Chocolate Soup with Raspberry Hazelnut Salad

So I tried this Michael Chiarello recipe for Chocolate Soup about a year ago when I had a dinner party at my place. It was a big hit that night but for some reason I never made it again. Perhaps it's the richness of the dish or the fact that your literally spooning melted chocolate in your mouth. Not that liquid chocolate is worse than solid chocolate for you, but the indulgence factor is most definitely over the top.

Anyway, Zach has been begging me to make this dish for months now. I told him I'd make it for him before I left for vacation but failed to do that. So I made it up to him this past weekend as a belated Valentine's Day gift. The best part was that I surprised him with it after dinner. He was beyond ecstatic.

Directions

Ganache for the soup:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup raspberry liqueur (recommended: Framboise)

Raspberry Salad:

• 1/2 pint raspberries
• 2 tablespoon hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint, thinly sliced
• Small pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur (recommended: Framboise)
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) sweetened whipped cream, for garnish
• Small piece bittersweet chocolate to shave, for garnish

For the ganache:

In a small saucepan bring the cream, butter, and sugar to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate so that it melts completely. Stir in the raspberry liqueur. Let the ganache cool to room temperature and reserve.

For the salad:

Gently combine the raspberries, hazelnuts, mint, small pinch of salt and raspberry liqueur.

In a wide, shallow soup bowl pour about 3 ounces of the room temperature ganache to fill a shallow pool in the bottom of the bowl, about 1/8-inch deep. Place a nice spoonful of the raspberry/hazelnut salad in the center and garnish with a small spoonful of whipped cream and shaved bittersweet chocolate. Top with chopped hazelnuts as well.

And if you're going to go all out and make this decadent dessert, the you may as well do everyone a favor and serve this with a ruby port. The combination is beyond words.

Buon Appetito!
- Lindsay