8 Chocolate & Cheese Pairings Recommended By Experts
Photo Credit: Bimi's Cheese Shop
Welcome to the delicious world of chocolate and cheese pairings! If you're a foodie with a sweet tooth, you're in for a treat. Chocolate and cheese may seem like an unlikely pairing, but they actually complement each other beautifully. Both are rich, indulgent, and full of complex flavors, making them the perfect match for a decadent snack or dessert. Here are eight chocolate and cheese pairings that you’ll love to try.
8 Best Chocolate And Cheese Pairings
We teamed up with cheese experts Matt Caputo of Caputo’s Market, Katie Longtoe of Cheese Louise, and Heather Ihlenburg of Bimi’s Cheese Shop, to deliver some great pairings.
1. Hudson Bourbon Dark Milk and Red Witch
Our friends at Cheese Louise recommend pairing Fruition Hudson Bourbon Dark Milk and Red Witch Cheese.
“Red Witch is a raw cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland. This cheese was created for the celebration of Carnival, a cheese that would pair well with beer, wine and spirits, such as Bourbon. The rind is rubbed with paprika giving the cheese a slight peppery taste. Red Witch is creamy, nutty and aromatic. It can become a bit funky with age, which makes it even better. We loved it with the Bourbon flavored chocolate, each bringing out the best in the other. We suggest chocolate first and then a nibble of cheese.”
Katie Longtoe - Cheese Louise
2. Spring Salted Dark Milk and Midnight Moon With Grapes
Our friends at Bimi’s Cheese recommend pairing Fruition Spring Salted Dark Milk Chocolate and Bimi’s Cheese Midnight Moon with grapes.
“Midnight Moon is a creamy goat’s milk Gouda with intense nutty and brown butter flavors, and a long caramel finish. The bright, salty flavors and smooth, creamy texture of the Spring Salted Dark Milk chocolate compliment the sweet and salty notes of the cheese as this pairing melts together on the tongue. The grapes act as a slightly sweet complimentary cleanser, really allowing the individual flavors from both chocolate and cheese shine through.”
Heather Ihlenburg of Bimi’s Cheese
3. Oko Caribe 68% and Fourme aux Moelleux
Our friends at Caputo’s recommend pairing Fruition Oko Caribe 68% Dark Chocolate and Caputo’s Fourme aux Moelleux.
“We have found dark chocolate bars under 70% that are made with Hispaniola beans AND vanilla create an explosion of tertiary flavors when paired with blue cheeses that have been aged in dessert wine. For this reason, in my chocolate and cheese pairing classes, the grand finale is Fruition Oko Caribe 68% with a French Bleu called Fourme aux Moelleux.”
Matt Caputo - Caputo’s Market
4. Oko Caribe 68% and St Agur
Our friends at Cheese Louise recommend pairing Fruition Oko Caribe 68% Dark Chocolate and St Agur Cheese.
“Dark Chocolate is most commonly paired with blue cheese. The reason being the intensity of the flavors. This chocolate is 68%, and although not the darkest chocolate, we still went with a blue. St. Agur is a rich and creamy medium scale blue cheese hailing from France. Not too intense and slightly salty and spicy, it harmonized well with the creamy red fruit notes of the chocolate.”
Katie Longtoe - Cheese Louise
5. Madagascar Sambirano 74% and Delice de Bourgogne With Fresh Raspberries
Our friends at Bimi’s Cheese recommend pairing Fruition Madagascar Sambirano 74% Dark Chocolate and Bimi’s Cheese Delice de Bourgogne with fresh raspberries.
“You can really taste the raspberry and citrus notes in this chocolate, and those flavors pair really well with soft bloomy cheeses. Delice de Bourgogne is a decadent French triple cream. The slight bitterness of the dark cocoa balances the slight tang in this buttery cheese, nearly canceling it out, leaving pure creamy delight. Fresh Raspberries really pull on the fruity notes in the chocolate, and this combo invoked thoughts of chocolate raspberry cheesecake.”
Heather Ihlenburg of Bimi’s Cheese
6. Colombia Tumaco Dark and Edel Appenzeller
Our friends at Cheese Louise recommend pairing Fruition Columbia Tumaco Dark and Cheese Louise Edel Appenzeller Cheese.
“Colombia is an 85% chocolate. We paired this fudge-like flavor with a 9+ month aged raw milk Appenzeller from the Alps. This 700 year old recipe includes washing the wheels of cheese in a secret brine solution made up of locally foraged herbs and flowers. Only 2 people know this recipe - a father and son - which is handed down from generation to generation. The herbal brine eventually penetrates the paste of the cheese, imparting notes of the surrounding mountain pastures. Edel is an intense, sharp and salty cheese, with crunchy crystals that form during aging, making it a perfect pair for the intensity of Colombia. Together they give you the flavor of a sea salt crusted fudge truffle.”
Katie Longtoe - Cheese Louise
7. Peru Marañón Dark Milk 68% and Crecia Gorgonzola With Walnuts In Honey
Our friends at Bimi’s Cheese recommend pairing Fruition Peru Marañón Dark Milk 68% and Bimi’s Cheese Crecia Gorgonzola with walnuts in honey.
“This gorgonzola Dolce is luscious and creamy with a delicate peppery finish, and this dark milk chocolate compliments the sweet cream flavors. Walnuts cut the acidity of the blue cheese and compliments the nuttiness in the chocolate, plus adds a little crunch, while honey is a nice bridge to counterbalance the funky notes of the cheese with the sweetness of the chocolate. All together this is one tasty bite!”
Heather Ihlenburg of Bimi’s Cheese
8. Brown Butter Milk and Hudson Valley Camembert
Our friends at Cheese Louise recommend pairing Fruition Brown Butter Milk Chocolate and Cheese Louise Hudson Valley Camembert Cheese.
“This pairing is all about “Taste of Place”. Brown Butter Milk Chocolate is made with cow’s milk from a local dairy, sweet and creamy. So of course we paired it with a cheese made by a local creamery. Hudson Valley Camembert is made with cow and sheep milk, delightfully creamy with a slight twang from the added sheep milk. Both are rich with butter and milk flavors, a bit of chocolate and a nibble of cheese and your palette is left with the sensation of having just eaten chocolate pudding. Who doesn’t love that?”
Katie Longtoe - Cheese Louise
We hope you enjoyed this flavorful journey in this guide to pairing chocolate and cheese. From sweet and tangy, to dark and bold, there are endless combinations of flavors and textures to explore. We highly recommend experimenting with different types of cheese, chocolates, and accompaniments - you never know what deliciousness awaits! Bon Appetit!
P.S. If you liked these cheese and chocolate pairings, check out our chocolate and wine pairings recommended by wine experts!