourite chocolate and make this decadent dessert your own!
- Gluten-free and without egg. This is a flourless and egg-free recipe. A Crémeux au Chocolat (Chocolate Cremeux) is often made with Crème Anglaise (egg custard). Here, cornflour (corn starch) rather than egg yolks is used as the means of thickening the milk to create the perfect pudding.
- Amazingly quick and easy. This is an easy chocolate pudding recipe. So simple, its a joy to make. Since cornflour (cornstarch) is used as a thickener, there is no egg custard to worry about. Separating out the egg yolks from the egg whites and taking care to avoid overheating the egg yolk mixture; let's face it, egg custard can be a bit of a hassle to make.
- Short shopping list. A simple recipe that has 4 simple ingredients: a chocolate bar, milk, sugar and cornflour. That's it!
- Authentic French recipe. An elegant dessert, this is chocolate pudding as eaten in France. For an unadulterated French version, check out the section on chocolate below for which type to use.
🍫 Ingredients
- Cornflour (cornstarch). This thickener is made from corn (rather than wheat) and contains only carbohydrate (no protein). In the U.K. it is known as cornflour, and in the U.S. it is called cornstarch. Since it contains no protein (which gluten is a form of), it is often used as an alternative to flour when a gluten-free thickening agent is needed. However, cornstarch is great as a thickener in its own right.
- Milk. I prefer to use whole milk rather than low-fat milk. This recipe has no need for double (heavy) cream to create a delicious creamy custard.
- Chocolate. These creamy puddings are all about the chocolate, so for best results use a good quality solid chocolate. For a Dark Chocolate Cremeux, I think anything from a 55% cocoa content bar to an 85% cocoa content bar will work well. 85% cocoa content gives an incredible intense chocolate taste, although I have to admit this is probably for the more hardcore chocoholics amongst us. See the section below for more discussion on which chocolate type and brand to use to get that perfect taste.
- Sugar. If you have a choice, caster sugar works best since it will be quick to dissolve. Otherwise granulated sugar is fine. I tend to avoid dark brown sugar as the strong caramel taste may be too overwhelming.
See the Recipe Card below for quantities and the full recipe.
🔪 How to make Dark Chocolate Cremeux
Step 1. Put the cornflour (cornstarch) into a small to medium-sized heatproof bowl with a small amount of milk (about 3 tablespoons of milk). Mix the cornflour into the milk thoroughly and smoothly with a spoon so that there are no lumps.
Step 2. Pour the remaining milk into a small or medium saucepan. Add the cornflour (cornstarch) mixture to the milk and stir so that it is thoroughly mixed through. Add the sugar.
Step 3. Chop or break the bar of chocolate into squares and add the chopped chocolate to the milk, sugar and cornflour mixture. Heat over a moderately low heat stirring with a wooden spoon all the time.
Step 4. Do not leave the hot milk mixture whilst it is being heated. The melted chocolate and milk mixture will suddenly come together and thicken very rapidly. Keep stirring all the time to avoid lumps.
Step 5. Working quickly, as the pudding mixture will thicken as it cools and start to set quite rapidly, pour the chocolate cream mixture into glass jars, glasses or other small individual serving dishes. When cooled, put the filled jars into the fridge to chill.
Enjoy! Serve the decadent chocolate puddings chilled from the fridge as they are, or topped with homemade whipped cream (either dolloped onto the tops of the puddings or piped on with a piping bag).
A little background
I first came across this simple method for making Dark Chocolate Cremeux on the French food blog Papilles et Pupilles, which in turn found the recipe in La Petite Crémerie by Eva Harlé. Papilles et Pupilles is a treasure trove of recipes for food that you will find cooked in the French home. The silky-smooth texture and intense dark chocolate experience of this creamy chocolate pudding transports me back to France each time I eat it.
Crème au Chocolat, Crémeux au Chocolat, Pot au Chocolat. What's the difference?
The French and the British have very different ideas when it comes to chocolate pudding. With my British hat on, chocolate pudding means a large bowlful of a hot steamed pudding, generously ladled with rich chocolate custard. This is true comfort food at its best. With my French hat on, I think of a very different type of chocolate pudding.
Wander down the chilled aisles of any French supermarket and you will come across a section filled with an incredibly wide range of small chocolate puddings. A little bit of heaven for any chocolate lover. These chilled chocolate French desserts are often referred to generically as a Pot au Chocolat. Called various names, including Crème au Chocolat and Crémeux au Chocolat, they may be just a plain chocolate pudding or topped with cream.
Generally you will find a selection of little chocolate mousse puddings (Mousse au Chocolat) alongside the Pot au Chocolat section of the chilled aisles in French supermarkets. I don't tend to think of chocolate mousse as a Pot au Chocolat, and I don't believe that there is a hard and fast rule on this. The key difference between a chocolate mousse and the other Pots au Chocolats is that the mousse is made with whipped egg white, which gives it a light airy texture rather than that silky-smooth texture of a cremeux.
Which Chocolate Works Best?
Dark chocolate
So what do we mean by dark chocolate? Most probably you don't need any labelling to tell you what is or is not dark chocolate. Your own taste buds will have very definite ideas on this. Nevertheless, there is legislation that dictates what may be classed as dark chocolate, and there are degrees of "darkness".
Dark chocolate will often be labelled with the percentage of chocolate that it contains. This in essence means the amount of cocoa mass contained within the bar of chocolate, divided by the weight of the bar. The original recipe from La Petite Crémerie recommends a 55% chocolate. For a 100% French chocolate taste why not try the French brand Valrhona, which is well-known for good quality chocolate.
Whilst the cocoa content percentage does give a good indication as to the strength and bitterness of the chocolate, it is not everything. Both the quality and taste may vary greatly between chocolates that have the same cocoa content percentage.
The puddings photographed were made using M&S Single Origin Dark Chocolate from Peru. An 85% chocolate, it is described as having "Intense cocoa flavours with aromas of ripe fruits & mixed berries with a touch of honey". Certainly, the M&S chocolate flavoured puddings seemed to have a sweeter and more rounded flavour compared with the puddings we have made using Lindt 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate from its Excellence range, which were decidedly more robust in taste. Both versions were delicious, just different.
Milk Chocolate
Transform a Dark Chocolate Cremeux into a Milk Chocolate Cremeux simply by swapping the dark chocolate with milk chocolate. This will be sweeter than the dark chocolate version, so you may want to add the sugar in stages when making a Milk Chocolate Cremeux, checking the sweetness level before adding more.
White Chocolate
For a completely different look (and taste!), white chocolate can be used instead of dark chocolate. White chocolate is very different, however, from dark of milk chocolate. This difference is not just in looks, with white chocolate's primary cocoa ingredient being cocoa butter. Indeed, there is some debate as to whether or not it should be classed as chocolate at all.
White chocolate is generally even sweeter than milk chocolate. As with the milk chocolate version of the Cremeux, you may need to adjust the sugar and add less. I haven't yet tried a White Chocolate Cremeux (I will update this post once I do so), but I think it might be too sweet and rich on its own. A tart raspberry coulis might help to give balance. The Belgian chef, Eddy van Damme, uses a sour cherry coulis with pretty effect in his White Chocolate Cremeux recipe.
💭 More Ideas
- Whipped Cream Topping. Transform each of these French desserts into a Chocolat Liégois by topping with Crème Chantilly (sweetened whipped cream). For a little extra something, why not try whipped cream infused with alcohol? How about whiskey, or perhaps an orange liqueur? Here is a recipe for whipped cream with Cointreau.
- Chocolate Swaps. Dark chocolate combines perfectly with many flavours. A great way to introduce another layer of taste easily is to use dark chocolate flavoured with another ingredient. There is a huge range out there to choose from. Orange, mint, ginger or coconut flavoured dark chocolate would all work brilliantly instead of just plain dark chocolate. Take your pick!
- Go Mexican. With Mexico being one of the places in which cocoa was first cultivated, how about giving these little puddings a Mexican flavour? Mexican chocolate has its own specific qualities and I've been inspired by this Mexican Hot Chocolate recipe to try adding vanilla and cinnamon flavouring to the chocolate puddings. However, I'm not sure about including chile powder Mexican style. Would it work for a chilled pudding? I will experiment and update this post once I have done so.
- Add a biscuit. For some contrasting crunch, serve with a little biscuit such as mini versions of these delicate Lemon Butter Biscuits.
🍲 Storage
We have trouble in our family keeping these little puddings beyond a day. If you are more disciplined than us, you may be able to keep these in a fridge for about 2 to 3 days.
👨🏻🍳 Top tips
- Do not leave the Crémeux mixture whilst you are heating it. This is not a multi-tasking opportunity! Stay with it, stirring all the time. If not, you risk the mixture becoming lumpy.
FAQ
Crémeux means creamy in French. In France, a Crémeux is generally understood to be a little pudding (usually chocolate), that has a creamy, silky-smooth texture and is chilled. A Crémeux is often made using Créme Anglaise (egg custard) as a base. Alternatively, cornflour (cornstarch) may be used as a thickener for the milk.
📋 Recipe Card
Easy Dark Chocolate Crémeux Pudding (gluten-free and eggless)
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 mixing spoon
- 1 saucepan
- 5 or 6 small jars or serving bowls
Ingredients
- 30g cornflour (cornstarch)
- 500ml milk
- 30g sugar
- 100g dark (bittersweet) chocolate (55% to 85% cocoa content)
Instructions
- Put the cornflour (cornstarch) into a small to medium-sized heatproof bowl with a small amount of milk (about 3 tablespoons of milk). Mix the cornflour into the milk thoroughly and smoothly with a spoon so that there are no lumps.
- Pour the remaining milk into a small or medium saucepan. Add the cornflour (cornstarch) mixture to the milk and stir so that it is thoroughly mixed through. Add the sugar.
- Chop or break the bar of chocolate into squares and add the chopped chocolate to the milk, sugar and cornflour mixture. Heat over a low heat stirring with a wooden spoon all the time.
- Do not leave the hot milk mixture whilst it is being heated. The melted chocolate and milk mixture will suddenly come together and thicken very rapidly. Keep stirring all the time to avoid lumps.
- Working quickly, as the pudding mixture will thicken as it cools and start to set quite rapidly, pour the chocolate cream mixture into glass jars, glasses or other small individual serving dishes. When cooled, put the filled jars into the fridge to chill.
monse says
Stumbled apond this website literally read my mind exactly of what i was craving theses recipes are absolutely delicious
Madeleine says
Thank you so much for your kind comment. More recipes on the way shortly! Madeleine