How to use up your Valentine chocolate...

Back in the day I bought these cute little ramekins -- 16 of them to be exact -- back when I thought I'd be hosting fabulous dinner parties. Little did I know I would have people over like once every six months once I had kids. :) Maybe another time in our life!

Anyway, we had a bag of Dove dark chocolates and these cute ramekins sitting around so Double Chocolate crème brulée came to life! Don't think you can't do this! I PROMISE you can! It really is super easy and the results are really amazing. I've had to share these little ramekins with friends and fam so Alex and I don't eat one after all three meals! Your fam will be SO impressed -- crème brulée is super easy but super fancy! Share one with your Valentine -- it's still Feb -- keep celebrating!

Sorry, no step by step pictures -- I was doing good just to get this made much less have pictures of each step! :) This is going to look like it takes forever -- promise it doesn't. Just trying to be descriptive....

Double Chocolate Crème Brulée
Makes 6 servings

2 cups (16 oz) heavy whipping cream
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used part dark, part regular)
2 ounces chocolate (I used Dove Dark Choc hearts), roughly chopped
more granulated sugar for the tops after baking

- Preheat oven to 250.
- Chop up chocolate.
- Separate eggs; put 8 yolks into a large bowl (a bowl with a spout to pour from if possible). Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar till most is dissolved.
- Heat whipping cream on stove until warm -- almost simmering. Remove from heat and whisk in chopped chocolate. Whisk till dissolved.
- Add about half of a cup of the cream/chocolate to yolk mixture and whisk well (you are tempering the egg yolks so they don't cook too quickly). Add a half cup more and whisk well. Now add all and whisk well.
- At this point, you can pour it all through a strainer. I didn't want to get anything else dirty so I skipped this step, and they turned out fine.
- Put 6 ramekins in a 9 x 13 dish. You may not fit them all in one 9 x 13 -- that is fine.
- Pour mixture into ramekins evenly.
- Pour warm water into 9 x 13 carefully around ramekins; come as close as you can to the top of the ramekins without it making a mess -- about halfway up.
- Bake at 250 for an hour and a half.
- When crème brulée is done, it will shimmy a little bit but it shouldn't be too liquidy.
- Remove crème brulées from the water bath immediately and put in the fridge.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight -- this is great make ahead.
- At serving time, sprinkle a spoonful of sugar on top of each; shake off excess into the sink -- you just need the layer that sticks to the top.
- Torch moving quickly over the sugar. You'll see it melt then bubble a bit -- bubbling means it's done -- don't burn and keep the torch moving! If you don't have a torch, put them on the top rack of your oven under the hot broiler. Watch with the door cracked for the sugar to go clear then start to bubble. Take them out as soon as you see some bubbles.
- Serve!

A few notes -- I have a food scale so it took me 8 Dove chocolate hearts to equal 2 ounces. I think you can totally guesstimate or try to look on the pkg at the serving size or whatever. This measurement being off won't mess things up really. Don't have ramekins? Find some small glass/ceramic containers that can go in the oven. And keep your egg whites for breakfast in the morning when you're feeling guilty for eating this!