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Australia - Gala Dinner Dessert

Bailliage of Australia
Brisbane, May 25, 2019

Valrhona Orelys (R), muscovado, muscatel
" my team and I wanted to elevate the natural flavours of the chocolate "

The inspiration behind this dessert served at the Gala Dinner of the Bailliage of Australia Grand Chapitre in Brisbane in May 2019 was really to showcase the chocolate.

Orelys (R) is a blonde chocolate - in essence, a caramelised white chocolate. Perfecting the art of mass production of caramelised white chocolate took some eight years for Valrhona. Once this was the arduous task of pastry chefs the world over.

To produce a consistent, temperable product of this level is quite an achievement. Valrhona once again distinguishes itself in the category by using its chocolate expertise with a new star ingredient, dark muscovado sugar.

It took four years of research and exploration to find the ingredient which gives Orelys (R) its rich flavour and unique colour: dark Mauritian muscovado sugar.

To obtain this natural, unrefined sugar, sugar cane is crushed then pressed to extract the juice. This juice is heated, dried and ground. Because of its natural molasses content, muscovado sugar has a rich brown colour and delicate liquorice aromas. By adding muscovado sugar when making Orelys (R), it is given a naturally bronze blonde hue and earthy liquorice notes.

Muscovado sugar is a pure, unrefined cane sugar renowned for its strong molasses flavour and moist texture. This sugar never undergoes the spinning process used to dry and remove plant material from other sugars. This keeps more molasses and mineral richness giving it that unique flavour which characterizes Orelys (R). This gourmet chocolate's sweet freshness is clear from the very first bite thanks to its liquorice notes. Hints of biscuit complement the freshness as you taste the chocolate.

In translating this story to the dessert, my team and I wanted to elevate the natural flavours of the chocolate. We created a luxe Valrhona Orelys (R) chocolate brûlée, just set with a smooth and creamy texture to elevate the chocolate’s richness.

We set this on a sable made with dark muscovado sugar to provide a direct link to the beginnings of the chocolate process. Muscatels were chosen for the ice cream for a rich, sticky, slightly liquorice-like pairing.

A muscatel puree was made by cooking the muscatels in a Muscat wine reduction. This was then rippled through a vanilla ice cream base, with a little sherry vinegar. Sherry vinegar gel cut through the richness of the dish, and fresh grapes added to provide a light clean finish.

The whole dessert was encased in a Valrhona Orelys (R) cage to give the guest a taste of this amazing chocolate in its pure form.

Alex Liddle
Executive Sous & Pastry Chef
Emporium Hotel Southbank, Brisbane

With acknowledgement to Valrhona for the detailed description of their Orelys (R) chocolate

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