Chocolate twists from Amy's Bread in NYC.
Chocolate belongs in so many places in the bakery case: cakes, cupcakes, donuts, and even sourdough bread twists, like the top-selling chocolate twists at Amy’s Bread in New York City. Blue Star Donuts, which has grown to 10 locations (including two in Japan) since opening in Portland, Oregon, in 2012, features originals like Valhrona Chocolate Crunch donuts. More retailers are starting to accent the brand of chocolate they use to entice customers with a gourmet approach.
Batter Bakery in San Francisco features Guittard chocolate in its signature Bourbon Chocolate Cherry Cookies, and Brooklyn, New York’s award-winning Ovenly uses Guittard Black Cocoa in its epic version of Brooklyn Blackout Cake.
Chocolate manufacturers continue to push the industry forward with new products that enable bakers and pastry chefs to keep pace with the latest trends.
Chocolate Crunch donuts from Blue Star Donuts.
New from Guittard Chocolate Company, resealable 3-kilogram bags of 14 varieties of Collection Etienne chocolates are now available for professionals. The new bags feature color-coded labels for easy reference and are designed for convenient kitchen storage. The wafer form factor allows for ease of measurement and even melting.
Using only the finest cacao beans sourced for their quality and sustainability from farms around the world, these blends celebrate the true artistry of chocolate making—a time-tested craft Guittard has cultivated since opening its doors on San Francisco’s Embarcadero in 1868. Handcrafted in Guittard’s San Francisco Bay Area chocolate factory, the blends in the Collection Etienne line come in dark, milk, white, and organic chocolate. The blends are peanut free, gluten free, soy-free, non-GMO and are certified Fair Trade.
“A bakery and pastry shop should have one workhorse chocolate and then specific chocolates for other uses,” says Guittard’s executive pastry chef Donald Wressell, who has earned many accolades including being awarded the Distinguished Visiting Chef Award 2016 by Johnson & Wales. “Chocolate has a lot of value and makes your products more visible to everyone.”
Available from Puratos, bakers can use Carat Compound Chips to add a chocolaty surprise inside of finished products, or use delicious Carat Hard & Soft Compound Coatings, available in dark, milk and white. Bakers and pastry chefs alike can flavor dough or mousse with Carat for a rich chocolate taste.
Carat is Puratos’ premium line of compound coatings and chips. Products in this easy-to-use, rich and delicious range are made with 100% sustainable and great tasting ingredients. Puratos selects only the finest ingredients to ensure all of the easy-to-use Carat products have excellent chocolate taste, texture and gloss.
In2food offers a wide variety of decorative toppings and even printed chocolates. Adding toppings such as cocoa nibs can add to the gourmet appeal of your product lines, and a sure way to boost profitability.
Chef Marc Seaman of Barry Callebaut demonstrates creative ways to use Callebaut Crispearls that enable you to add a “remarkably seductive chocolate touch” to your pastries, desserts and pralines, according to Callebaut. “Pipe a series of beads to resemble a string of pearls or fill a mini chocolate bowl with mousse and top with crunchy texture. These are ways you can make your products look upscale without having to worry about adding new labor.”
Mona Lisa Fondant
For the first time, Barry Callebaut Group is introducing rolled fondant under its Mona Lisa specialty decorations. The product line was developed to offer solutions for the most common challenges cake artists encounter when working with fondant products.
“As a dedicated supplier in the specialty decorations category, our goal is to create products that best serve our customers and enable them to bake their visionary creations,” says Beau Netzer, specialty products general manager at Barry Callebaut. “The introduction of rolled fondant provides a functional way for bakers, pastry chefs and cake artists to take their creativity to new heights, and is a natural progression for the Mona Lisa brand.”
Mona Lisa Rolled Fondant is available in white and chocolate varieties, and is formulated to deliver technical, taste and dietary benefits, including the following:
Easy Workability – The fondant rolls thinly to deliver exceptional elasticity, making it ideal for sculpted cakes. Additionally, the tear-resistant fondant dries semi-firm to create a consistent surface for chocolate applications and other decorative details. The unique ingredient formulation allows for longer working times to accommodate different cake sizes and multiple climates.
Premium Ingredients – To address growing consumer demand for products made with high-quality ingredients and the fondant is not produced with genetic engineering. For consumers with special dietary needs, the new fondant contains 0 grams trans-fat, is suitable for vegan and gluten-free diets, and is certified Kosher Pareve.
Consistent Taste & Color – The white fondant is free of Titanium Dioxide – a common food color additive found in many fondant brands. The chocolate fondant achieves its rich color and taste from cocoa powder. Both fondant varieties are ideal for wedding and other celebration cake applications, helping ensure taste and appearance are never compromised.
Packaged for Freshness – Mona Lisa Rolled Fondant is packaged to maximize product freshness. Each container of fondant includes two 10lb vacuum-sealed packages that prevent top-layer dryness prior to opening, helping eliminate unnecessary product waste.
