5x bizarre but incredibly delicious cheese-and-candy combinations
Granted: in America, things are often over the top, but they do dare! That’s how it came about that a pretty serious cheese expert drew up a list of which cheeses (from all over the world) pair well with… candy!
Cheese expert Michelle Molier, a member of the American Cheese Society, seriously took on The Kitchn’s question of which bag of candy you should grab from the shelf when you have some delicious blue cheese at home, for example. And if you’re a little daring and don’t care about the rules (which we can certainly appreciate), some very lovely things can come of it. Chaos cooking, which we wrote about earlier, also originated in America and is the casual, cheerful result of chefs not allowing disapproval to rein in their cooking skills. You can decide whether you’ll be putting a colourful collection of sweets on the cheeseboard too!
We’ve ‘translated’ Michelle’s candy suggestions a little into sweets that are available in the Netherlands, so nothing is stopping you from trying out the following wild combinations…
Roquefort with chocolate-covered peanuts
Another blue cheese works too, but according to Molier, a salty blue cheese pairs well with the nutty sweetness of chocolate-covered peanuts. Make an extra impression with homemade chocolate-covered peanuts!
Delice de Bourgogne with dark chocolate
This incredibly creamy Burgundian cheese is a huge editorial favourite. ‘It’s basically almost cream,’ says Molier. And when it’s nicely at room temperature, all you have to do is break off a piece of chocolate from a bar (or an unbelievably delicious chocolate letter!) and pull it through the cheese: you won’t believe what you’re tasting.
Appenzeller with Skittles
Even Molier had to dig deep for this combination, but according to her, Swiss Alpine cheeses have something of a fruity aftertaste, which helps bridge the gap to a Skittle. Exciting!
Mascarpone with sour belts
No one is surprised anymore by combining mascarpone with sweetness; the breakthrough of tiramisu in the Netherlands decades ago made sure of that. Sour belts, however, were difficult to pair with anything because of their mouth-puckering sourness, but they turned out to work with the buttery softness of mascarpone. Molier’s pro tip: chop sour belts very finely and mix them into mascarpone to frost a cupcake with.
Cheddar with KitKat
A piece or slice of sharp (real) cheddar on a cracker is fantastic, so Molier built on the light, wafer-like theme. That led her to KitKats, for a similar mouthfeel plus the mild cocoa flavour. She recommends simply taking it along in your lunchbox from now on.
Read also:
- What is the difference between pale yellow and bright orange cheddar?
- Hilarious reactions to Haribo’s new sweets
- 8x the most popular sweets from the ’80s: is your favourite among them?
