Published on 6/16/21

Discovery box: The Christmas edition

Discovery box: The Christmas edition

Following the tremendous success of our Discovery Box celebrating the 30 years of Manjari, we created a second edition on the Christmas theme, to prepare this joyful period. Made with creative plant-based recipes from L’Ecole Asia, we hope this Christmas tree will bring you some inspiration for your festive season creations.

This Discovery box is also the opportunity to showcase the different brands part of Valrhona Selection: Norohy with its new organic Madagascan vanilla extract; Chocolatree, with the chocolate decors; Sosa with their must have products; and finally, for Valrhona, Amatika 46%, the first vegan milk couverture, a single origin from Madagascar.

This Christmas tree is divided in three parts:

From top to bottom:

1. A crunchy chocolate cone made with AMATIKA 46%

Meant to be snapped and eaten like a chocolate bar, it is a blend of AMATIKA 46% vegan milk chocolate and almond nougatine nibs.

2. The middle part is a combination of 4 plant-based niukawa* and 1 shortbread

PLANT-BASED YUZU BANANA NIUKAWA*, a square snack using Yuzu Inspiration and Sosa Natur Emul.

Yuzu Inspiration is used to bring a hint of acidity and flavor to the niukawa, while the natural citrus fibers of Sosa Natur Emul are used to help control the activity water inside the niukawa and provide stability to the emulsion.

PLANT-BASED PASSION MANGO NIUKAWA*, the second snack square, uses Passion Fruit Inspiration and Sosa Natur Emul.

The sharp passion fruit taste and perfect texture are brought by the Inspiration, while the Natur Emul is used for the same functions than in the previous recipe.

PLANT-BASED RASPBERRY ALMOND NIUKAWA*, this snack square combines Raspberry & Almond Inspiration, the new Norohy Vanilla extract and Natur Emul.

Used for its strong vanilla flavor, the new Norohy Vanilla extract is infused in a sugar-based syrup. This syrup is then emulsified with both Raspberry and Almond Inspiration, while the Natur Emul will also be added to increase the necessary volume of natural fibers. 

PLANT-BASED PASSION AMATIKA NIUKAWA*, the last snacking square, is made of AMATIKA 46% and Sosa Natur Emul.

The Natur Emul is used to add fibers to the passion fruit purée; while a very important factor for the final texture and the shelf-life of the ganache, it also helps to reduce the sweetness of the preparation.

YUZU VEGAN SHORTBREAD – it combines Yuzu Inspiration with Sosa Natur Emul and Maltosec.

In this recipe, the Natur Emul supports the emulsion process and creates a texture similar to butter, usually used in normal shortbread recipe. The Maltosec, a very specific ingredient from Sosa, will allow to keep the crisp and crumbly texture to the shortbread.

*NIUKAWA is an emulsion using water, made with INSPIRATION RANGE, Water and SOSA Natur Emul

3. At the base and to support the structure: a plant-based poundcake

AMATIKA PLANT-BASED POUNDCAKE, uses AMATIKA 46%, Sosa Natur Emul, and confit Yuzu.

This very interesting plant-based option uses a blend of AMATIKA 46% and Natur Emul that will replace the usual combination of egg and butter, this new blend will then be mixed with the rest of the ingredients to reproduce the usual poundcake’s texture.

Ready-to-use Yuzu Confit by Sosa is spread between the cake layers, for its unique flavor, far less sweet than a usual jam.

We hope that you will enjoy these new preparations, opening a new chapter towards plant-based solutions and inspire you for your upcoming festive season creations.