Pastry chefs prepare to celebrate the holidays with chocolatePastry chefs prepare to celebrate the holidays with chocolate

Holiday dessert trends come and go, but one thing remains constant: chocolate. This year, pastry chefs are planning December dessert menus that feature an array of chocolate indulgences to evoke sweet memories, riff on Christmas classics and, in the true spirit of the holidays, invite sharing.

At Craft Los Angeles, where everything is served at the center of the table, pastry chef Shannon Swindle plans to serve chocolate desserts in a large format, just like at a traditional holiday meal.

“It’s a blast,” said Swindle. “Serving things that way just says holidays.”

Although it’s too early to confirm the menu just yet, Swindle says it’s very likely he’ll bring back last year’s very popular chocolate babka, a brioche bread pudding served in a large copper pot. Swindle says any dessert he’s done individually can be done in a larger format, including last year’s s’mores tart, and a chocolate silk pie he plans to put on the menu this Thanksgiving.

The Chocolate Tart with malt, chestnut, olive oil and creme fraiche will be on the menu at the forthcoming Oak Rowan in Boston. Photo: Oak Rowan.

At Urban Farmer Portland in Portland, Ore., pastry chef Hillary Kirkton is also offering a creatively presented, sharable dessert with her chocolate board. Inspired by the restaurant’s cheese and charcuterie boards, the dessert features a selection of indulgences served on a wooden plank that resemble the savory boards, such as chocolate mousse that is meant to be spread on cookies like pâté on a cracker, or house-made marmalade meant to pair with chocolate like mostarda or honey with cheese, as well as shot glasses of drinking chocolate; a candy bar with layers of chocolate, caramel and praline; and more depending on the size of the group.

“They look cool when they go out,” said Kirkton. “They’re shared by the whole group. Sharing with your family and friends reminds me of holiday dining.”

The chocolate board will debut on the permanent menu in early October, but Kirkton says she plans to “tweak the flavors” as December draws near, perhaps adding chocolate peppermint, a chocolate whiskey cake or a drinking chocolate with a liqueur.

For the first dessert menu at forthcoming Oak & Rowan in Boston, executive pastry Chef Brian Mercury will offer his take on a classic chocolate tart using that quintessential holiday ingredient: chestnuts. Mercury’s chocolate tart is made with a rye shell with layers of chestnut cream and gooey chocolate cake, topped with a milk chocolate-glazed chestnut mousse, fresh crème kisses, crispy malt meringue and chocolate sauce, and will be served with a plum sorbet.

A slice of the Yule log cake that will be served at Pazzo in Portland this holiday season. Photo: Pazzo Portland.

“I love the idea of a simple chocolate tart, I always have,” said Mercury. “I wanted to use chestnuts in a new way and felt this was a great opportunity, an earthy nuttiness paired with various chocolate percentages, a heartier shell to add to depth of flavor, and a clean, fresh sorbet to balance all the full flavors in the tart.”

Also re-inventing a classic with a fresh ingredient is chef Erik Niel of Easy Bistro & Bar in Chattanooga, Tenn. This season, Niel plans to make a chocolate fig molten cake, similar to the classic molten chocolate cake only with fig preserves folded into the batter and used as garnish.

“I chose the chocolate fig molten cake because it’s like comfort food for me,” said Niel. “The molten chocolate is one of the first desserts I learned to make in a professional kitchen. It makes me feel nostalgic when I make it now, and I think the holidays are all about nostalgia.”

A number of chefs are planning to serve bûche de Noël, the French Christmas cake that resembles a log, in fresh flavors. At Cafes Des Architectures inside the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, pastry chef Anna Young will celebrate the holidays and the hotel chain’s French heritage by offering a version of the dessert made with chocolate mousse, Tahitian vanilla and candied hazelnuts. At Pazzo in Portland, Ore., Alisha Falkenstein will serve a Yule log, as a bûche de Noël is also known, made with gluten-free chocolate fudge cake and hazelnut Italian buttercream, covered in a chocolate glaze and garnished with a meringue mushroom cap and gold-dusted tempered chocolate.