The team at Gânache Chocolate South Yarra, led by Master Chocolatier, Arno Backes, have now introduced a chocolate high tea. There’s been a recent revamp of the interior, with a new white ceiling, accents of green, faux windows along the side, and light fixtures set higher from the ground. It lends to a more open and spacious feel to the European-style chocolate lounge.

This isn’t your typical high tea, but it’s still one with European influence. No finger sandwiches or scones here; instead there are savoury snacks like quiche and savoury croissants, or perhaps toasted sourdough sandwiches filled with yummy things like pulled pork, Gouda and cheddar cheese, and Bechamel sauce, using sourdough from Tivoli Rd.

On the sweet side there’s plenty of variety. A plate of their delectable hand crafted praline and chocolate-coated honeycomb sticks comes alongside the stand. Dense Parisian tea cake is a common breakfast item, and here might be topped with ingredients like toasted almonds or chocolate. Their macarons sandwich ganache rather than butter cream, giving them more intense and distinct flavours. Today we have vanilla, lavender, raspberry, and salted caramel, each easily identifiable by taste alone. The crisp shells, even feet and chewy cookie are perfectly executed.

Ganache also does cakes and patisserie. Their rich, dark and handsome Brownie Mousse cake has dark chocolate sponge, chocolate anglais, French style dark chocolate mousse, dark chocolate glaze, and gold leaf. One of their most popular cakes is the Hazelnut Fan, with hazelnut sponge, whole roasted hazelnuts, hazelnut praline, pailleté feuilletine, and soft milk chocolate mousse. There’s a bit of crunch in the cake courtesy of the roasted nuts and feuilletine, and plenty of hazelnut flavour throughout. It does not disappoint.

Gluten free and vegetarian menus are also available, where you might receive equally enticing treats like their rich raspberry and chocolate mousse.

For your beverage you can pick tea or coffee, but it is a chocolate shop after all, so there is always their signature classic hot chocolate to enjoy. Made with 60% dark couverture, the hot chocolate is thick and rich. There are plenty of interesting cocktails to choose from too. The Urban Cocktail contains Kahlua, Baileys, Frangelico, dark chocolate ganache, vanilla bean gelato, and their own rooftop Urban Honey. It’s like an adult dessert in drink form. Their bees fly up to 5km to get nectar, and there’s a slight variation in flavour in each batch thanks to the variety of flowers available to them as the seasons pass. If you’re not in the mood for too much food, they also have happy hour 2-for-1 cocktails every day from 5-7pm.

The Chocolate High tea is available at their South Yarra location from 12-5pm every day and is open to walk-ins, but it’s best to book if in a group just in case. At $35pp, or $45 with a cocktail, the high tea offering at Ganache Chocolate is a steal and the chocolate-lover’s dream.

Disclaimer: I was invited to Gânache Chocolate as a guest, however, opinions expressed here are purely my own, and are based on my experience at the time

Gânache Chocolate
250 Toorak Road
South Yarra, VIC, 3141
(03) 9804 7485
http://www.ganache.com.au/