fine chokolader
Many people think of marzipan as being coyingly sweet, while in actuality the amount of sweetness varies considerably from place to place. Traditional Danish marzipan has a much lower sugar content than the marzipan used ornamentally to form fruit shapes or other molded forms.
| Sweet marzipan | fine chokolader | |
|---|---|---|
| Almond Content | 40% | 60% |
| Sugar Content | 60% | 40% |
| Texture | fine-ground, dense, dry | soft moist |
| Flavor | sweet | almond |
| Other | traditionally shaped into fruits | used as a foundation for building more complex flavors using nuts, fruit, and liqueurs; always enrobed in chocolate |
Several large human epidemiological studies† all found that almond consumption have been found to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Almonds are an excellent source of manganese, the antioxidant vitamin E, magnesium, and potassium. Almonds are also high in monounsaturated fats similar to the fats found in olive oil. All of which have demonstrated positive effects in the area of diabetes and cardiovascular health.
† The Adventist Health Study, the Iowa Women Health Study, the Nurses' Health Study, the Physicians' Health Study, and the CARE Study.
There are three commonly known types of cacao beans produced in the world today, as seen in the list below. In addition many producers are also making their own hybrids looking for specific features.
The FDA has mandated standards of identities for cocoa-derived products, and other commonly used cocoa-based products. These can be seen in the table below. Several manufacturers of chocolates will claim a certain "percent cocoa solids". While this may not have a legal definition, for most manufacturers it generally means the total of all cocoa ingredients-cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, and cocoa powder.
| Product | Chocolate Liquor (%) | Milk Solids (%) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chocolate Liquor | 100 | 0 | Fat content, 50% minimum. Also known as unsweetened chocolate. |
| Semisweet | ≥15 | ≥12 | Other ingredients include extra cocoa butter (in some cases), sugar, lecitihin, and spices. In the US, both chocolates are legally the same. |
| Bittersweet | ≥35 | ||
| Sweet Chocolate | 15-35 | ≤12 | |
| Milk Chocolate | ≥10 | ≥12 | Other ingredients include sugar, lecitihin, milk or cream powder, and spices such as vanilla. |
| White Chocolate | 0 | ≥14 | Contains at least 20% cocoa butter. Other ingredients include sugar, milk, and vanilla. |
| Couverture | Fine chocolate containing at least 32% cocoa butter |
As with wine there are a few simple steps recommended to really taste chocolate, but unlike wine please remember to swallow to get the full flavor. If it is solid chocolate you want to do the following:
If the chocolate has a filling you want to evaluate the filling with and without the enrobing chocolate to do that you want to do the following:
In tasting chocolate you are looking for the following:
In tasting filled chocolate the experience will largely depend on the type of filling whether it is a ganache, a caramel, a marzipan, a cream or fondant or something else. It is very important to linger and think about textures and flavors, how they develop in the mouth and whether they live up to your expectation or if it was surprising.
This flavor was developed as part of one of the classes I was taking at Vancouver École du Chocolat. The assignment was to develop a fruit flavor with a sugar based confection. This flavor is inspired by the Bananas Foster dessert of flambéed bananas, often served with vanilla ice cream.
This recipe was inspired by the European Peanut Butter squares developed by Jacques Torres, one of my favorite chocolatiers in New York. I am not very fond of peanut butter, so I redeveloped the recipe using almond butter. I add a cashew brittle for a slight crunch and the cashews also add a deeper buttery flavor.
In Denmark it is very common for families to make their own chocolate confections at Christmas. Therefore several companies provide ingredients to make this easy for people. The Orange-Apricot and the Pistachio marzipans are my own versions of these Danish favorites, that I grew up making with my mother.
The flavor of orange compliments chocolate very well and is extremely popular in Denmark, especially around Christmas time. In this piece, I use the slight bitterness of orange zest to awaken the taste buds to distinguish the depth of flavor in the chocolate.
This flavor as the name suggest is inspired by Scotland. A young couple was looking for Scotland inspired treats for their wedding. After doing some research on flavors originating in Scotland, I settled on using the honey and herb flavored liquor Drambuie rather than haggis as my inspiration. Braking down the flavors in Drambuie, the end result is a honey ganache layered with a Drambuie marzipan.
A Danish twist on an American favorite. Many people have asked me if I make Turtles, which are made from pecans with a dollop of caramel, covered in chocolate, and are an old American favorite. I developed my own version using sugar spiced pecans made from a family recipe from my friend Jeanne Williams in Georgia. The sugar spiced pecans provide an increased depth of flavor. The pecans are mixed into the caramel and the whole thing is then cut in squares and enrobed in dark chocolate with a milk chocolate swirl to give it a contemporary Danish look. The Danish name, Pilskadden, is from a famous Danish comic strip, "Rasmus Klump", created in 1951 by Carla and Wilhelm Hansen. It features the adventures of a small bear cub, Rasmus Klump, and his friends, one of whom is a small turtle named Pilskadden.
All of the labels on chocolate bars contain pictures taken on our travels around Denmark. On the inside of each sleeve there is a short description of each picture.
The Danish flag is red with a white cross. It is the oldest national flag flown today. Legend has it, that it fell from the heavens in 1219 during the Battle of Valdemar in Estonia. When it was thought that all was lost, the king seized the flag as it fell, before it could touch the ground, and rallied his troops behind it and on to victory.
Dannebrog
Holger Danske is a legendary Viking king. He is said to be sleeping sitting in a chair in the catacombs in the castle of Kronborg in Helsingør, Denmark. Legend states that he will be sleeping there until some day when Denmark is in mortal danger, at which time he will rise up and deliver the nation. During WWII the largest Danish resistance group was named Holger Danske. This group was credited with rescuing most of the Danish Jews from the Nazis, ferrying them all to neutral Sweden in the course of a single night by way of fishing boats.
Holger Danske, Viking King
Tivoli is an amusement park and garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. It has been in continuous operation since its opening in 1843. Tivoli is the third most visited theme park in Europe. Tivoli contains a variety of attractions, such as a pantomime theatre, a concert hall, bandstands, restaurants and cafés, flower gardens and mechanical amusement rides. The Tivoli Guard is a music ensemble of boys dressed in uniforms reminiscent of those of the Royal Danish Guard. They parade through the gardens and give concerts.
Tivoli in Copenhagen
Two large stones carved with runes stand by the church in Jelling in Denmark. The stones dates back to the 10th century. The smaller and oldest of the stones were raised by Gorm the Old, the first king of Denmark to honor his wife Thyra. The larger stone was raised by King Harald Bluetooth in memory of his parents, Gorm and Thyra. The stone is often called "Denmark's Birth-certificate" because the inscription celebrates King Harald's conquest of Denmark and Norway and the Christianization of the Danes.
Jelling Stones
The oldest parts of Koldinghus Castle date back to 1268 and when it was built as a fortress to protect against attacks from the south. In the 16th century the castle lost it's defensive role and, after several expansions, became a popular royal residence. During the Napoleonic wars, Spanish soldiers fighting against Sweden were stationed in the castle. They found the Danish winter of 1808 rather cooler than where they came from and unfortunately set the castle ablaze with their warming fires. Restoration of the castle was carried out in stages, starting in 1830 and with the final stage completed in 1991, which added the wooden walls (pictured) that preserve the ruins within.
Koldinghus Castle
In 2010 the city of Ribe celebrated their 1300th anniversary. Ribe began as an open trading market on the bank of Ribe river. In Viking times Ribe was a bustling international trade center. The first church was built in Ribe in 860 by the missionary monk Ansgar. The first stone cathedral was completed in 1134. Ribe was home to Jacob A. Riis, a photographer who emigrated to the United States and became famous for his pioneering work of photojournalism, and to Emil Christian Hansen, the father of modern brewing who developed the strain of yeast Saccharomyces carlsbergensis which is used in beer production worldwide.
Ribe Cathedral
Windmills serve a prominent role in Danish history, mentioned as early as 1259. The windmill located in Højer was built in 1857. Denmark, lacking any natural energy sources such as hydropower, coal, or oil, turned to development of modern wind turbines as early as the 1890s under the leadership of scientist-inventor Paul La Cour. The energy crisis in the 1970s awakened the search for renewable energy sources and Denmark focused on wind power. By 2009, 20% of the electricity produced in Denmark came from wind power. This is evident by the Danish landscape being dotted with the modern three-winged sleek white wind turbines.
Højer Windmill
St. Lawrence Church was built in the latter half of the 14th century and was, at that time, the largest church in the area. Drifting dunes began to bury the church in the late 1700's and the congregation had to dig their way in to worship. This struggle lasted until 1795 when King Christian VII ordered the church disbanded. The nave and sacristy was torn down, sparing only the tower which still stands today. In 1994, studies in the area determined the scope of the original church which is now marked on the ground with red stakes.
Sand-covered Church in Skagen
Our Lady Church in Skive dates back to 1200. The church has been enlarged and modified several times. The core is romanesque. The tower was added around 1400. Around 1880 the town had outgrown the church and it was slated to be torn down, but the discovery of well-preserved fresco paintings from 1522 saved the church, and a new church was built beside it. The frescoes represent the largest collection of medieval saints in Denmark. For 40 years the church was only used as a chapel, but in 1936 full use of the church was restored. My husband and I were married in this church in 1997.
Our Lady Church in Skive
Nisser, better known to Americans as gnomes, in Scandinavian folklore were believed to be the caretakers of a farmer's home and the people and animals that lived there. It was common to set out food for the nisse at Christmas time to keep him happy and it was believed that if anything mysteriously happened, good or bad, it was the nisse. In the 1840s the nisse became the bearer of Christmas presents and gradually grew into the modern Julemand that lives in Greenland. Unlike Santa Claus, Julemanden walks in through the front door and delivers presents directly to the children while they are still awake.
Nisser