Intriguing new flavours to combine with chocolate

October 14th-20th is Chocolate Week 2019 and as we look ahead to the treat-fest that is Halloween, here are five intriguing new flavours to combine with chocolate.

Whether you’re inspired by the Great British Bake Off’s Dessert Week or by the recent Cadbury’s competition to design your own chocolate bar, it’s a confectionery that lends itself well to including new flavours, including some that have rarely been tried before.

Food manufacturers sometimes add flavour ingredients to alter the taste of the chocolate itself, and add other elements like fruit, nuts, biscuits and popping candy for a variety of taste and texture alike.  Here are some of our favourites:

Black Pepper

Add this spice to dark chocolate or to balance the sweetness of white chocolate.

Originating from India or Madagascar, black pepper combines well with sweet fruits like strawberry or condiments like sea salt for a classic, yet contemporary, flavour pairing that offers a new experience on the tongue.

Lavender

Fragrant lavender works well with both milk chocolate and dark chocolate alike, and can add a perfumed flavour to sugary white chocolate for people with a really sweet tooth.

Other floral flavour ingredients like rose create a more complex bouquet, or you can decorate the finished product with preserved rose or lavender petals to give it an artisan, luxurious appearance.

Patchouli

You’ll often find patchouli and dark chocolate together as aromas, but patchouli can also be a flavour ingredient – so why not build that bridge between fragrance and flavour?

We admit it’s an acquired taste, but this chocolatey combination works well with Peppermint too to leave a fresh aftertaste in the mouth following the immediate complex flavour of the patchouli itself.

Pimento Berry

Pimento berry is better known to home bakers as “Allspice,” and offers a flavour similar to that of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves with a hint of pepper.

Often used in pumpkin spice blends, it makes a perfect warming flavour ingredient to add to chocolate and other confectionery around Halloween and right through until Christmas and the cold winter months.

Tea

We often associate chocolate with coffee but did you know that tea is another contemporary flavour?

Green tea, bergamot and Earl Grey are already quite common among luxury chocolate brands.  Rooibos tea often has chocolate nibs added to loose leaf blends so it’s not surprising to find the tea itself infusing dark chocolate. Black and white tea are quite under-represented but well worth exploring in order to experience the perfect chocolate bar to accompany a mid-afternoon cuppa.

Zanos Ltd. supplies these essential oils and other flavour ingredients to contract food manufacturers.  We are happy to help you find what you are looking for.  Email webenquiries@zanos.co.uk or speak to our Sales Specialists on 01565 755899.