Velvetising a classic

Punnets of cherries and pots of chocolate flakes adorn a chrome worktop behind an array of bowls, strainers and a chopping board. Beside this, a single steel pan rests on a gas hob-ring, its steady blue flame indicating a low heat. A blender slowly whirrs as a pair of cameramen follow a dark-haired man, dressed in black ‘chef whites’, as he wipes the edge of the pan with a tea-towel and returns his attention to the contents gently simmering. He draws a teaspoonful of the creamy cocoa goo within and quickly tastes it.

“No, it’s no good”.

David Demaison has high standards; nothing but the best will do.

“It’s too tart” he declares, his eyes barely looking up from the focus of his attention. Today it is the Black Forest Gateau Velvetised Cream, a new flavour inspired by the Velvetiser fan favourite, the Black Forest Gateau Drinking Chocolate.

As Executive Development Chef at Hotel Chocolat, David Demaison is responsible for many of the innovative flavours across the range, from signature chocolates to bold new liquor lines and cacao-inspired dishes at Rabot restaurant, in London’s Borough Market.

His work is almost obsessive, relentlessly seeking perfection, yet he combines this with a typically Parisian nonchalance. He is unflustered, speaks slowly in a languid, unmistakeably French baritone and works quickly but without haste.

His eyes light up when asked where he finds his inspiration.

“I’ve got a lot of ideas… and you probably don’t see 90% of them.” David speaks candidly and directly. “Sometimes they just don’t work, or there’s no business case behind them. A lot of the time nobody can manufacture it, because as well as chocolate we work with suppliers for other ingredients. My ideas aren’t always viable from that perspective.”

Having grown up around chocolate – his father was a chocolatier in the Dordogne region of France – chocolate and confectionery are intimately familiar. In the same way the fingers don’t wonder where the arm sends them, David finds it hard to explain where his inspiration originates. He experiments with flavour and texture as an artist mixes paint; the effortlessly precise touch that only ten thousand hours of practice can grant.

“The difficulty is often taking my ideas,” – he switches between sentences without bridge transitions; an economy common in many second language speakers – “Even if it works in my kitchen, there are people that don’t get it, what I’m trying to do. Maybe it’s a great idea but it’s too complicated, there are many things beyond the recipe that makes it work in a business.”

David’s attention returns to the mixer slowly churning in the Hadley Park kitchen – the ‘chocolate factory’ as it is affectionately known among staff.

Today is unusual, even for a maverick chocolate wizard: it’s not every day that a national TV channel comes to film him at work. But, Channel 4 are here, and David clearly enjoys being in the limelight. While many would stutter and squirm, he is light on his feet and regularly flashes an engaging smile as he speaks. He’s asked a question about Black Forest Gateau, and why it’s such an important recipe for Hotel Chocolat.

“It {Black Forest Gateau} is Kiri’s favourite dessert (Hotel Chocolat’s Chocolate Development Manager) and I really do enjoy it as well, so a couple of years ago I decided to put it on the menu {at Rabot restaurant}, and it’s been there ever since. Then I was working on flavours for the Velvetiser and decided we should do a Black Forest Gateau hot chocolate. It was very good, everybody liked it and it was approved. Very quickly we started to sell it and it was very, very popular. It’s one of the classics – you know it works. It’s a classic dessert but that’s one of the hardest things to do. It’s like apple pie – everyone can do an apple pie. But you cannot say all apple pies are equal. There are different ways to make it, different types of apples, that sort of thing. For me the thing with Black Forest Gateau is you know the basic flavours work, it’s just – how do you lift that?”

It’s a valid question, one that musicians must face when covering a song – how do you make your work unique and still a recognisable version of the original?

“The first thing I worked on was the sauce, how to make it…” David searches for the right word but doesn’t find it and plumps for the unsatisfactory “good”. He pauses.

“I needed to make sure it had the right amount of chocolate and cherry; that chemistry that happens when these ingredients go together – that’s what makes it work.”

When David speaks, it’s important to listen or you could miss important detail. His expertise, developed over decades working in Michelin-starred kitchens in Monte Carlo and Dordogne, 5-star cruises (which was where he learned English) and fine-dining restaurants in Scotland, is instinctive.

“I used two different types of cherry, one more ‘marzipanny’, one more fruity and sweet. Using the two brings the right balance to complement the chocolate. Then of course you want creaminess, but we can’t use cream. So, I use white chocolate for the creaminess as it is very dairy-rich. Then you need to have that dark chocolate hit: the strength that goes very well with the cherry flavour.”

“The hardest thing is actually to make it into a liquid.”

“Because initially, when you make the cake, you’ve got the chocolate, the cream, the cherries and so on… but as a drink it needs to be condensed… it’s a whole different story. That’s the biggest challenge.”

Making a classic cake into an alcoholic drink is clearly a challenge he relishes.

“The most important thing is to fit the flavours in front of you together in the perfect way, to make the perfect product. Fine-tuning all the pieces – we know the flavour we want to achieve”.

So how does he know when the flavour is perfect – when is it ‘done’?

“Well, that’s a good question. It’s really to have the right balance. What I’ve been trying to achieve is to have the same flavour in different products. That Black Forest Gateau flavour

in hot chocolate, and the same flavour in the Velvetised Cream.”

The rising star of Hotel Chocolat, Velvetised Creams attract rave reviews among a devoted following of converts.

How does working with alcohol alter the process of developing flavours?

“You know, this type of alcohol is not actually in the Black Forest Gateau recipe, it’s not part of the flavour profile. – this combination doesn’t exist, really. But we know from mixing the hot chocolate flavour with Velvetised Cream that it goes together very well. It’s not easy to introduce this strength of ingredient and keep the flavour balance perfect.”

It’s a signature of David’s understated style of conversation that these complexities and challenges are nothing to get upset by. It’s just another day at the office, another quest for innovation. Hits and misses are all part of the job. He doesn’t get upset by the misses it seems. But it must feel good when he nails it.

“Of course!” David beams, “It’s what it’s all about. But then, you know, we move to the next one.”

Black Forest Gateau Velvetised Cream, as first seen on Channel 4’s ‘Easter at Hotel Chocolat’ documentary, is currently in final stages of development and, it is hoped, will go into production later in 2022.