A Craving for Chocolate
Restaurants USA, April 1997

From decadently rich multilayered cakes to low-fat-yet-tempting cooking, chocolate desserts remain menu favorites of customers and chefs alike.
By Toni Lydecker

"I always go on the premise that people have to eat, but they don't have to eat dessert," says Billy Boudreau, pastry chef at Felucca in Brookline, Massachusetts. "That's why chocolate is so important to a dessert menu. If people treat dessert as a reward, then they want to be rewarded with something spectacular — and that usually means something chocolate."

Jacqueline Riley, corporate pastry chef for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises in Chicago, agrees. "The perception of chocolate desserts is that decadent, 'Oh, I'm really going to treat myself' type of feeling," she says. "There will always be people who come in anticipating an awesome chocolate dessert. You can't disappoint them."

But while pastry chefs don't want to disappoint their customers, they also have the challenging task of meeting customers' constantly changing tastes. "I think that chocolate desserts are still very popular. However, I would say that people today are more knowledgeable about food, which leads them in a different direction," says Riley.

"I think they are looking for a yummy, familiar chocolate taste, but with a more innovative twist."

Here are some of the innovative ways pastry chefs around the country are satisfying their customers' chocolate cravings.

Quality upgrade. Recognizing that the right chocolate can propel a dessert from average to outstanding, chefs are upgrading to brands with superior flavor and handling characteristics — and many are listing those chocolates by their brand names on the menu. Top-line "vintage chocolates" are judged a little like wine, by aromatic properties, finish and so on.

Decadence reigns. Desserts that capitalize on chocolate's affinity for cream, butter and sugar remain in the majority. A classic example is "Death by Chocolate," a multilayered extravaganza served at The Trellis in Williamsburg, Virginia. The dessert was the inspiration for the title of co-owner Marcel Desaulniers' chocolate-dessert cookbook.

"Low test" at its best. There's also room on the menu for desserts such as a nonfat, bittersweet chocolate sorbet. Even Desaulniers' Death by Chocolate cookbook contains several "low-test" desserts, rich in flavor but not in calories or fat.

Seasonal fruit/chocolate combos. Classic pairings that are keepers include apples and pumpkins for fall, oranges and pears in winter, berries in spring and summer, and bananas anytime.

Chips and crunch. Providing a counterpoint to creamy chocolate are crunchy pastry, nuts and caramel. Desserts with several kinds of chocolate chips, such as white, semisweet and bittersweet, are also popular.

"Fallen" desserts rise in favor. Two-texture chocolate desserts such as souffle tortes are cakey or crusty on the outside, saucy or puddinglike on the inside.

Playful pretenders. Pots de creme and frozen "hot chocolate" masquerade as beverages, in coffee cups or latte glasses. Ice-cream sandwiches go gourmet when made with house-baked chocolate cookies and premium ice cream.

Warm from the oven. Customers are pampered with warm chocolate desserts, easy to prep in advance and pop into the oven as orders come in.

Dense, gooey comfort food

European children who eat bread spread with chocolate as an after-school snack would agree with Boudreau that chocolate is "a comfort food." In creating desserts, he takes his cue from the nature of the ingredients and customers' expectations. "People usually equate chocolate with a heavier dessert. They want something dense, rich in flavor, fairly sweet, gooey," he says. "I don't like making chocolate into something low fat because that misses the whole premise."

Richard Palm, executive pastry chef at The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin, also sees a comfort-food element to chocolate's lasting popularity. "Chocolate remains a dessert favorite because it is able to excite and comfort at the same time. I think the latest trend in chocolate desserts is to use familiar concepts — comfort food if you wish — and to combine them with very contemporary architectural presentations."

Often simple is best when it comes to chocolate. Boudreau, who was previously the pastry chef at Boston's now-defunct Mirabelle restaurant, says that one of the best-selling desserts during his tenure there was a simple plate of cookies. "I see people who remember me from Mirabelle, and they all ask when I'm going to start selling `the cookies' again. It was just a plate of four cookies, including `Chocolate Sambucca' and `Chocolate Chunk,' and we would warm them up before we served them so they would melt a little on the plate," he says. "I mean, how simple can you get? But that's what everyone remembers." Boudreau says he is definitely planning on adding the cookie plate to the dessert menu at Felucca.

Another simple dessert he plans to serve at Felucca is chocolate pudding. "A lot of Americans have grown up with chocolate pudding in a box. They don't know how really good real chocolate pudding can be," he says. "I'm going to serve the pudding with just a small dollop of whipped cream and a little chocolate sauce — and I bet it will be one of our strongest sellers."

A smorgasbord of sugar

"I think chocolate desserts are more popular today than ever because they are both familiar and exotic, simple and complex, rich but reasonable," says Palm. "Customers are looking for a whole range of chocolate desserts, but on the whole, they need some basis of familiarity in order to be comfortable."

Palm offers his customers a broad range of chocolate choices, from the simple to the sublime, during The American Club's annual "In Celebration of Chocolate" event. The all-chocolate gala has been a holiday-season tradition at The American Club for 13 years; the theme of this past December's buffet was "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas."

The event featured a 100-foot buffet filled with everything from bonbons to "White and Dark Chocolate Studded Florentines" and "Pecan Cashew Dark Chocolate Baklava." Palm and his staff begin preparing for the annual event in midsummer. He says that no recipe is ever repeated, and devising a unique menu each year requires months of research and recipe testing. As many as 20 chefs may work with Palm on the event, typically using more than 600 pounds of imported and domestic chocolate in their creations.

As testament to chocolate's enduring popularity, Palm says that some customers make reservations for the chocolate gala a year in advance; the 1996 event drew 400 chocolate-lovers.

Complex combinations

When it comes to creating a chocolate dessert, there are two schools of thought, says Jacqueline Riley, who was formerly the pastry chef at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago. "Some pastry chefs go for a classic, like a German chocolate cake, and then jazz it up to make it more current," she says. "The other way is to go with something more innovative, like a chocolate pastilla with caramel-coriander ice cream or an infused Earl Grey tea ganache tart with candied kumquats. The older generation of desserts tended to be creamy. Now there's more layering of textures — crunchy versus creamy, solid versus melting and so on."

Riley says she likes to vary her chocolate desserts depending on the season. "In the spring and summer, there are many beautiful fruits and herbs that go well with different varieties of chocolate," she says. "Then in the fall and winter, we can incorporate more robust flavors and ingredients, using things like nuts, liqueurs, dried fruits and winter fruits."

While certain combinations that include chocolate draw sighs of delight from diners, Riley and Boudreau warn that going overboard can ruin a chocolate dessert. "Chocolate is a very complex ingredient; if you put too many things on the plate, then it takes away from the nuances of the chocolate," Boudreau says. "Lots of things go great with chocolate, but too many will dilute the power of the dessert."

Avoiding a meltdown

Chocolate is a notoriously temperamental ingredient, giving chefs yet another reason to select carefully. Boudreau, who is partial to a Belgian brand, says, "It's very consistent. I know how it melts and how far it can be abused."

The fine Swiss chocolate distributed by Albert Uster Imports deserves royal treatment at all times, according to Andreas Galliker, research chef for the Gaithersburg, Maryland, company. "If you don't take care of a Ferrari, it will look like an ordinary car," he says. "Good chocolate is the same way. Work with it in a careful way, and you will succeed."

Good care begins with storing chocolate in a cool place (ideally, at 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit) where no moisture can reach it. Riley warns that chefs must "always treat chocolate with respect in order to ensure beautiful results." Melting chocolate without scorching it can also be tricky. Chocolate can be zapped in a microwave, chefs say, if you check on it often. The trick, they say, is to stop when some of the chocolate seems rock hard and stir it, allowing the heated portion to melt the rest. Caution is also required when a hot-water bath or double boiler is used to melt chocolate; contact with just a few drops of water, or even steam, can ruin chocolate by causing it to "seize."

Tempering (a stabilizing process used for couverture) a special chocolate with extra cocoa butter calls for heating and cooling the chocolate within a precise temperature range; afterward it remains glossy and does not melt, even at room temperature. Riley, who tempers chocolate to cover some of her confections, advises, "You have to be careful that the bowl is clean and dry, so that there is no chance of oil or water getting into the chocolate."

Easy elegance

Marcel Desaulniers' Death by Chocolate is a good source for beautiful desserts that do not require tempering or other tricky procedures. Included are techniques such as making chocolate curls with a vegetable peeler and practical recipes such as "Chocolate Transportation," a happy traveler ideal for off-site catered events.

Some of Albert Uster Imports' restaurant-industry customers order couvertures and flavoring pastes to make their own truffles, mousses and other confections. For other restaurateurs, chocolate tartlet shells, precut shavings and mousse mixes are building blocks for signature desserts. "There is definitely a trend to semifinished desserts," says chef Andreas Galliker. "Less labor, but the restaurant can still put its own stamp on the dessert."

Another trend that Billy Boudreau sees is a return to less-complex chocolate desserts that focus on high-quality ingredients. "More chefs are using premium chocolates and listing them by name to add panache to the dessert menu," he says. "Who knows, maybe chocolate is our next cigar."

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