Monthly Flavors for August – Light it Up!
August is here, and it is HOT! Here in the Bay Area we are dealing with heat waves, and I am about ready to melt.
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Here are the Big Gay Sword Day exclusive chocolates and cookies. This line is a great intro to Chocolate by E! I am glad you have decided to try some of these flavors out, and hopefully you want to try others as well.
The chocolate flavors were inspired by the color of the rainbow – I tried to match what I thought each color tasted like. The cookies were chosen in part by the cookie cutters I wanted to use, and a good show of the types of cookies I will make each month.
Red Berry Ruby Chocolate Ganache
Ruby chocolate is from a type of cocoa bean found in 2017. The naturally pink chocolate has a beautiful berry tanginess and sourness, while still tasting quite distinctly chocolate-y. I wanted to showcase the unique flavor of this chocolate. The ganache is highlighted with strawberry and raspberry, full of red berry sweetness and juiciness.
Apricot and Wild Madagascar Pepper White Chocolate Ganache
Madagascar pepper is closely related to tellicherry, our most common black pepper. The flavor though, is quite different. Madagascar pepper is much more zesty, with this wonderful woodsy-ness tellicherry lacks. It is a more mild spiciness, but the almost smoky woodsy flavor makes up for that in spades. This pepper is wonderful with all sorts of stone fruit, vanilla, goat cheese, and pretty much any baked good. The apricot brings a light tanginess and sweetness that rounds the ganache out beautifully.
Banana Caramel with Toasted Hazelnuts
Bananas are a natural choice for yellow flavors! But, they can often come across as artificial and super sweet. So, I used banana puree in a caramel to combat that! The caramel is dark and a bit bitter, and the banana comes across immediately with sweetness and creaminess. The little bits of crunchy hazelnut just add a wonderful texture to the whole thing! It is almost like eating a banana split sundae. Delicious!
Honeydew Melon and Mint Dark Chocolate Ganache
This one was hard. Honeydew is a very light flavor, and trying to get it across dark chocolate took some experimenting. In the end, backing the ganache with mint and bit of tarragon helped bring out the herby flavor of the melon! It adds this delicate sweetness and slight texture to the ganache that is so lovely.
Concord Grape Reduction with Concord Grape Milk Chocolate Ganache
Though we rarely see concord grapes on the shelf, they are actually the most common variety to grow in the US. They have a fairly thick blue/purple skin that separates quite easily, which means that keeping them looking nice in the produce section is pretty difficult! Concords have a very distinct flavor – very sweet, lacking the floral subtlety of green grapes and the tang of red grapes. They are commonly used in jams and juices to up the grape flavor. I was surprised that the grape flavor was muted in the ganache, so I backed it with a grape juice reduction. Wow! It is intensely grape now. You might say it “blue” your mind after you tried it!
Cassis Milk Chocolate Ganache
Cassis is blackcurrant, a beautifully tart berry from Europe and Asia. It is super purple when crushed, and is currently being tested as a sustainable hair dye! Flavor wise, it is acidic with grape or berry undertones. In this ganache, the milk chocolate tempers the acidity with creamy sweetness. Lovely!
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These sugar cookies are made with mixed essence. A combination of extracts popular in the Caribbean, it adds vanilla, pear, spice, and nuttiness. You don’t find it too often in the US, which is shame. It is a lovely combo of flavors!
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These are traditional Persian cookies called nan-e gerdui. They are naturally gluten and dairy free, and are often made for Nowruz, Persian New Year. They are not very sweet, and have a texture somewhat similar to shortbread. Perfect with a tea or coffee, or the best end to a delicious meal!
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August is here, and it is HOT! Here in the Bay Area we are dealing with heat waves, and I am about ready to melt.