Barbra Austin

I’m just going to get this out in the open before I lose the courage to say it: Pascal Guerreau’s mille-feuille at Tholoniat rivals the one at Jacques Genin.

Though I generally prefer dark chocolate, there’s no denying that milk chocolate pairs very well with certain flavors. Peanut butter and bananas, for example.

It’s a big wide world of chocolate. There is no need to limit oneself.

Café Angelina is famous for their hot chocolate and it’s easy to see why.

It’s true that I just wrote about Patrick Roger, but that was before I met the guy.

My mother had remarkable restraint when it came to sweets. The woman could eat two tablespoons of ice cream and claim to be satisfied. I say “restraint” but I think she actually didn’t really like anything too rich. Or at least she pretended not to.

This cake was one of her favorite treats.

My French teacher once told me that I could exempt myself from les devoirs by making treats for the class. I did not really take her seriously and, anyway, it is in my best interest to do the homework. But as of Monday morning I had not even looked at chapter 6 of Les Poisons de la Couronne. What I had been reading was David Lebovitz’s new book, which enthusiastically advocates the practice of of bribery-by-sweets.

What better moment to test my dear prof’s offer? And what better reason to try one of the 50 recipes David included in the book?

We call this pudding but there’s no cornstarch to thicken it, no skin on top to poke through. No, this is just a rich crème Anglaise with lots of chocolate added, enough to thicken the mixture as it chills to a spoon-clinging custard that melts in your mouth almost like a truffle.