Höganäs Chocolate 53% Dark Milk Chocolate Couverture with Bourbon Vanilla (200g)

Höganäs Chocolate is made in Höganäs, on the southwest coast of Sweden, from cacao grown on Hacienda San José, the founding family’s farm in Los Rios, Ecuador, which they have run for close to a hundred years. The beans are fermented on the farm and turned into chocolate in Sweden, and every couverture in the range is named after a place in Höganäs municipality. Arild is a fishing village on the Kullaberg peninsula, just east of Nyhamnsläge. The bag carries the Premio Pepa de Oro from Ecuador’s Cumbre Mundial del Cacao (2019 and 2020) and a Cacao of Excellence gold (2023).

Flavour

Arild is a dark milk chocolate: at a minimum of 53% cocoa it carries far more cocoa than a classic milk chocolate such as Höganäs’ own 36% Mjöhult, while the milk powder rounds off the bitterness you would get from a dark chocolate at the same percentage. Bourbon vanilla sits underneath rather than in front. The result is a chocolate that reads as rich and cocoa-forward but still soft, which suits people who find dark chocolate too sharp and milk chocolate too sweet.

Working with it

Höganäs rates fluidity on a five-drop scale, and Arild sits at three drops, which they call medium. That makes it a good all-rounder: fluid enough for moulding pralines and hollow figures, with enough body for ganache, fillings, mousse and baking. For moulding and enrobing it needs to be tempered to set with a shine and a clean snap. For ganache, fillings, baking and ice cream it can simply be melted. When working to a ganache recipe, weighing chocolate and cream on a scale such as the BOOKOO Themis Ultra keeps the ratio exact.

At home

Arild also makes a very good hot chocolate. Melt the discs into hot milk, whisk until smooth, and serve from a small jug such as the Figgjo Oslo jug so everyone can top up their own cup.

See where the cacao grows

The story of Hacienda San José, the family farm in Los Rios, Ecuador, where the cacao for Höganäs Chocolate is grown and fermented.

Specifications

Nutrition per 100 g

What’s in the box

• 1 × 200 g resealable pouch of Höganäs Chocolate Arild couverture