here’s the thing: i really like chocolate, and i really like cake… but when confronted with a display case full of treats, i’d more likely get the pink thing filled with cream and berries. as you have witnessed.
every now and again though, a chocolate cake unleashes a call so strong that i cannot resist. well. i’d been resisting the cha cha cha at zumbo for a while, before i finally succumbed (three weeks ago now, sigh, how time does fly).
but, so. what you may have already noticed about this cake, is that it actually contains no “cake”. the base is sesame-riddled pate sable, sure, but the rest of this artful construction is all thin planes of chocolate and fat trails of ganache — two layers of comforting milky-chocolatey ganache, and a feisty middle layer of quite burny chilli-dark-chocolate ganache. surprising, the level of heat, though not as surprising as the salt wash on the underside of each piece of chocolate.
you probably know that i dabble in chocolate-covered pretzels — the bigger the grains of salt embedded in ’em, the better. i have no qualms about mixing sweet and salty (though possibly, i am not quite ready for the jam-vegemite combo suggested to me in the past), and a few months ago, when i saw these earthy granules of chocolate-dipped fleur de sel, i was smitten. and so, the salt-wash chocolate? it was compelling, and although at first i couldn’t work out where the salt was — and if i was only imagining it — once i isolated the source, i couldn’t stop licking it. the disappointment that came with the end of the salt was only fleeting; the smooth dark chocolate took away that ache.
this is not a warm and comfy dessert. it is punchy and aggressive… perfect, as it turns out, for savouring slowly on the eve of a thirty-fifth birthday, while watching the season finale of “californication”.
(and why “cha cha cha”? one “cha” less, and it would’ve been a fitting tribute to that scary girl in “grease”. feisty!)
11 Comments
sweet and salty? peanut butter & strawberry jam comes to mind .. yum ( :
mmm, i like the sound of this one. i need to visit zumbo again. is he still making the passionfruit macaron? his is better than herme’s passionfruit version.
“…punchy and aggressive…”
I like the way you describe it Looks so yummy.
when i was in south australia i bought some rocky road at a local market. i’m not sure whether the peanuts were slightly salted or not, but i detected some saltiness in it, the chocolate/peanut/cherry/marshmallow combo was perfect in taste, texture and structure. shame i left half of it behind in the back of the fridge.
three weeks since your birthday? you should still be celebrating, i reckon. i kind of like the idea of a jam-vegemite pretzel….
you should try haigh’s rocky road – its the best ever. but they only make it in winter because the summer heat ruins the marshmallow (which they make themselves from scratch!) yum.
deborah – there are passionfruit macaroons this week! well last i checked on wednesday..
huh. nothing like a zumbo post to elicit comments from the peanut gallery! 😉 and i’m afraid to say that i am not a big fan of peanuts. for example, when confronted with a bowl of mixed nuts, i will avoid the peanuts. i would not choose a peanut m ‘n’ m. and the one thing holding me back from buying rocky road is the peanuts. (that and the threat of compound chocolate, although of course there is not that risk in a haighs block 🙂 )
that said, i do not mind a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and may even eat any number of asian cakery with the ground-up (and mixed with sugar) peanut fillings. a small number, on second thought. i like reece’s pieces (though not so much the peanut butter cups), and grew up with the occasional jar of goober grape. i would eat a peanut-butter (and/or jam!)-filled pretzel. i *may* eat a vegemite-filled pretzel separately (although, you’ve just named your next baking challenge, santos!)
um, have i addressed eveything? 😉
oh! thanks for the zumbowatch, sonya! 🙂
i will try my hardest to visit this week. i am going to a maddening passionfruit phase at the moment. yesterday after sushi lunch i got a passionfruit bubble tea and drank the whole thing in a heartbeat!
i’d love to see a vegemite and jam pretzel. and high recommend the combination! it is my favourite trashy breakfast after nutella.
i think the only thing keeping me away from choosing the cha cha cha is the sesame … mmm.
there were a few left when i went in this morning — probably won’t last the weekend. i’ll meet you, if you want, if you end up coming this way, to hand over mr gocco.
i think the vege-jam combo pretzel might be ok if there was vegemite on one end, and jam on the other, like those miner pasties. i do this sometimes when i only want one piece of toast. but not together, oh no.
do not let the sesame biscuit hold you back from the glory of cha cha cha. it is just the base after all… and *i* could eat it for you! 😀
alas, there was no zumbo or swedish christmas – this damn humidity rendered me incapable of doing anything but the bare minimum this weekend.
i’ll email you to tee up a time …