Why Do Fruit and Chocolate Pair So Well Together?

From strawberries to bananas to blueberries, the list of fruits that pair well with chocolate goes on and on. Why do fruit and chocolate taste so good together, though? It all comes down to chocolate flavor profiles and how those complement fruit.

Chocolate Flavor Profiles

There are more than 600 known chocolate flavor profiles, but they fall into seven categories: spicy, earthy, nutty, caramel, vegetative, floral, and fruity. If a chocolate bar was made from cocoa beans with a fruity flavor profile, the chocolate will have many fruity flavor notes. Pairing that chocolate bar with real fruit will strengthen those notes and bring out the best flavors in both foods.

Enhancing the Natural Flavor Profiles of Chocolate

We mentioned how each cocoa bean variety has its own unique flavor profile, which affects how the chocolate will taste, but the production process has a big impact on the flavor, as well. Roasting, milling, rolling out, and conching time all play a role in the chocolate’s flavor.

Here at Zotter Chocolate, we produce small batches so we can fine-tune the process to bring out the best flavors in each cocoa bean variety. For our single origin chocolates, we also apply pure cocoa mass infusions at the end of the process to make the chocolate flavor profiles even more distinctive and delicious.  

If you’re suddenly craving fruit and chocolate, we don’t blame you! We invite you to visit our online store and try some of our of high-quality chocolate bars with fruity flavor profiles. Since these chocolate bars already have fruity flavor notes, they pair perfectly with fruit!