Recipes for a ‘too good to be true’ combo — chocolate and bread

A couple of weeks ago at my morning coffee klatch, an informal group of friends who look for each other every morning at Go Get ’Em Tiger on Larchmont Boulevard, the conversation went from passionate thoughts on “The White Lotus” Season 3 finale to where to take a tween on her first trip to New York City to — and how we got here I don’t know, but that’s how conversations go in the klatch — the simple and decadent combination of bread and chocolate.

Yes, bread and chocolate.

Each word on its own evokes something comforting and delicious. Together, they’re almost too good to be true.

The chocolate croissant — buttery, layered and ever so slightly salty pastry with a single slim bar of dark chocolate at its center — is the most common example of the pairing. Chocolate Babka (aka the best babka) is nothing new. And then, of course, there is Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread that Italian children are allowed to call “breakfast.” I’ve never been a huge fan of Nutella. It’s too sweet and the texture makes me feel like I’m eating melted wax — sugar is the first ingredient, followed by palm oil, so that explains that. But I could definitely get behind this homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread, which you can use to make Grilled Nutella and Pecan Sandwiches.

The first time I encountered bread and chocolate was in 2001, over lunch in an olive grove in the hills outside Barcelona with Colman Andrews, the founder of Saveur magazine. We enjoyed an entire feast in that grove, but it’s the dessert that has stuck with me. After clearing the table, the hosts, presumably the owners of the grove, left on the table bottles of green, fruity olive oil, dishes of sea salt and giant, half-eaten loaves of country bread, and set down blocks of dark chocolate broken up by stabbing it with a knife like a block of ice. As the sun began to set on the day and the conversation and wine continued to flow freely, we each ripped off hunks of bread, doused them in olive oil, arranged shards of chocolate on top, and sprinkled the whole thing with sea salt. It was exactly the sort of experience you’d write home about.

Not long afterward, I hosted a party with grilled cheese sandwiches as the main event. (I love a party where I find ways to get people to make their own food, and a grilled cheese sandwich party is just that.) I borrowed a commercial panini press and set out loaves of sliced brioche, butter, olive oil, salt, sliced Gruyère cheese and Italian sliced meats, and let guests have their way with it all.

Come dessert time, I set out a pile of foil-wrapped, slim dark chocolate bars. If you are looking for ways to find the child within any grown-up, give them the opportunity to make a grilled chocolate sandwich. Guests were in awe! They staggered around, eating crunchy, grilled bread oozing a layer of melted, glossy dark chocolate, amazed at what they had made — with just chocolate and bread.

Chocolate bread pudding, such as Ray Garcia’s Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding or Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding, turns the combination into a proper dessert. And if you’re up for making something a little fancier (but not difficult!), try Nancy Silverton’s Bittersweet Chocolate Tartufo With Olive Oil Fried Croutons. Which brings me back to breaking bread.

Fondue, the ultimate bread-breaking, communal eating experience, IMO, is ready for a comeback, and that includes chocolate fondue. And in today’s culinary world of “anything goes,” it could get a lot more interesting. For the chocolate version, forget about those enormous, out-of-season strawberries with white centers and no flavor. Dip a salted, buttery or oily crouton in that chocolate fountain instead and thank me later.

Not surprisingly, my friend Trisha Cole, a travel and food publicist and author of “Life at the Dumpling,” a guidebook for living an attainable “best life,” complete with homemade everything, poetry and teenagers who aren’t pinned to their devices (she’s living hers in Glassell Park), says that a baguette and dark chocolate is her family’s go-to camping dessert.

Bread and chocolate a dessert for discerning tastes, for those who appreciate simplicity, for “ingredient” households (a.k.a. snackless homes) and for non-dessert people. And if you have the opportunity to enjoy it with red wine and the people you love, even better.

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Bittersweet Chocolate Tartufo With Olive Oil-Fried Croutons

Nancy Silverton manages to make even the most unexpected combinations seem so perfect as to be obvious. Croutons? With chocolate? But of course! The croutons in this elegant dessert are fried in olive oil, salted and strewn over an ethereal dark chocolate truffle. She serves the truffle with a scoop of olive oil gelato on the side. Cheat with vanilla gelato topped with quality olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Get the recipe.
Cooking time: 1 hour. Serves 8.

Bittersweet chocolate tartufo with olive oil gelato and olive oil-fried croutons by Nancy Silverton.

(Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)

Ray Garcia’s Chocolate and Banana Bread Pudding

Brioche is cut into chunks and set aside overnight to dry, allowing for maximum custard absorption. The bread chunks are then layered into a baking dish with chopped chocolate, thinly sliced bananas and custard, and set in the refrigerator to get down to the business of absorbing. Just before baking, more custard is added. The result: chunks of pillowy bread, crunchy on the outside and custardy on the inside, laced with caramelized banana and dark chocolate — proof that good things come to those who wait.
Get the recipe.
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes. Serves 16 to 20.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )

Chocolate Croissant Pudding

You thought croissants were rich; try them soaked in heavy cream and egg yolks. With Studio City’s legendary Pinot Bistro now closed for more than a decade, those who still remember the place — many regulars claimed to come for the chocolate croissant bread pudding — can make it at home.
Get the recipe.
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Serves 6.

Chocolate Babka

With toasted hazelnuts and crushed Italian cookies rolled in with the dough, and a thick layer of chocolate glaze drizzled on top, this is not your bubbe’s babka. The dough needs to rest overnight in the fridge, so you can go to bed dreaming about the slice (or two) you will enjoy with your morning coffee.
Get the recipe.
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes plus rising time. Makes 2 babkas.

(Catherine Dzilenski / For The Times)