What's for Dessert?

Have your guests discover their "Perfect Pairing" with GHIRARDELLI INTENSE DARK CHOCOLATES and your favorites wines

Dinner might be over but the party is just beginning when you invite your guests to explore the amazing compatibility between six GHIRARDELLI INTENSE DARK CHOCOLATES with six different sips of elixirs that accentuate various attributes of these luxurious treats. While taste is certainly subjective, every guest is invited to figure out which is his or her favorite combination.

Dedicate six small platters or plates, preferably plain white, to showcase the contrast of the chocolates — one for each individual chocolate variety. Display them, along with their wrapper or an extra bar, in the following order, ranging from mild and creamy to sweet, through silky and bitter, toward sweet and crunchy:

GHIRARDELLI Intense Dark 60% Cacao Evening Dream Bar
GHIRARDELLI Intense Dark 72% Cacao Twilight Delight
GHIRARDELLI Intense Dark 86% Cacao Midnight Reverie Bar
GHIRARDELLI Intense Dark Sea Salt Soiree Bar
GHIRARDELLI Intense Dark Toffee Interlude Bar
GHIRARDELLI Intense Dark Hazelnut Heaven Bar

Now, number and line up your favorite bottles, behind or alongside the platters/plates, in order from driest to sweetest. Note that you can choose your favorite brands to match these suggested categories. The idea of the pairing is to let guests take sips of each wine while sampling various chocolates. Some pairings will be better than others, which is precisely the point: Generate conversation and, perhaps, even competition, among friends who in search of the Perfect Pairing.

Before guests start sipping the sweet wines, have them try a buttery, New World (read: California) Chardonnay first. Though technically not a "dessert wine," a plush, high-fruit, low-acid Chardonnay complements the cocoa and caramel in the chocolate.

You can choose any medium-bodied, fruity red here to accentuate the fruitiness in the chocolate, or to contrast the chocolate's bitter, earthy qualities.

Sherry comes in many styles, from bone dry to syrupy sweet. The salty, nutty nose on a dry Oloroso Sherry mirrors the nutty nuances in some of these chocolates.

Demi-sec is a term used to classify sparkling wines that have a touch of sweetness; these wines compliment the fruity notes in chocolate. Contrary to common belief, dry, or "brut" sparkling wines tend to taste bitter with most chocolates.

Though, rich, viscous Sauternes can be dessert unto themselves, their honeysuckle aromas and dried fruit flavors complement caramel and toffee perfectly.

It's no surprise to find Port paired with chocolate in general, but a lighter, nuttier Tawny Port is exactly the style that this nutty toffee demands. Port's toffee and caramel flavors, along with a mouthwatering jolt of acidity to cut through chocolate

Want more INTENSE DARK Pairing Party ideas? Visit Ghirardelli's Perfect Pairing page. Need Tasting Notes for your guests? Check out Ghirardelli's Intense Dark Pairing Guide. What are your perfect pairing ideas? Take a photo with Ghirardelli.

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Deep Dessert Thoughts by Gene Simmons

Tell Gene Simmons of KISS that he has one of the most famous tongues in the world, and he’ll correct you. “It’s the most famous tongue in the world. Who else? Well, who else?” he says. The rocker must have an especially wide swath reserved for sensing sweetness, because Simmons admittedly obsesses over sugar.

Here, Gene Simmons ponders the wonders of dessert for Food & Wine:

“I tolerate food. I love desserts. I’ve never met anybody who’s ever had a dream about a celery.”

“I have had repeated dreams of being stuck in a chair with my hands tied behind my back in a cake house, and of course the only way out is to eat.”

“I love desserts so much I don’t even have to take them orally. I’m happy to take them right into my small intestines.”

“My favorite dessert is the next one. I’m a dessert junkie. I still love Ding Dongs, Ring Dings, Devil Dogs, all those Hostess things. I almost started to cry when I heard that one of the companies was going out of business and then it was saved at the last minute.”

“Some people can drink water when they eat cake. I don’t get it. When you eat cake, you drink coffee. God gave you two hands. One is for stuffing your mouth like a Christmas goose full of pastry, and the other is for molten hot coffee.”

“Desserts always find me. My dessert fascination precedes me, so local hotels send up treats. I mean, I walk into my room and there are chocolate-covered strawberries and all kinds of stuff always waiting. I guess they’re trying to get me down to the restaurant so they can inform the media. Food used to just be about food. But it’s become art, hasn’t it? And media and pop culture.”

“Jelly rolls are my guilty pleasure of all time. A jelly roll is chewy on the outside, and as soon as you bite into it, you get the sugar on top and then you get to the jelly in the middle. I’m a simple guy. I like chocolates, jams and chewy pastries.”

“I could write an ode to sweetness—my love is like a beer isn’t as poetic. Your kisses are like a nice bitter ale. I don’t think so.”

© ZUMA Wire Service / Alamy © ZUMA Wire Service / Alamy

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Deep dessert idea of Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons of KISS to say that he is one of the most famous tongues in the world, and he would correct. "It is the most famous tongue in the world." Who else? Well, who else? "he says." The rocker must present a particularly swaths reserved for sweet, sensors, because Simmons course number on sugar.

Here, the wonders of Gene Simmons ponders dessert food & wine:

"I eat tolerate." I love desserts. "I have never who ever a dream about a celery had taken."

"I have repeatedly dreams stuck in a chair with my hands tied behind my back in a cake , and of course is the only way to eat."

"I love desserts so much, I have also not on them to take orally." "I am me, directly in my small intestine to take them."

"My favorite dessert is the next." I'm a junkie dessert. I love still Ding dongs, ring dings, Devil Dogs, all these things hostess. "I started to cry when I heard that one of the companies out of business was almost and then it was saved at the last minute."

"Some people can drink water, eat cake." I don't get it. If you eat cake, drinking coffee. God has two hands. "Is a mouth like a Christmas goose full of biscuits, and the other is for molten hot coffee."

"Desserts find me always." My fascination dessert stands before me, so local hotels send until treated. I mean, I go to my room and there are chocolate coated strawberries and all kinds of stuff always wait. I think they are trying to get me down to the restaurant, so that they can inform the media. Only to eat are about food. But it is art, not it has become? "And media and pop culture."

"Jelly rolls are my guilty pleasure of all time." A jelly roll is tough on the outside, and as soon as you bite into it, get the sugar on top and then get on the jelly in the middle. I'm a simple guy. "I like chocolate, jams and tough biscuits."

"I could write, an ode to sweet - my love is like a beer is not so poetic." Your kisses are like a nice bitter ALE. "I don't think."

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Healthy Dessert Recipes: Chocolate

Blogger Joy Wilson uses every smart trick for eking out maximum flavor with minimum fat.

Joy Wilson’s baking career got off to an early start: When she was growing up, her father would wake her up at 4 a.m., when he came home from work, so they could make cookies or pie together. Today she’s the creator of the quirky, beautiful Joy the Baker blog; her cookbook of the same name comes out this month. While she describes herself as “powered by an unbelievable amount of granulated sugar,” she enjoys finding clever ways to make desserts healthier. For instance, she’s a fan of cocoa nibs, the unsweetened seeds of the cacao pod, which are high in antioxidants. “I like eating them by the handful, like M&M’s,” she says. In the recipes here, she uses nibs as well as cocoa powder and chocolate to make delicious, surprisingly light desserts.

Some small, socially conscious chocolate companies are working directly with farmer co-ops rather than buying cacao from middlemen. Here, a few F&W favorites.

TCHO makes chocolates to evoke different flavor notes, like citrusy or fruity. Like many chocolate companies, it buys beans from Ghana, where the state-run cocoa industry can make it hard for companies to trace beans to the source. But TCHO recently formed partnerships to work directly with farmers, aiming for better cacao and more money for growers. tcho.com.

Shawn Askinosie makes earthy, single-origin bars, sharing profits with the cacao farmers he buys from. askinosie.com.

David Elliott and Nat Bletter produce artisan-quality chocolate and often source their ingredients locally, from cacao to flavorings like strawberry guava and pink peppercorns. madrechocolate.com.

Joy Wilson creates healthy dessert recipes made with chocolate. Photo © Michael Friedman.

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