10 essential spices to enhance chocolate

With the festive season just around the corner, it’s time to plunge into the magic of the winter season. Christmas is the time for heart-warming traditions: chocolate, the ultimate comfort food that accompanies us throughout the cold season.

Winter is the perfect time to warm up with delicious chocolate creations, from advent calendars and cakes to hot drinks and comforting desserts. As spice enthusiasts, we’re delighted to present a selection of our exquisite spices to enhance the flavour of your chocolate creations this winter.

Using spices in chocolate or cocoa-based creations is becoming increasingly popular, thanks to the many chefs who are popularising original combinations. This winter, let yourself be tempted by spices to make Christmas treats, and why not create your own advent calendar, or gourmet gifts for the festive season!

Here are our favourite spices to give an original spicy touch to chocolate recipes:

Fleur de Sel de Kampot PGI: Elegance in Simplicity

To begin with, we recommend using Fleur de Sel de Kampot to enhance your chocolates. It has a PGI label certifying its origin and exceptional quality. The use of Fleur de Sel de Kampot, with its Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) label, guarantees a unique taste experience for your chocolate creations. This recognition attests to the traditional know-how of the producers in the Kampot region of Cambodia and the purity of this salty treasure, carefully extracted from the local salt marshes.

This variety of salt is renowned for its delicacy and crunchiness, making it the ideal companion for chocolate. A pinch of Fleur de Sel de Kampot added to your chocolate mixture will add a subtly salty note that will enhance the richness of the cocoa flavours. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the balance between the sweetness of the chocolate and the saltiness of the Fleur de Sel de Kampot.

Some recipe ideas: Fleur de Sel de Kampot can be added to chocolate cakes, to make your own chocolates for Advent or festive meals, and also to delicious Fleur de Sel chocolate cookies. We also love adding it to chocolate ice cream for a delicious sweet and savoury touch!

Young Ginger: A Spicy and Refreshing Touch

Young Ginger brings a gentle warmth and invigorating freshness to your chocolate creations. The peppery, lemony notes of young ginger blend perfectly with chocolate, creating a taste harmony that will awaken your senses.

How to use it: Try adding a pinch of Young Ginger Powder to your hot chocolate, or stir it into your chocolate biscuit or brownie recipes for an unforgettable flavour and distinctive power.

Sweet Long Pepper aka Paprika: A hint of spice

Our Cambodian Paprika, also known as Sweet Long Pepper, adds sweetness, a smoky note (for the Cold Smoked version), and a hint of spiciness to your chocolate creations. Added sparingly, it can transform an ordinary chocolate dessert into an extraordinary taste experience. Paprika goes particularly well with dark chocolate, creating a surprisingly balanced combination.

Our Tip: Always add a little Kampot Flower of Salt when using our Sweet Long Pepper (Paprika), as the salty touch will perfectly balance and enhance the flavours of the Sweet Long Pepper. Like all chillies, it goes very well with chocolate mousse, homemade chocolate bars and even a chocolate tart. You’ll be surprised by this ancient use, at the heart of the Mayan culinary culture of the Mexican region, to be rediscovered with our Cambodian Paprika.

Cinnamon and Cardamom: Comforting Classics

Cinnamon and cardamom are winter grocery classics. Combining them, together or separately, in your chocolate recipes will bring warmth and comfort. At La Plantation, we offer you rare versions of these spices: Cassia Cinnamon, which comes from the cassia cinnamon tree, or from China, and not from Ceylon, which is very common in France and Europe. Our Cassia Cinnamon, on the other hand, is more commonly used in the United States, where it is a great classic in Autumn dishes and on Thanksgiving tables, as in Pumpkie Pie! Our Cardamom is wild, picked in the mountains of the same name by a local community during the rainy season, and cold-smoked to protect it from humidity.

Ideal for adding a truly unique spicy touch to chocolate dishes, Cinnamon adds a warm, gourmet flavour, while Cardamom adds minty, slightly smoky notes.

What to pair them with? These unique spices, Casse Cinnamon and Wild Cardamom, are a sure choice for enhancing your chocolate fondants or moelleux, in chocolate pears, and even a chocolate fondue.

Our Chai Mix: A Spicy and Bewitching Fragrance

Our exotic Chai Mix is made with Cinnamon, Cardamom, Ginger, Turmeric and Black Kampot Pepper. Delicious, it’s also a real bowl of health thanks to the many benefits of these spices! It gives your chocolate desserts an enchanting exotic touch.

To use: add a teaspoon of our Chai Mix to your classic hot chocolate recipe for a highly original spicy touch! It’s also delicious for adding an aromatic touch to your dark chocolate ice creams or sorbets, and to your homemade chocolate granolas.

Fresh Kampot Pepper with Salt: An Unexpected Surprise

Our Fresh Kampot Pepper with Salt is a unique spice, an exclusive La Plantation creation, which combines the spiciness of pepper with the subtlety of salt, to bring you the aromas of green pepper, which is harvested green when still young and enjoyed fresh on the spot in the Kampot region. Adding this spice to your chocolate recipes can reveal unsuspected nuances of flavour, both peppery and salty.

How to use it? Try a pinch of Fresh Kampot Pepper with Salt to enhance the flavour of your chocolate truffles, your chocolate mousse, and also for chocolate éclairs – a real treat! Note that this pepper is not ground, but used directly, added to your raw preparations or after cooking.

Kaffir Lime Zest and Pandan Powder: Exotic Jewels

For an exotic touch, consider Kaffir Lime Zest and Pandan Powder. Kaffir Lime Zest adds vibrant, slightly bitter citrus notes with a distinctive flavour, while Pandan offers a sweet, floral taste. It’s known as Asian vanilla! These unique spices can add a tropical dimension to your chocolate creations that will amaze your guests.

Our favourite combinations: Kaffir Lime Zest or Pandan Powder can be used in original ganaches for chocolate bonbons, or for nuts coated in melted chocolate, and even in muffins..

Star Anise: A surprising aniseed flavour

Combining chocolate and star anise can create an intriguing fusion of flavours, combining the richness of chocolate with the subtle aniseed notes of star anise.

Here are a few ideas for incorporating these two ingredients to create unique chocolate delights: Mix hazelnuts or roasted almonds with chocolate and star anise to create a uniquely flavoured praline. You can also add it to give a surprising note to a tiramisu, or prepare a chocolate coulis by gently infusing Badiane. This coulis can be used to top pancakes, waffles or ice creams.

In the world of chocolate, as in the world of spices, there’s a bit of everything, from the least good to the best. You have to be really careful to choose quality cocoa or chocolate, and fresh spices with impeccable traceability. At La Plantation, we offer spices straight from our Kampot Farm, unique in the world of spices!

The benefits of cocoa and the importance of choosing it wisely

Cocoa is the central jewel in all chocolate creations. It is rich in antioxidants, magnesium, iron and other nutrients essential for good health. When choosing cocoa for your desserts, it’s essential to choose a high-quality variety, preferably unprocessed and untreated, with a single origin indicated on the packet.

Opt for unsweetened cocoa powder or dark chocolate with a high cocoa content to make the most of its health benefits. Premium cocoa products have a richer, more complex flavour, making them perfect for pairing with the exotic spices we mentioned earlier.

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Kampong Speu Palm Blossom Sugar PGI: a quality sugar

Kampong Speu Palm Blossom Sugar is a natural wonder from Cambodia. This sugar is extracted from the sap of sugar palm trees, harvested in the traditional way by the inhabitants of the Kampong Speu region. Known for its natural sweetness and unique aromatic profile, Kampong Speu Palm Blossom Sugar is the ideal ingredient for sweetening your chocolate creations. It also benefits from a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) which certifies its origin and the methods used to harvest and produce it, just like our Kampot Pepper or Fleur de Sel.

Compared with refined sugar, this natural sugar offers a healthier alternative with its lower glycaemic index (30 compared with 65 for cane sugar), which means it doesn’t raise blood sugar levels too much, so you can still enjoy a touch of sweetness. It is also less processed and retains more of its original nutrients. Its subtly caramelised flavour adds an exotic, delicate touch to your chocolate desserts, perfectly complementing the unique aromas of the spices you combine with it!

The benefits of spices

Spices play an essential role in your chocolate creations, far beyond adding flavour. They also provide health benefits. For example:

– Cinnamon is known for its anti-inflammatory properties and its potential to regulate blood sugar levels, making it an excellent choice for the health-conscious.
– Ginger is known for its digestive and anti-nausea properties, as well as adding a delicious spicy note.
– Cardamom is said to be rich in antioxidants and heart-healthy compounds.
– Kampot Pepper may help stimulate digestion and improve nutrient absorption.
– Paprika is a source of vitamin C and is thought to contain other important antioxidants.

Adding these spices to your chocolate creations can not only improve the flavour, but also increase the nutritional value of your desserts.

In conclusion, this winter, get creative by incorporating Kampong Speu Palm Blossom Sugar, quality cocoa and a selection of exquisite spices into your chocolate creations. The result is desserts that are as delicious as they are healthy. The combination of these natural ingredients will allow you to enjoy sweet pleasures while respecting your well-being.

Explore new culinary possibilities by adding these refined spices to your chocolate creations. Fleur de Sel de Kampot, Young Ginger, Sweet Long Pepper aka Paprika, Cinnamon, Cardamom, our Chai Blend, Fresh Kampot Pepper with Salt, Combava, and Pandan Powder are all magical ingredients that will help you create memorable chocolate desserts. Give free rein to your creativity and enjoy these unforgettable flavours that will warm your heart all winter long.