Hot, melty dark chocolate stuffed into the center of hot, doughy bread, straight from the oven. Culinary heaven; so good I can't write a complete sentence about it. You must try this.
Sometimes I bake bread with a bar of dark chocolate tucked inside the raw dough, waiting to melt, stain and enrich the loaf. Other times--like today at lunch--I nestle two squares of chocolate into a steaming slice of fresh bread for dessert. Once in a while I make a chocolate panino, lightly broiling the chocolate sandwich for five minutes a side, until the toast is golden and the chocolate rich and runny.
Because I bake whole wheat bread and use dark chocolate, the effects are tremendously earthy, a bit bitter and sweet. The paninos are best with airy white ciabatta, though I still prefer the dark chocolate filling. And if you're feeling especially decadent, I'm sure brioche and challah are glorious companions to chocolate.
There are endless, more interesting variations on the chocolate sandwich. Try a thin layer of berry jam or marmalade. Drizzle the bread with almond or hazelnut oil; blend or trade milk, white, and dark chocolates. Dip the sandwich in egg and fry it in butter, dusting the end product with confectioners sugar. I haven't done any of these things (yet), but I encourage experimentation.
Just be sure to eat some vegetables first.
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