This is what happens when white chocolate stops tasting like sugar. A ganache built on cream, white chocolate and 60 g of Bordier Madagascar Vanilla butter, served in quenelles over rhubarb compote with roasted almonds. The butter does the real work here: it carries brown sugar and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, which gives the chocolate something to push against and keeps the whole thing from going cloying. About fifteen minutes at the stove, then at least two hours in the fridge.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 4
- Active time: About 15 minutes
- Cook: A brief boil on the stovetop, then a minimum 2 hour chill. Bordier does not state a total time.
- Key ingredient: 60 g Madagascar Vanilla Bordier Butter
Why this works
White chocolate has no cocoa solids, so it has no bitterness to balance its sugar. Most white chocolate desserts fail for exactly that reason. Jean-Yves Bordier introduced his Madagascar Vanilla butter in 2010: unsalted butter worked with brown sugar and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, churned by hand in Brittany on a wooden malaxeur. The brown sugar reads as caramel rather than sweetness, and the vanilla is whole-pod aromatic instead of the thin extract note you get from a bottle. Melted into the cream, it gives this ganache a backbone.
Technically, this is a hot-cream emulsion. You bring the cream and butter to a boil, pour it over chopped chocolate, and let heat do the melting before you stir. Stirring too early is the classic mistake: it drops the temperature and drags unmelted chocolate through the mixture, and you end up with a grainy ganache instead of a glossy one. The pinch of salt is not decoration. It sharpens the vanilla and cuts the sugar.
Ingredients
Serves 4. Everything below comes from Bordier's own list.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| White chocolate | 200 g | 7 oz |
| Fresh liquid cream (heavy cream) | 140 g | 5 oz, about 2/3 cup |
| Madagascar Vanilla Bordier Butter | 60 g | 2.1 oz, about 4 tbsp |
| Salt | A pinch | A pinch |
| Roasted almonds | 100 g | 3.5 oz, about 3/4 cup |
| Rhubarb compote | 200 g | 7 oz, about 3/4 cup |
Method
Step 1: Make the ganache and chill it
Heat the cream and the Madagascar Vanilla Bordier butter together in a saucepan. Once the mixture comes to a boil, pour in the white chocolate cut into squares. Cover the pan and let it stand for a few minutes. Then mix well until you have a smooth ganache. Leave it to cool, then place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Step 2: Plate the rhubarb, ganache and almonds
Spread the rhubarb compote across each plate. Shape the chilled vanilla butter ganache into neat quenelles with two spoons and set them on the compote. Scatter the toasted almonds over the top.
Tips from our kitchen
- Do not stir the chocolate straight away. Bordier is specific about covering the pan and waiting, and it matters. Give the residual heat three or four minutes to melt the chocolate through before you touch it. Stirring early is how ganache turns grainy.
- Chop the chocolate small and even. Squares from a bar are fine, but keep them under a centimetre. Large chunks in the middle stay solid while the edges overheat, and white chocolate seizes at a lower temperature than dark.
- If it splits, add a spoonful of warm cream. A broken ganache looks oily and separated. Whisk in a tablespoon of hot cream and keep whisking from the centre outwards. It usually comes back together.
- Two hours is the minimum, not the target. Overnight gives you a firmer set and much cleaner quenelles. Warm ganache slumps on the plate.
- Warm your spoons for the quenelles. Dip them in hot water and wipe dry between each one. The ganache releases instead of dragging.
- Toast the almonds again if they have been open a while. Five minutes in a dry pan wakes them up. The contrast between crisp almond and soft ganache is most of the point of the dish.
How to serve it
Serve it cold, in shallow bowls, with something crisp alongside. A slice of toasted brioche is the natural partner, and if you want to run the vanilla theme all the way through, our Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche uses the same butter in the dough. A glass of cold cider or a late-harvest white works well against the rhubarb. If rhubarb is out of season, the ganache stands on its own with nothing but the almonds.
Where to buy Madagascar Vanilla Bordier Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Madagascar Vanilla Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): unsalted butter worked with brown sugar and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, the butter this ganache is built on.
For the rest of the range, including the salted and unsalted base butters, browse the Maison Bordier collection.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier butter do I need for this recipe?
The recipe calls for 60 g. Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz (125 g), so a single block covers it with roughly half left over for toast.
Can I use plain butter instead?
You can, but you lose the dish. The vanilla and brown sugar in the Bordier butter are what balance the white chocolate. If you substitute unsalted butter, you will need to add vanilla and a little brown sugar yourself, and the result will be sweeter and less aromatic.
What kind of white chocolate should I buy?
Use a bar with a high cocoa butter content rather than baking chips, which contain stabilisers that resist melting. Bordier does not specify a brand or percentage.
How do I store the ganache?
Keep it covered in the fridge. It is a fresh cream and butter preparation, so treat it the way you would treat any cream dessert and eat it within a couple of days.
How should I store the butter itself?
Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Keep it refrigerated in its wrapper, and let the piece you are cooking with come to room temperature for a few minutes before it goes in the pan.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. The ganache is better on day two. Make it the day before, keep it chilled, and shape the quenelles just before serving.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.