Yes, of course you can pair garlic with chocolate!
I say this as a half jest. Today I made garlic-flavored chocolate (no really, I made it from cocoa beans, sugar and vanilla), and incidentally Danielle at Habeas Brulee is hosting a one-time food blogging event, “Yes, of course you can pair garlic with that!” Danielle thinks garlic goes well with hazelnuts and wants to explore other combinations.
Why not chocolate and garlic, then? “…garlic tends to do very well, super well, with things that are oily (olive oil), fat (cream, pine nuts) or acidic (lemon),” writes a commenter on her blog. Chocolate is oily and fatty (and sometimes acidic), so this could work. Plus, Marianne’s in Santa Cruz, Calif., makes chocolate-garlic ice cream.
Today when I attended a chocolate-making seminar through the NY Metro Discover Chocolate Meetup, a brave soul put raw garlic in the finished candies. I didn’t dare try a piece — its pungency lingered in the room even after it was eaten — but why don’t you try some and let me know how it goes?
If you would like to make chocolate from the beans themselves, here’s the approximate recipe we used today.
Chocolate-Covered Garlic
Ingredients:
3 pounds whole cacao beans, in their shells
2 cups sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 cup dried whole milk powder
1/2 cup cocoa butter
A couple cloves minced garlic
A couple pinches chile powder
Special equipment:
Roasting pan
Crankandstein cocoa mill
Blow dryer
Broom and dustpan
Champion juicer
Food processor
Wet grinder
Chocolate molds
- Roast beans in a preheated 425F oven for 30-35 minutes, or until they become fragrant and reach an internal temperature of 260F.
- Crack the shells by running the beans through a Crankandstein. (If you don’t have this machinery, crack the beans by hand and discard the shells. Skip the next step.)
- Transfer the beans and the shells to a large roasting pan. Take the pan outside or in your bath tub. Hold a blow dryer a couple feet away and aim directly down, blowing away the shells. You will still have small pieces of shells left; that’s okay. Don’t forget to sweep the leftover shells on the floor.
- Liquefy the beans by running them through a juicer. You now have cocoa liquor.
- Combine the sugar and vanilla bean in a food processor and grind for a couple minutes, or until the sugar turn into a powder.
- Turn on the wet grinder and add the cocoa liquor. Add the sugar mixture, milk powder and crumbled cocoa butter. Let the machine run for 24 hours. This step is called conching, which will refine the texture and flavor of the chocolate.
- Temper the chocolate and fill the molds halfway full. Sprinkle garlic and chile powder over the melted chocolate and fill the remainder of the mold with the chocolate. Vigorously tap the molds on your counter to even out the surface and get rid of air bubbles.
- Refrigerate the chocolate for 10 min., or until set. To release the chocolate, flip the mold upside down and tap the surface with your fingers.
Variations:
Shortcut version: Sprinkle minced garlic on top of dark chocolate and eat.
View a photo tutorial on making chocolate at home.
Niko said,
Sounds tempting. You should have ended the session by making dark chocolate covered peppermint drops with pure peppermint oil (like Altoids).
October 15, 2007 at 11:43 am
Jessica "Su Good Sweets" said,
Niko, we actually had Altoids for the taking, but I think the flavor is too strong. My favorite combo from yesterday was chocolate-dipped dates.
October 16, 2007 at 12:37 am
Cakespy said,
Chocolate and garlic sounds like it might actually be quite good…maybe baked garlic though, to mellow out the flavor? Adding the chile powder too kind of makes me think of mole. I’m curious!
October 18, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Juree said,
Hi Jessica,
Loved your article on Medrich, and these cookies sound terrific–I love garlic with unexpected partners. In college, one of my favorite things was to put minced garlic on top of peanut butter toast– you should try it sometime. I am more of a cook than a baker and this recipe is beyond my skills, in addition to not having the equipment. Is there any way to modify the recipe to make it more accessible for beginning bakers?
BTW, I am launching my blog next week and will be sure to send you the link!
October 26, 2007 at 10:17 am
Jessica "Su Good Sweets" said,
Juree, raw garlic on peanut butter? Really? I honestly thought the garlic in the chocolate chip cookies was optional, so I’m surprised that people want to try it. I like peanut butter noodles, and the sauce has garlic in it. (shrugs) Maybe I’ll top my next PB sandwich with garlic.
To make chocolate, you really do need this equipment. Coffee grinders and food processors don’t have the right kind of motor. 🙁 For a shortcut, you can just sprinkle garlic on a good bar of chocolate.
Jessie, funny should mention cooked garlic, because I put it in chocolate chip cookies.
November 2, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Frankie Day said,
I actually made garlic bread with the ends dipped in milk chocolate as well as dark chocolate and it was delicious. The sweet of the chocolate and the saltiness the Lawry’s Garlic Salt and butter was great together. I even used coconut oil in place of the butter as well and it was absolutely wonderful.
March 20, 2017 at 4:18 pm