When I was a kid I loved milk chocolate: milky ways, caramellos, reese’s peanut butter cups. I remember my mom saying ‘just you wait. When you get older your palette will change and all those will taste too sweet’. Didn’t believe her then, but she proved to be right. I think most American desserts suffer from too much sugar.
When I got introduced to Asian desserts, using easter flavors, made with European techniques, I was hooked. I have yet to try one that’s too sweet.
Pandan is made from an Thai grass and has wonderful nutty, popcorn notes making a truly unique flavor. It pairs beautifully with coconut. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus with a flavor that combines lemon, lime and grapefruit. It also goes well with coconut, and mango as well. And osmanthus is derived from the flowers of the fragrant Chinese olive tree. It looks, smells, and tastes like apricot and is usually made into a jam. I created a truffle from it that lends a tart, slightly floral flavor to dark chocolate.
While I still make domestic desserts (with less sugar and more salt), my love is for unusual asian flavors like pandan, yuzu, passionfruit and osmanthus. I’ve been able to make them work in a wide variety of desserts like Basque cheesecake, cream buns and truffles.