Saturday Sweets: Valrhona Chocolate Launches Inspirations Line Featuring Almond and Passion Fruit

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As a baker and lover of desserts, I’m always on the hunt for new products to use in my kitchen. Many times this inspiration comes from new products being used in the desserts I’m falling in love with in kitchens around Miami.

Valrhona chocolate seems to always have a hand in the desserts I’m loving most when I go out to eat. Valrhona was founded in 1922 and has been producing some of the best chocolate in the world in the small village of Tain L’Hermitage, France. These days it can be seen in kitchens and on menus in most of the finest restaurants and hotels.

This week I was fortunate enough to attend a launch party for Valrhona’s newest line of chocolates called INSPIRATION, the first ever range of fruit and nut couvertures. Couverture chocolate is a very high-quality chocolate that contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter (32–39%) than baking or eating chocolate. This additional cocoa butter, combined with proper tempering, gives the chocolate more sheen, a firmer "snap" when broken, and a creamy mellow flavor. The new couvertures are created entirely with natural ingredients giving them very distinct flavors — almond and passion fruit. Only three main ingredients are used to make these chocolates: cocoa butter, sugar, and almonds (or passion fruit).

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The event was filled with pastry chefs from all over Miami (and one from the Bahamas) and many of them had dishes on display using the new chocolate.

Desserts included:

  • Almond Red Berry & Tarragon Eclair by Chef Frederic Monnet of Faena
  • Almond Coffee Dessert by Chef Mame Sow of Three Wynwood
  • Earl Grey Almond Tart by Chef Jason Morale of SLS South Beach
  • Inspiration Passion Plated Dessert by Chef Angel Betancourt of The Ocean Club Four Seasons Bahamas
  • Inspiration Almond Finger by Chef Sebastien Feneyrol of Juvia and Sushi Garage
  • Chocolate Pave by Chef Laszlo Bollock of Four Seasons Miami
  • Inspiration Passion Tart by Chef Gregory Gourreau of Juvia, Sushi Garage, and Bonito Saint Bartelemy

Everything was amazing and plated in such a way that I almost didn’t want to eat them, but of course I did. Just as the name of the line suggests, there’s a ton of inspiration that danced around in my mind as I ate each of the desserts.

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I’m ready to head to my own kitchen to see what delicious creations I can come up with using the new almond and passion fruit chocolate from Valrhona. To learn more about Valrhona chocolates and their new flavors visit them online