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On days when you want a quick and easy dessert, but something a bit more sophisticated than just a scoop of the Haagen-Dazs from your freezer - well, nothing beats a hot toasted slice of crusty bread draped with warm chocolate ganache. It’s not a traditional combination, but one that really works because of the splendid contrast in textures and flavors of the bread and chocolate.
A few weeks ago, the La Maison Du Chocolat store near my workplace had a ganache tasting. The wife and I first fell in love with Maison chocolates during our trip to Paris last year, and I was elated when a branch opened up right on Wall Street soon after - I never miss any of their tasting events. At the ganache event, I was greeted with two chocolatiers (that word exists, right?) melting thick ganache in sparkling white ceramic bowl. The surprise was that instead of a plate of strawberries or marshmallows to dip in the ganache, they put out plates covered with small pieces of various bread – the regular savory breads, mind you, not any sweetened ones. The ganache was slowly drizzled over the piece of bread and handed over to the guests.
When I admitted that I’d never encountered this combination before, the lady reassured me that this was the best way to enjoy the flavors of the rich ganache. One bite and I understood exactly why – the hearty flavor of the bread stood up quite well to the richness of the chocolate, acting as the foundation for the deep flavor of the cocoa to shine through. The rough and crumbly texture of the toasted bread melded well with the velvety creaminess of the ganache, providing a little crunch at the end of the luscious chocolate.I was so hooked that I immediately got myself some chocolate chips the next time I went grocery shopping (the chocolate at the Maison being a bit too pricey for me, being enjoyed only as a treat on occasion) and tried out a ganache recipe (to be posted later). It turned out beautifully, and I found I could store it in the fridge and just heat up a little whenever I needed.
So on nights when Im too lazy to cut up some fresh fruit but need something warm and exciting, I toast up whatever loaf of bread I happen to have on hand and drizzle on some warmed up Ganache – and for a minute transporting myself to Maison and thus a little to Paris again. Oui Oui indeed! The picture above is with a slice of whole grain bread from Whole foods, drizzled with some ganache made with bitter-sweet chocolate chips and evaporated milk.
You can ofcourse try this combination with any simple chocolate sauce you have on hand; just make sure the bread you use is hearty enough to stand up to it – no wonderbread here, please!
[...] couple of posts back, the past month I discovered the joys of making chocolate ganache and using it top a toasted slice of bread ala La Maison Du Chocolat. While Ganache might seem like a scary French word, I write this to [...]