Good morning! We have come to the last blog for Choosing the Right Chocolate. This week, I will tell you more about choosing chocolate for the different types of dessert.
Being a pastry chef who loves chocolate, I have always been experimenting with different chocolate and ingredients. Some are marvelous while others turn out errrr.
First and foremost like what we have said earlier, we need to identify which ingredients are the ‘star’ of the desserts. Will it be the chocolate or the fruits, nuts etc?
Following are some learning points on how to choose the right chocolate for the right desserts:
Cakes & Plated Desserts
Chocolate mousse in cakes and plated desserts needs to be chosen based on your desired taste profile as they are be the star component in your creation. Chocolates chosen should have more character and distinctive taste profile.
If the dessert consist of a more traditional chocolate sponge cake where it is just an accompanying component for other ingredients or glazes, any types of chocolate is fine. In this case, chocolates of lower cocoa percentage are recommended to prevent overwhelming flavours.
Baked Products
For baked products like cookies or cupcakes, it is important to use only chocolates that are bake stable. The type of chocolate used should have a more intense cocoa profile as the sugar used in your baked goods will easily overwhelms any other flavours.
Cold/Frozen/Half-frozen desserts (Eg. Ice Cream, Verrines and Semi-freddo)
At such low temperature, the human tongue is unable to detect any subtle flavours, hence chocolates with stronger profiles would be an ideal choice. White chocolate are also commonly mixed together with other flavours due to its smooth and creamy texture.
We have come to an end to the series, and I do hope that you have learned something out of it. Always remember in the culinary world, there’s no right chocolate, only the perfect one for your dessert!
Lastly do feel free to contact me and my team regarding our range of Patissier chocolate and we will be more than happy to assist you.
Cheers,
Chef Jacques Poulain.