Chocolate Pots de Crème with Mora Sauce

We always seem to talk about food in my French class, and Monday (the first day of level 4!) was no exception. So, here it is, Tuesday, and I just finished sampling the latest piece of heaven :-).

Chocolate Pots de Crème*

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup crema dulce (whipping cream, not actually sweetened, despite the name)
1 Tablespoon sugar
14 pieces (about 4 ounces) of "La Chocolatería" semi-sweet chocolate
3 egg yolks
dash salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, scald milk and crema dulce with sugar. Add broken chocolate; stir frequently until chocolate completely melts and thickens slightly. (Mixture must be quite hot.)
Beat egg yolks with salt until very thick. With wire whip, quickly stir a small amount of hot milk mixture into the yolks, then add the yolks slowly to the hot milk mixture, while stirring quickly.
Add vanilla; stirring gently, cook 2-3 minutes until pudding thickens.
Pour into small pots de crème cups, ramekins, or small glass dishes. Cover and chill.
Makes 4 (1/3 cup) servings.

*based on a Ghirardelli recipe, "Lafayette Pots de Crème," with necessary changes to accommodate the products available in Costa Rica. I *highly* recommend the cookbook "Ghirardelli Original (3rd edition) Chocolate Cookbook."

Mora Sauce

3/4 cup Mora pulp**
1/2 cup sugar
Combine and heat on low, stirring constantly, until thickened (stop just before it boils). Let cool, serve while still slightly warm.

** Mora is a tart Costa Rican blackberry. For pulp, dump clean berries into a blender, add enough water to facilitate blending. Blend, then strain. Will keep in the fridge for over a week, or almost indefinitely in the freezer. Also makes an excellent drink when the pulp is added to orange juice :-)

To Serve

Dribble a thin layer of warm mora sauce over each pot de crème. Sprinkle with chopped candied ginger. Eat. Die happy.