Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Mark Bittman

Chocolate-anise crème brûlée

Preparation info
  • Makes

    4 to 6

    servings
    • Difficulty

      Complex

    • Ready in

      2 hr

Appears in
top 1000Simple to Spectacular
Simple to Spectacular

By Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman

Published 2000

  • About

The anise flavor is very, very subtle here, but it is noticeable. If you prefer a straight chocolate flavor, simply omit the star anise (you can then skip the infusion time in Step 2 as well).

Ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean, split the long way
  • 6 star anise

Method

  1. Combine the cream, vanilla, and star anise in a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until a few bubbles rise to the surface. Cool for about 5 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light yellow. Stir in the cocoa and chocolate. Pour about a quarter of the cream into this mixture, then pour the sugar-egg mixture back into the cream a