Continuing my Japanese recipe of mini doughnuts, this is also a Japanese recipe which also happens to be chocolate. In Japan they call it “pu-rin” for pudding, but it is more like a custard. I found this recipe from a Japanese website called “Kyou-no-ryouri” which means “Cooking Today”. It is also a cooking TV show from NHK TV channel in Japan. Click here to visit site. It has great content, a very good website if you can read Japanese and are into Japanese cooking. I have made the vanilla version of this dessert before, and on another recipe for the chocolate version, all you have to do is to add chocolate. I was curious what the result would be like. One of the characteristics of the Japanese “purin” is that is always set in small cups. The original recipe is supposed to make ten 100 mL cups but I think it is too small for this delicious recipe. (No wonder the Japanese tend to be so slim!) So I made six cups — I personally think it is the perfect size. 
Ingredients
- 75 grams Granulated Sugar
- 10 mL Water
- 400 mL Milk
- 20 grams Chocolate (I used semi-sweet)
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 2 Whole Eggs
- 80 grams Granulated Sugar
Method
- Put sugar and water in a small pot and cook until it reaches a caramel stage (a light to medium brown colour). Keep an eye on it — it burns very easily.
- Carefully pour the caramel into 6 cups or ramekins. Be careful when doing this because the caramel is very hot! The caramel will turn hard, set the cups aside in a deep oven proof dish until ready to use (for baking in a hot water bath).
- Preheat oven to 150C/300F.
- Boil about 3–4 cups of water for the hot water bath — keep hot until ready to bake.
- Whisk eggs and yolks with about 65 grams of sugar in a medium bowl just until incorporated.
- Heat milk and sugar in a another pot, turn off heat just before it boils.
- Cool milk a little and add Chocolate, whisk until mixed together.
- Add hot milk into egg mixture little by little, whisking as you add. Don’t add milk all at once — you will risk scrambling the eggs.
- Once the custard is ready, pour it through a sieve into a measuring cup.
- Pour the custard into the caramel-filled cups/ramekins.
- When ready to bake, place the dish in the oven, pour the hot water to fill the dish until it reaches about half of the height of the cups/ramekins.
- Bake for about 20–30 minutes. When the custard is cooked, it should still be a bit “jiggly” in the center.
- Cool custard and chill in the fridge for at least 2–3 hours before serving.
- Run a toothpick around the cup/ramekin. Flip the custard over onto a plate, give it a light shake or two and it should come out easily.
One of the reasons that I like this recipe so much is because of its texture — so smooth and creamy! The chocolate flavour is exceptionally delicious with the caramel flavour. It is a light(er) and decadent dessert!
Tip: You can make a vanilla version of the this by omitting the chocolate and using ¼ of a vanilla bean.
About