Chocolate and Cheese Pairing Guide
Give each of these 10 cheese and chocolate pairing ideas a try and choose your favorite. For the best tasting experience, serve cheeses at room temperature and sample each pairing in the same bite (i.e., chew your cheese and chocolate at the same time).
Gruyere + Hot Chocolate
Although mozzarella and farmer’s cheese typically accompany orders of hot chocolate in cafés throughout South America—where locals debate whether to eat the melted cheese first or last once it’s melted in the cocoa—gruyère’s nutty yet sweet flavor and low melting point make it a decadent addition to hot chocolate. Try melting Grand Suisse Le Gruyere into a hot cup of To’ak’s Ecuadorian dark drinking chocolate, T.cacao, ($28, Toak Chocolate) or your favorite hot chocolate.
10-Year Aged Cheddar + Dark Chocolate (70% Cacao) With Sea Salt
Ossau-Iraty + Fruity Dark Chocolate
Ossau-Iraty is a firm sheep’s milk cheese said to be one of the first cheeses ever created. Its grassy-sweet undertones become vibrant and nutty when paired with dark chocolate infused with fruit. “One of my favorite pairings is Luisa Abrams Tocancins with Cupuacu fruit ($10, Caputo’s) with Ossau-Iraty, a semi-firm sheep’s milk tome,” says Matt Caputo, CCP and president at Tony Caputo’s Market & Deli. “The tropical fruit blast with sheepy musk; it’s magic together.” Also try Murray’s Ossau-Iraty ($36 per pound, Murray’s) with Xocolatl’s Love & Happiness bar ($10, Xocolati Chocolate) that’s infused with blood orange and raspberry.
Vegan Cheese + Vegan Chocolate
All chocolate is inherently plant-based, as cacao grows on trees, but this pairing keeps it pure without any additional milk or milk products (whey, casein, milk fat, etc.). Try the vegan Dark Chocolate Bar from Good Sam ($4, Thrive Market) or Divine Treasures’ vegan Chocolate Disks ($25 for 1 pound, Divine Treasures Chocolate) with a light spread of a soft vegan cheese such as Treeline’s Sea Salt & Pepper ($39 for 4, Treeline), or Cavendish Woodland ($18, The Mansion’s Pantry). Make it a pairing trifecta by pouring (also vegan!) La Crema Russian River Chardonnay ($35, La Crema) to accompany the chocolate and cheese pairing.
Young Goat Cheese + Stone Ground Dark Chocolate
“Texturally, these two are lovely together as you get a contrast between the thick, claggy, mouth-coating nature of the cheese and the rougher, almost gritty texture of stone-ground chocolate,” says Baker. “Young goat cheese has a bright, lemony tang which, when paired with a fruit forward dark chocolate combine into a chocolate-cheesecake-like experience.” Try Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog ($26 per pound, Cypress Grove) with Stone Ground 85% Super Dark Chocolate Disc , ($5, Taza).
Comté + Hazelnut Chocolate
While you could smear Nutella on a grilled cheese to get a similar effect, you’d be missing out on the nutty nuances of this French pairing. Comté is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), meaning the cheese must be produced within a specific region in France to be called true Comté. The milk comes from one of just two local breeds of cows and produces an aromatic and buttery cheese with naturally nutty notes that are amplified when paired with hazelnut-infused milk chocolate. Pair 18-Month Aged Comté ($35 per pound, Murray’s) with the Noisettes Démentes Bar ($17, La Maison du Chocolat) to add an extra satisfying crunch to this already sensational pairing.
Blue Cheese + Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffles
French chef Michel Bras made this pairing famous when he invented his dark chocolate and blue cheese dessert, coulant. Chocolate and blue cheese share upward of 70+ flavor compounds, and the two basically become one as the fatty acids from the cheese cut through the bitterness of the dark chocolate while enhancing its deep vanilla undertones. Try La Maison du Chocolat’s version ($40 for 13 pieces, La Maison du Chocolat) or another favorite, dark chocolate ganache truffle, with crumbles of Fourme Aux Moelleux blue cheese ($17 for 8 ounces, Caputos) or just let Lillie Belle Farms do the pairing for you with their Stella Blue Bar ($8, Lillie Belle Farms) or their Smokey Blue Cheese Truffles ($30 for 12). Pair those bold flavors with a glass of Napa Valley Quilt Cabernet Sauvignon.
Aged Gouda + Milk Chocolate
Parmigiano Reggiano + Chocolate Balsamic
Alpine-Style Cheese + Peanut Butter Truffles
“Alpine-style cheeses are known to have nutty notes as part of their signature flavor profile, so pairing them with nut infused anything will amplify their latent nuttiness,” explains Molly Browne, CCP and education manager for Dairy Farms of Wisconsin. “Using a peanut butter truffle to do this is just plain fun.” Try the Pleasant Ridge Reserve ($28, Uplands Cheese) with Peanut Butter Bonbons ($29 for 9 pieces, Vosges).
