Chocolate Chip Brioche

I stumbled across this beauty at the Mariposa Bakery, a happening little place with vivid green walls in the gentrified-but-still-gritty (for Cambridge) neighborhood of Central Square. The clerk helpfully offered to "walk me through" their selection of baked goods, and while I didn't go in looking for anything in particular, I walked out with two of these.

First we must admire the brioche's similarity in shape to a perfect souffle. It's such a tall little pastry. Once the eating begins, we find that the texture is light and surprisingly firm, admirably done, but not really anything to bring us back for more ... until, that is, the effect of the chocolate sinks in, and then it's all over. Dark, dense, a touch of bitter, a touch of sweet. Special enough overall to hold its own as a nice dessert, maybe cut in half with a scoop of coffee ice cream on top.