Chocolate Recipes

Comté and Roquefort warming to room temperature on a wooden board, sliced pears, a pot of honey, walnut bread: scattered among them, Domaine de Béquignol’s Chocolate Covered Walnuts, caramelized walnuts in dark chocolate from the Périgord Noir, add crunch and a bittersweet surprise.

The freezer does most of the work: honeyed Greek yogurt, fresh blueberries and pieces of pink chocolate set into a bark that snaps into shards. Comptoir du Cacao’s Wild Blueberry Ruby Chocolate Bar, fresh and lightly tart, needs no artificial colorings to look this striking.

Like a market stall in a glass, honeyed yogurt, kiwi, mango and strawberries rise in bright layers under a handful of chopped chocolate: Comptoir du Cacao’s Tutti-Frutti Chocolate Bar, dark or milk, is generously studded with candied and dried fruits.

Nothing here is tidy, and that is the charm: crushed meringue, soft cream and sugared strawberries tumble together in the glass, shot through with shards of dark chocolate. Comptoir du Cacao’s Strawberry Dark Chocolate Bar, studded with dried strawberry, brings the bittersweet contrast.

Thin apple slices folded into a rustic crust bake over a layer of chopped chocolate, and more goes on while the tart is warm: Comptoir du Cacao’s Salted Butter Caramel Blond Chocolate Bar ends on a delicate touch of salt, lovely with a Calvados.

Vanilla-poached pears stand upright beside a scoop of ice cream while a warm, glossy sauce made with François Pralus’s Venezuela 75% Dark Chocolate Bar, bold, complex and aromatic, runs down their sides.

One plate for two: strawberries, soft whipped cream and chocolate broken into pieces, hearts facing up, ready for coffee or tea. Comptoir du Cacao’s Pink Hearts Chocolate Bar says what words sometimes fail to.

Lined up from the mildest to the most intense, squares from ten countries let a single afternoon travel from Papua New Guinea to Ecuador, and the Tropical Pyramid from François Pralus, the house’s signature creation since 2003, is the ticket.

The mousse settles, airy and pink, over fresh raspberries before a few lychees crown it: Comptoir du Cacao’s Raspberry Ruby Chocolate Bar pairs naturally pink Ruby chocolate with freeze-dried raspberry, without any added colorings, for a vivid, fruity dessert.

Bite into a warm cookie and a small pocket of melting chocolate appears, one of the Tropical Chocolate Squares from François Pralus hidden inside, 75% dark chocolate from ten origins, so no two cookies taste quite the same.

Eight golden wedges come out of the oven, and each one, broken open, shows melting chocolate and tart flecks of raspberry: Comptoir du Cacao’s Raspberry Dark Chocolate Bar, 72% cocoa, lets the bright berry lift the deep, bittersweet chocolate.

Soaked brioche sizzles in butter until the squares hidden inside turn molten, and François Pralus’s Tanzania 75% Dark Chocolate Bar, woody and spicy, from organic cacao grown on volcanic soil, makes this weekend brunch feel generous.