Thanks for all your help everyone. I ended up using a version of the NY Times recipe. Except I left out the chili powder and added more of the other spices. I made the praline with black sesame seeds and sea salt instead of pepitas, and added ground black sesame seeds to the caramel sauce. It came out great! Dark and spicy and violent looking. I posted a photo in case anyone is curious: http://www.flickr.com/photos/molossoidea/5484507275/
Black sesame! That's a great suggestion. A friend brought me a spread back from a trip to Turkey that was made from honey and ground black sesame -- it was amazing. Thanks!
Here's a link for a Black Swan theme panna cotta. Maybe it'll give you some inspiration. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victoria-haschka/oscars-feast-menu-black-swan-recipe_b_824827.html
Make regular flan. Go to Michael's or JoAnn Fabrics or Walmart--any retail outlet that sells Wilton products. Buy some pre-made black fondant, make a swan template, roll out the fondant and cut out some swans. Unmold the fondant onto a platter and gently press the swans against the side of the flan--it'll look like the swans are swimming in caramel. You can also buy white fondant and paint the swans black with a tube of Betty Crocker black piping gel.
Thanks for the great suggestions. The NY Times dark chocolate flan looks great. I'll give that a try. Maybe I can add some cocoa to the caramel sauce to make the exterior even darker. Thanks again!
That is a toughy..you could use dark chocolate cocoa powder, but i don't think you could get it as dark as you want because of the dairy in the recipe...your best bet I think will be food dye. yes not really what you wanted to hear...maybe you could try something different, like make chocolate wafer cookies with dark chocolate cocoa powder and then stack them in acetate rings with a white pastry cream or ice cream or mousse or cheesecake? a little more involved than flan...but then again you could make a really big one....it will still look nice sliced.
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