Chocolate is the ultimate festive treat. And Jamie Oliver's winter-inspired recipe will take your Christmas menu to a whole new level. The beloved celebrity chef has created the most indulgent dessert as an ode to his wife Jools, his high school sweetheart, and has aptly named the recipe Jools' chocolate dreams.
During a new chat with HELLO!, the 48-year-old confessed that there was only one way to his wife's heart – and that was, chocolate!
"In my latest cookbook 5 Ingredients Mediterranean, I developed Jools' chocolate dream pots (page 268) in her honour," he shared. "So I'll definitely be making a batch of those this Christmas for my lovely wife."
Jools' chocolate dreams
Serves 6
The dessert combines silky-smooth chocolate and some of the best coffee to create pure happiness. He adds: "Chocolate and coffee are celebrated all around the Med and they're also my wife's two favourite indulgent pleasures, so why wouldn't I create possibly one of the most decadent desserts on earth?"
INGREDIENTS
150g dark chocolate (70%)
125g unsalted butter
50ml good espresso
2 large eggs
125g golden caster sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 120°C/250°F/gas ½.
Snap the chocolate into a heatproof bowl, add the butter, espresso and a good pinch of sea salt, and place over a pan of gently simmering water to melt very slowly until smooth, stirring regularly.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and doubled in size, then carefully fold in the melted chocolate mixture. Boil the kettle.
Divide the mixture between 6 coffee cups or ramekins and put them into a roasting tray. Place the tray in the oven, then carefully pour in enough boiling kettle water to come halfway up the side of the cups.
Bake for exactly 20 minutes, then carefully remove from the oven and leave to cool in the water for 2 hours.
To serve, Jamie sometimes shaves over some extra chocolate, or adds fresh fruit like cherries, blood oranges or wild strawberries, with a dollop of yoghurt or crème fraiche.
5 Ingredients Mediterranean by Jamie Oliver is published by Penguin Michael Joseph © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2023, 5 Ingredients Mediterranean). Recipe photography: © David Loftus, 2023