Day 4: Sitka spruce in milk chocolate




Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis 

Sitka spruce is the most commonly planted forestry tree in the UK - it is quick growing, tolerates poor soils and conditions, grows reasonably timber-straight.  Although loved by many foresters, it is equally despised by bird lovers, wilderness lovers, landscape lovers and its impact on all these contested passionately.  Whatever you think about it in any of these ways, what is not celebrated is how delicious it is!

The young spring tips are up there with wild garlic and sloe blossom as spring vibrant flavours.  The tips are easy to spot and pick, and do need to be picked when really young – just as the brown ‘papery’ coat comes off.  They get tough really quickly, but as Sitka is almost everywhere – especially as even near mature Sitka spruce stands there will be natural regeneration along forest tracks and rides - and the small vivid green soft brushes, at the ends of the spiky blue green needled branches, are easy to access.  Fresh, they can be used in teas, soaked in sugar or sugar syrup to make amazing flavoured syrups for ice cream, pancakes and cakes; I have used them to infuse cream for ganaches - and they could easily be used in this way to flavour custards or icecreams.  They also dry really well, keeping their vibrant fresh citreousy flavour for teas, infusions, powdering into shortbreads and cakes, sprinkling onto crackers.

My first chocolatey attempts were using fresh tips in a ganache in the late spring, then came a caramel flavoured with dried tips - very delicious, delicate and light in flavour - in no way a strong, resiny flavour that might be expected.  And then we tried grinding the dried tips into chocolate - and this award winning chocolate was created.

We selected a 50% milk chocolate in the end - the citrus notes of the spruce work really well at complimenting the milky side of the chocolate and of course help highlight the flavours of the cocoa.  The chocolate we liked best with this is a Guatemala 50% from The Chocolate Tree in East Lothian - which is honeyed and spicy - almost like a really good fruit cake; with the Sitka buds ground in it brings all of that to the fore, and is delicious.  A lovely combination of Christmas tree and winter spice!

We have loved this chocolate from the moment we created it, and when the International Chocolate Awards announced a new competition for British chocolate makers, and we realised that there was a category that we could enter the chocolate,  we did not hesitate.  The new competition was designed to recognise those that used craft bean to bar chocolates in their creations - without being bean to bar makers themselves.  We were absolutely delighted to hear that this chocolate received a Gold Award in the flavoured milk chocolate category, as well as recognition for Local Ingredients and Gastronomic.





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