Tag Archives: Chocolate

Viennois au Chocolat

Sometimes all rationale goes out the window, further challenging my limits of moderation.  Whenever, I can answer yes to two of my favorite sayings, I will do anything.  Who can say no to “waste not” and “I can write it off on my taxes”? So I won’t blame this enormous chocolate torpedo of a snack on gourmandise, it’s rather an exercise in restraint.  Meaning, can I actually wait until I’m finished watercoloring it before digging in?

While it lasts, let me introduce you to the viennois au chocolat.  It usually hangs out with the viennoiseries like croissant, pain au chocolat,  and pain aux raisins, the puff pastry crowd at the boulangeries.  This is a classic gouter, or a staple snack for the under-12, afterschool crowd.  These chocolate chip-studded snacks humbly adorn the arms of the chicly-coiffed Parisien supermoms who await their children at the sortie d’ecole.  Nevertheless, with the chocolate chip drought in France, I quickly took a liking to this treat.  The soft, yeasty dough envelopes a smattering of dark chocolate chips.  Let me be rational and ask, is it 4 o’clock somewhere?

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I never tasted panna cotta until about a year into Paris, in the early ‘wining and dining’ days of my courtship with C.  After a beautifully prepared Italian dinner at Swan et Vincent, a neighborhood restaurant in the Bastille quartier, he ordered panna cotta for dessert.  It came to our table humbly in a ramekin with a veil of raspberry coulis.  But its simplicity was a marvel!  It had the luxurious texture of a proper pudding, but with an absolutely pure taste of cream, milk, and vanilla bean.  Panna cotta is to pudding as gelato is to ice cream.  Panna cota and gelato showcase the flavor of their ingredients without being weighed down with eggs.  And luckily, for the humble home cook, this makes it a lot easier to make, too!

I hold no grudges against animal hooves, but the inclusion of gelatin in recipes always intimidated me a bit before making this.  But much like quinoa or fennel, it was just a matter of time and a good recipe to take away any culinary fear!  A basic mixture of cream, milk, and sugar is heated until warm enough to melt good-quality dark chocolate and the softened gelatin.  If you are more vanilla than chocolate, the chocolate can easily be replaced with a halved and seeded vanilla bean.  The mixture is poured into individual cups and chilled.   I do not know who I am quoting when I say this (too much Saveur Magazine), but the finished panna cotta should have the ‘wobble of a woman’s breast’.  And remember, respect for quality, pure ingredients will leave you with an exceptional result every time!  Enjoy!

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