Monthly Flavors for June – Born This Way
Happy June! This month, we celebrate love. I am personally out and proud (which is why the pansexual flag always appears in my June chocolates),
Feel Beautiful wishes you a happy and safe Fourth of July!
Passion Fruit Pâte de Fruit with Passion Flower Milk Chocolate Ganache
I was surprised that the passion flower doesn’t really taste a whole lot like its fruit. It is very delicate, where I think of the fruit as a very assertive flavor. So, to get the full passion experience I needed to have both in this chocolate! The pâte de fruit is crunchy with seeds while the ganache is smooth and almost elastic on the tongue. Passion fruit is tangy and acidic where passion flower is earthy and almost savory. This chocolate is a wonderful experiment with dichotomy!
Hyssop Caramel
This is the flower most people are likely the least familiar with. Hyssop is native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea and has been long used as in traditional herbal medicines. It has a minty, slightly bitter flavor that plays really nicely with caramels. The bitterness of the herb is similar but distinct to the bitterness of the caramel, and the mintiness is a lovely herbal finish.
Jasmine White Chocolate Ganache
I think many people are familiar with the scent of jasmine – the vine or bushes smell absolutely divine when flowering. There is also jasmine tea, where tea leaves are layered over the flowers to infuse their smell and taste into the tea. But I do not think many people have tasted just the blossoms before: it is a perfumed, sweet taste that is similar to the smell but much lighter. The white chocolate here helps elevate the sweetness of the flowers while letting them be the star of the show.
Lavender and Vanilla White Chocolate Ganache
Lavender can turn so perfumy so quickly! Balancing it within a ganache can be quite tricky, but I think this chocolate turned out beautifully. Here, the vanilla is strong and creamy while the lavender is citrusy and minty. The white chocolate just carries these two floral flavors along while giving body.
Lemon and Basil White Chocolate Ganache
Paladins are fighters who have sworn an oath to stand against the forces of evil. They have great healing powers and are often characterized as holier than thou, straight-laced, or goody-two shoes. I was playing with the idiom “cleanliness is next to godliness” with this chocolate. I wanted bright and clean, and lemon really fit the bill. The basil rounds the ganache and makes it more complex.
Happy June! This month, we celebrate love. I am personally out and proud (which is why the pansexual flag always appears in my June chocolates),