the making of allure
In September of 2014, we released Allure, a signature chocolate created in collaboration with renowned French chocolate house Cacao Barry®. Chocolate Arts owner and head chocolatier Greg Hook visited the Or Noir™ laboratory & became the first artisan chocolatier in Canada to visit and blend his own signature chocolate. The outcome was Allure, a highly personalized product embodying the flavour profile and characteristics Greg looks for in his chocolate.
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Each phase of the meticulous multi-step process building on the outcome of the one before, Greg’s research began while still in Vancouver, with a blind taste test of chocolates demonstrating various key flavor profiles to determine his preferences. Next he travelled to France to visit the laboratory, where he began by using a ‘spider’ map (See Below) to determine how he wanted the chocolate to taste based on bitter, sweet, aromatic, fruity, cocoa, roasted & acidity as well as an idea of the finished cacao percentage.
Next was a series of 3 rounds of blind tasting of single-origin chocolates, cacao beans & heated cacao masses where smelling the masses was of key importance. Having started with 12 varieties of beans & narrowing them down to his 3 favourites with the help of the Or Noir™ experts, he then blended his first recipe combining different quantities of the selected beans. After tasting this first blend another 3 recipes were created using slightly different percentages of the three beans only blending the next recipe after tasting the previous. When all recipes were created the chocolate was tempered and molded with various nuts & fruits in order to evaluate compatibility.
These recipes were then blind tasted once again & rated from 1-4. To give his taste buds a reprieve, a leisurely lunch break was taken. Upon his return to the laboratory he then blind tasted the chocolates again. Greg kept returning to the same blend as his favourite recipe. To ensure that his selection completely suited him the blend was then tasted as a ganache to see how the flavour translated as a bon bon. Upon announcing that this was his selection it was revealed that his dark chocolate was comprised of cocoa beans from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Peru. This selection is called Allure 71.1%.
Allure demonstrates a strong cocoa start that carries through a round fruity finish. While traditionally most fruity chocolates lack a strong cocoa punch and cocoa-heavy varieties lack fruit, this personal blend effectively harmonizes these attributes. Allure is used in various chocolates, pastries and beverages at Chocolate Arts, as well as being available in various formats for home use.
the making of a ganache
Since 1992, we’ve produced playful, innovative chocolate creations while striving to remain true to artisanal quality and traditions. The first Vancouver chocolate shop to align itself with the local, sustainable movement, we also source locally grown, organic and seasonal products wherever possible. To that end, new chocolate flavours are determined through careful consideration to seasonality and an awareness of the characteristics that will contribute to, and enhance, our current selection.
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Owner and Chef Chocolatier Greg Hook adheres to a “flavour philosophy” of simplicity. No more than two distinct flavour components—either complimentary or contrasting—ever go into our ganaches. This allows us to showcase the purity of our house-distilled flavours while achieving a finished product demonstrating integrity and balance. Drawing on experience and meticulous taste testing, we then determine the chocolate to be used based on how it harmonizes or plays against our chosen flavourings.
We flavour our ganaches using a variety of methods: cold infusion (in which our flavouring agents are steeped in cold cream), hot infusion (flavouring agents are steeped in hot cream), quick infusions (heating cream to 60 degrees celsius & infusing for 3 minutes) and the distilling of concentrated fruit essences through evaporation. Through extensive experience and constant experimentation, we’ve determined a number of great ways to coax the truest and brightest flavours from our ingredients.