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Belgian Chocolate
It may come as a surprise but not all Belgian chocolates taste the same! Like many other things in life there are many different qualities. There are over 300 companies making chocolates in Belgium and unfortunately they’re not proud of everything they produce!
Kim’s Les Cygnes chocolates are one of the best.
Chocolate tasting…mmmh!
To taste chocolate properly, it is best to let a small piece melt on your tongue. See if it is it fatty or waxy? Is it gritty? Check that it is not burnt or smoky. Taste that there is a balance between sweet and bitter. Finally, it must finish properly and like a good wine have a long after-taste.
If you try a cheap, commercial chocolate look out for “palate cling”. That’s the cloying, greasy residue on the roof of your mouth. It is caused by substituting cocoa butter with cheaper vegetable fats and sugar.
Kim’s guarantee 100% chocolate with no added vegetable fats in the couverture. They use only the finest ingredients with no addition of preservatives or genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Fillings
| Praliné: | Caramelised, finely ground almonds and/or hazelnuts, mixed with milk chocolate. |
| Ganache: | Mixture of chocolate and cream, usually with extra butter. |
| Marzipan: | Molten sugar mixed with finely ground almonds, often with some pistachio nuts as well. |
| Gianduja: | Super fine mixture of ground hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts, sugar and milk chocolate or plain chocolate. Finer than a praline. |
| Truffle: | Mixture of chocolate, cocoa butter, sugar and cream powder. |
| Fondant: | Mixture of various sugars, water and confectioner’s glucose. |
| Croquant: | Caramelised sugar with chopped roasted hazelnuts and/or almonds. |
| Caramel: | Caramelised sugar mixed with fresh cream and butter. |
| Fresh Cream: | Whipped fresh cream with added butter and glucose. |
| Nougat: | Mixture of whisked egg-white, boiled sugar or honey, nuts and candied fruit. |
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