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French · Angers

Quernon d'Ardoise

The Quernon d'Ardoise is a chocolate confection unique to Angers — a ganache of praline and nougatine enrobed in blue-tinted chocolate, designed to resemble the distinctive blue-grey ardoise (slate) tiles that roof every building in the Anjou. Created by the Maison Benoit Chocolats in 1963, the quernon (from 'cornon,' an old Angevin dialect word for 'corner,' referencing the slate tile's angular shape) has become Angers' most recognized edible emblem and an official Patrimoine Gourmand de l'Anjou. The construction is precise: a center of praline (caramelized hazelnuts and almonds, ground to a paste) is layered with shards of nougatine (caramelized sugar with sliced almonds), creating a textural contrast between smooth and crunchy. This center is cut into rectangular tiles and enrobed in dark chocolate tinted with blue cocoa butter to achieve the distinctive slate-blue color. The visual effect is striking: a plate of quernons genuinely resembles a pile of miniature roof slates, the blue-grey color exact to the local stone. The flavor is primarily nutty and caramelized, with the dark chocolate providing bitter balance. The Benoit family guards the recipe, and while other chocolatiers in Angers produce their own versions, the original remains the standard. Quernons are sold in slate-colored boxes, given as gifts, served at the end of Angevin meals with coffee, and have become the subject of an annual Fête du Quernon. They represent the Loire confiseur tradition at its most inventive — a modern confection (1963) that has already become deeply traditional, proving that culinary heritage is continuously created.

‹Swipe for the next dish›
ServesAbout 24 quernons
Sourced1of 7 in BC
Cook
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I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

For the praline center
150 g
hazelnuts
blanched
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
150 g
almonds
blanched
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
caster sugar
for caramelizing the praline
Your own market
For the nougatine layer
150 g
caster sugar
for caramelizing the nougatine
Your own market
100 g
sliced almonds
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the enrobing
400 g
dark chocolate
tempered, for enrobing
Your own market
30 g
blue cocoa butter
food-grade, to tint the enrobing chocolate slate-blue
Your own market

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

II

The Method

1
Caramelize the caster sugar for the praline to a deep amber. Add the blanched hazelnuts and almonds, stirring to coat fully. Pour onto a silicone mat and allow to cool until completely hard. Break into pieces and grind to a smooth paste in a food processor. The praline is ready when the paste is cohesive, glossy, and smells of roasted nuts and caramel.
From the canon — Caramelisation is the pyrolytic degradation and polymerisation of sugars at elevated temperatures — a non-enzymatic browning reaction distinct from the Maill… Caramel — Dry vs Wet Methods (Sugar Science) →
2
Caramelize the caster sugar for the nougatine to a light amber. Add the sliced almonds and stir briefly to combine. Pour onto a silicone mat, spread thin, and allow to cool until fully set and brittle. Break into irregular shards. The nougatine is ready when it snaps cleanly and carries a honey-gold color throughout.
From the canon — Nougatine is a classical French confection of caramelised sugar and toasted nuts — traditionally almonds — rolled thin and moulded while still pliable for us… Nougatine — Caramelised Nut Brittle →
3
Press the praline paste into a level slab approximately 1 cm thick. Distribute shards of nougatine evenly across the surface, pressing them gently into the praline so they are anchored. This is where the dish lives or dies: the layering of smooth praline against crunchy nougatine must be deliberate and even — too little nougatine and the defining textural contrast is lost; too much and the slab will not cut cleanly into tiles. The center is ready when the nougatine is embedded but still proud enough to fracture on the bite.
4
Refrigerate the slab briefly until firm, then cut into rectangular tiles approximating the angular shape of Angevin ardoise — the quernon form referenced in the original Angevin dialect word cornon, meaning corner. The cuts are ready when each piece holds its rectangular edges without crumbling.
5
Melt and temper the dark chocolate. Stir the blue cocoa butter into the tempered chocolate until the colour is uniformly slate-blue throughout — no streaks of brown remaining. Enrobe each tile by dipping or coating, allowing the excess to fall cleanly. Set on a wire rack at 16–18 °C. The enrobing is ready when the shell has set to a matte, slate-grey surface that does not yield to light finger pressure.
6
Store finished quernons at 16–18 °C — never refrigerated, as cold induces cocoa butter bloom, destroying both colour and surface. The quernons are ready to serve when they have rested to room temperature (18–20 °C), at which point the praline flavor develops fully on the palate.
III

Quality Hierarchy

01
Reserve — The original Maison Benoit Chocolats quernon, sold on Rue des Lices in Angers: the recipe guarded by the Benoit family since 1963, the blue cocoa butter proprietary in its exact tint, and the packaging the traditional boîte d'ardoise.
02
Estate — Quernons produced by other Angevin chocolatiers working within the Patrimoine Gourmand de l'Anjou designation, using locally sourced praline pastes and correctly tinted dark chocolate enrobing.
03
Market — A conscientious house version using quality dark chocolate, food-grade blue cocoa butter, and freshly made praline and nougatine — the center cut and enrobed with care for the angular tile form.
04
House — A simplified version using commercially prepared praline paste and crushed nougatine, enrobed in blue-tinted dark chocolate — acceptable in flavor, compromised in the textural precision that defines the original.
IV

Sensory Tests

◇Sight. The set enrobing is matte and uniformly slate-blue — no streaks, no bloom, no gloss variation — and each piece holds the rectangular tile form without cracked edges.
◇Sound. The nougatine snaps cleanly when broken; a dull crack indicates it has absorbed moisture and lost the crunch essential to the praline-nougatine contrast.
◇Touch. The enrobed shell yields a clean snap under thumb pressure without flexing; the interior offers immediate resistance from the embedded nougatine shards.
◇Smell. At room temperature, the quernon releases roasted hazelnut and almond aromas with a caramel undertone; no rancidity, no refrigerator condensation.
◇Where it lives or dies. The layering of smooth praline against embedded nougatine shards must be even and deliberate — this textural contrast between smooth and crunchy is the defining character of the quernon, and its loss renders the confection generic.
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VI

What to Pour

The pairing
Blandy's Sercial Colheita Madeira
Blandy's · Madeira
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Fortified wine
From British Columbia

Nothing from British Columbia holds against this yet.

Without alcohol

No pour without alcohol holds against this yet.

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The whole pairing
Pillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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Sourced through Provenance

The hands behind the plate.

Bosa Foods
Vancouver · hazelnuts
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