Milk-Chocolate-Style Bar

In my pastry work I long used mainly dark chocolate. But something was missing: the sweetness, the creaminess and the comfort of a good milk chocolate.

The trouble was that finding plant-based milk chocolate in the shops near me was something of an expedition. Either I had to comb through supermarket aisles, or order online. And frankly, I did not want to depend on all that every time I wanted to make a recipe.

So, as often happens in my kitchen, I thought: why not make it myself?

And you know what? It could not be simpler.

All you have to do is combine dark chocolate and plant-based white chocolate to get a delicious milk-chocolate-style bar. Two ingredients, a few movements, and there it is — a chocolate with that sweetness so characteristic of traditional milk chocolate, but with no animal products at all.

A small discovery that changed a great deal in my baking.

Because this chocolate is not just for eating as a bar. It also has its place in plenty of preparations: ganaches, mousses, fillings, chocolate desserts and, of course, spreads.

I use it in my chocolate-hazelnut spread, inspired by a recipe from chef Christophe Michalak, which I reworked as a fully plant-based and gluten-free version. You will find that recipe on my blog as well.

But between us, this bar does not necessarily need to be turned into anything to be enjoyed. A single square is enough for that small chocolate pleasure, sweet and comforting, that we love so much.

What I particularly like about this recipe is being able to make, myself, a chocolate that comes as close as possible to the one I used to know, with ingredients I choose and without having to run around the shops.

Once again, it is proof that with a little curiosity and a few trials, plant-based and gluten-free pastry can bring back pleasures we sometimes thought we had to give up.