Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival & Mousse Recipe

 This was my first time going to the 18th annual Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival in San Francisco and it's definitely something I'd want to attend again.  I visited the free chocolate demos and lectures.  Tasting tickets were available for wonderful samples, but the lines were 20-30 minutes long for most of the booths. 

The Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop offers gourmet sundaes and I recommend trying Espresso Escape, a sundae with espresso ice cream with dark chocolate chunks, housemade dark chocolate fudge sauce, and freshly whipped cream.

The first demo of the day featured Tim Nugent of Top Chef: Just Desserts.  He showed us how to make a decadent Chocolate Pistachio Terrine.  Tim said, "This has very few ingredients, but is by no means diet food!" 

Tim warned us not to experiment with subbing bittersweet chocolate for semisweet chocolate in baking because of the differences in cocoa butter.  One time he tried using 85% chocolate in his terrine, but the extra cocoa butter caused the terrine to crumble apart. 

What does 60% cacao mean?

The percent is the cacao (kuh-KOW) content, a mixture of cocoa mass and cocoa butter.  A 60% bar would be 60% chocolate liquor (half cocoa mass + half cocoa butter) and 40% sugar and vanilla.  In order to reap the antioxidant health benefits of chocolate, the cacao content needs to be 60% or more.

Also, the liquor-butter ratio varies between brands.  Sometimes producers will add extra cocoa butter to improve the bar's mouthful by making the chocolate melt faster.

Chocolate liquor is made of ground cocoa nibs. To separate the nibs from the husk, cocoa beans are tossed around in a winnower.  

Dark Chocolate Terrine with Pistachio Paste

This terrine didn't skimp on chocolate! The base required 11 ounces of chocolate and the glaze 4 ounces.  Tim also used whipped cream, egg yolks, sugar, butter, and pistachio paste.  He demonstrated how to make the batter and then glazed a terrine that had been refrigerated overnight.  Finished with glaze and served with fresh berries and mint, it is a dessert sure to wow friends and family.

Ghirardelli employee, Steve Genzoli, was a great speaker and schooled us in the history and process of making chocolate.  Ghirardelli is one of the few chocolate manufacturers in the U.S. that is a bean-to-bar company and uses a blend of beans from several countries.  Someone asked which countries the beans come from, but Steve said that was a company secret.  Ghirardelli always samples the beans and rejects about 40% that don't live up to flavor standards.

In front is a cacao pod model.  The cocoa beans are white, not brown, because they haven't undergone fermentation.

The milk powder next to the cacao pod is imported from Michigan.  Even though California is one of the largest cattle producers in the U.S., Ghirardelli has found that the milk from Michigan cows tastes the best because the cows are grass-fed.  Though I don't really like milk chocolate, Ghirardelli's milk chocolate tasted better than most. 

The brown liquid next to the milk powder is chocolate liquor. 

The yellow liquid is cocoa butter, which smelled just like chocolate!  Cocoa butter solidifies when cold, but then melts when it comes in contact with body heat.  That's why cheap chocolate made with hydrogenated vegetable oil tastes waxy and doesn't melt readily on your tongue.

Cocoa Beans

Plain cocoa beans taste nothing like chocolate because they haven't been fermented or roasted.  Flavor precursors are formed during fermentation and react during roasting to produce characteristic chocolate flavor.

Cocoa nibs

Cocoa nibs are bitter with a slight nutty-chocolate flavor.  I thought the chocolate liquor (ground cocoa nibs) had more chocolate flavor than the whole nibs.  Hearing about the nibs and sampling them inspired me to buy a small bag of them at Whole Foods.  Nibs are a great way to consume the heart-healthy flavonoid antioxidants found in chocolate without the extra sugar.  I'm excited to try them in salads, on yogurt, and in oatmeal!

Cocoa Husks

After the chocolate school demo, there was a presentation by Numi tea on chocolate and tea pairing.

Complementary Pairing—different characteristics enhance each other.

Milk Chocolate softens Breakfast Blend's bite.

Enhanced Pairing—similar characteristics enhance each other.

Sea Salt Escape's slight saltiness enhances the spices of Golden Chai.

Contrast Pairing— seemingly incompatible flavor combinations work together.

Twilight Delight's bitter-earthiness contrasts with the bright notes of Mate Lemon.

Numi is known for having 100% organic ingredients.  You'll notice that they use real chocolate, not chocolate flavoring, in their Chocolate Pu-erh.

CHOCOLATE PU·ERH: Organic Pu∙erh, Organic Cocoa Powder, Organic Vanilla, Organic Theo Chocolate Cocoa Nibs, Organic Rooibos, Organic Orange Peel, Organic Nutmeg, Organic Cinnamon.

Unlike other black teas, Pu-erh tea leaves are post-fermented, meaning that they are aged in a humid environment after being fermented.  The fermentation plus extra aging gives Pu-erh a rich, smooth, slightly malty taste.  The Chinese believe that Pu-erh helps with digestion and boosts one's metabolism.

Pastry chef, Joel Riddel, of Talk 910, showed us how to make chocolate mousse.  We weren't given any samples due to San Francisco food regulations. ;-(

Riddel's Dark Chocolate Mousse
Printable Recipe

6 oz of Ghirardelli 60% chocolate

2 T of espresso

5 large eggs, separated

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ c heavy whipping cream

Decor: berries, pieces of Ghiradelli Espresso Escape or 86% Midnight Reserve, mint

Place chocolate and espresso in a metal bowl over boiling water.  Lower the flame on the water, and stir while the chocolate melts.  Remove from heat when melted.

Lightly beat yolks, add a little of the hot mixture to the eggs to temper, continue to stir.  Then add the yolks to the hot mixture, stirring over simmering water for 1-2 minutes.  

Off of the heat, mix in the vanilla extract. Beat the cream until thick and glossy, and then fold into the chocolate a third at a time.  Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Gently fold the egg whites, a third at a time, into the mixture until fully combined.  

Spoon into your serving bowls, such as ramekins or martini glasses.  Cover tightly with plastic and refrigerate overnight.  A tight cover prevents the mousse from absorbing any nearby strong odors.  Remove from the refrigerator just before serving and garnish with berries, pieces of Espresso Escape or Midnight Reserve, or mint.  Serves 8.