Chocolate is everyone’s favourite. It’s the key to making to people happy and the reason behind a dopamine rush. There’s nothing in this world that chocolate can’t solve. This Chocolate Day, we sat down with some of the most well-known chocolatiers in the city to know about their story, their chocolate staples and more.
Toska Chocolates
Toska Chocolates was founded by Ishan Pansuria, a Civil Engineer by degree. After his degree, Ishan joined his father’s chemical business. But his love for pure chocolates and passion for making the best fine-chocolates in India, made him quit his father’s business and he started exploring opportunities in the chocolate world. He went to Mumbai and joined Barry Callebaut Chocolate Academy to learn the art & science of making and eating chocolate.
The brand’s most unique products range from Vegan to Dark, Milk and White chocolates. Toska Chocolates also has a very unique gifting category where one can customise a chocolate box with different flavoured bars as per one’s liking.
Toska Chocolates is a homegrown food brand, looking to capture its roots across all major cities in India.
• What’s your Favorite type of chocolate, why?
A single origin plain dark Chocolate is my favourite.
Single origin because it has many amazing flavor notes of berries and fruits and flowers based on the origin they r grown. And it’s a myth that dark chocolates are bitter. Only dark chocolates made with bad quality cocoa beans are bitter. A dark chocolate bar is loaded with antioxidants and minerals and its also a mood lifter. I consume a small bar of my Madagascar dark chocolate everyday in my breakfast.
• What’s your preferred chocolate creation?
My favourite creation is the Blueberry Mocha Dark Chocolate. It was an accidental creation when I was trying to make a coffee flavored dark chocolate and a staff member mistakenly added blueberries instead of some other ingredient. It is also our best seller.
• Your chocolate staples that everyone must try?
There was almost no good Indian origin pure craft chocolate brand way back in 2015-2016, the chocolates available in the markets were painfully sweet and full or chemicals.
• What sparked your interest in chocolate making?
So just the scarcity of clean labeled chocolate brand made with honest ingredients sparked the idea of Toska Chocolates.
• Your secret to getting the perfect chocolate
The secret is make to make small batches of chocolate so that you can focus on each and every bar during the production. It’s a lot of work but the results are worth it.
• Any tips for budding chocolatiers
Don’t be lazy and don’t take any steap or detail for granted because God lies in details. And whatever you make, create a story around it.
L’Écho Bombay
In the world of L’Écho Bombay, customization and personal attention are at the forefront. We want to be more than a bakery, we aim to deliver an experience.
Helmed by Gunjan Chopra, a Le Cordon Bleu London graduate, the brand is known for its unique seasonal menus and chocolaty creations that are available year round.
While, the decorative cakes go from consultation, to concept, design and execution under Gunjan’s watchful eye. She interacts with every client to understand their requirement and create accordingly.
Being atop trends is one aspect, but the bespoke nature of the brand is what keeps people coming back for more. Creativity and taste are always at equal proportions in the kitchen and that’s what makes the L’Écho what it is.
• What’s your Favorite type of cakes, why?
I love doing bespoke cakes as it’s unique and specifically made as per the choice and preferences of my client
• What’s your preferred cake creation?
I personally also love working with flavours that has textures and layers to it
My personal favourite is hazelnut praline
• Your cake staples that everyone must try?
I’d recommend trying Dulce de Leche
And Our seasonal berries and fruit cakes
• What sparked your interest in cakes?
I was 13 when I first started baking and never stopped then
I feel food is a mood maker or a mood breaker and since then I realised how big of a deal it is and wanted to make sure I always make the mood
• Your secret to getting the perfect chocolate cake?
Always use good quality coverture chocolate,great quality cocoa powder for your sponge
It makes a hell lot of difference trust me
• Any tips for budding cake artists?
Go creative, it’s endless how you can explore food/desserts and always bake with your heart
The end results would be mindblowing
Bean To Bark
Bean To Bark brings to you chocolate in its purest form; handcrafted, pure, snacking chocolates. Bean To Bark is a sister brand of Pink Harvest Farms, founded by brother-sister duo, Devansh Parasrampuria and Upasana Parasrampuria Kagzi.
Bean To Bark started with one simple thought, creating healthier, pure snacking chocolate, without all the bad stuff! From grinding our own beans sourced locally, to handcrafting them in small batches, Bean To Bark is a pure couverture chocolate brand, with no added oils or refined sugars!
Their snacking chocolate range today has the most popular range of Bean to Bark, snacking slivers in various flavours, Bean to Berries, chocolate coated pure whole berries and Bean to Nutters, for all us Indians who love their nuts! Not only this, they also have Bean to Buttons, aka pure chocolate baking chips.
Bean To Bark strongly believes in inclusivity, so every range has a sugar-free variant sweetened with Stevia for diabetics or those with dietary restrictions.
About Upasana Parasrampuria Kagzi
Upasana Parasrampuria Kagzi is the co-founder of gourmet superfood brand Pink Harvest Farms & pure snacking chocolate brand Bean to Bark.
After an illustrious sports career as a pistol shooter, Upasana, then a lawyer, decided to pursue another of her passions – the world of food! Today she is a Natural Foods Chef who has trained in New York, having specialized in health supportive food. She also runs her own Instagram recipe content page, Diet Tamasha (formerly a healthy dessert bakery).
Being a natural foods chef, Upasana is immensely passionate about food, especially the goal of making healthy food taste as good as its unhealthy counterparts. Along with the strategic direction she provides for product development, Upasana leads the marketing efforts of Pink Harvest & Bean To Bark. She is incredibly proud to have over the years built a loyal community of organic followers who truly love and trust the brands and the products!
She and her cofounder, her brother Devansh hope to make Pink Harvest Farms and Bean to Bark household names across the country and beyond. One synonymous with sustainability, quality and above all taste.
What’s your Favorite type of chocolate, why?
I am a complete chocolate lover! My favourite type of chocolate is a dark yet not-so-dark chocolate that satisfies the sweet craving without overpowering the complexity of many other flavour notes it leaves behind long after you have eaten it. That dark chocolate is a power source of antioxidants is an added bonus!
• What’s your preferred chocolate creation?
Being heavily involved in the product development and recipe creation at Pink Harvest Farms and Bean to Bark, the Bean to Bark Quinoa Crackle is definitely by far my favourite chocolate creation. Smooth chocolate with a perfect crunch, indulgent yet guilt free, when we launched this combination a few years ago, it was an instant hit and till date is our best-selling product!
• Your chocolate staples that everyone must try?
Bean To Bark brings to you chocolate in its purest form; handcrafted, pure, snacking chocolates without all the bad stuff (no refined sugar and no oils!).
Bean to Buttons, pure baking chocolate chips are a must have in all kitchens! You can snack on them, use them as a topping, bake with them if you are a professional, homebaker or just a mom looking for a toddler friendly activity; very versatile and delicious!
Other must try products are Bean to Bark Almond Crunch with perfectly roasted almonds on slivers of smooth dark chocolate. For the milk chocolate lovers, Bean to Nutters roasted Hazelnuts covered in milk chocolate is an absolute favourite.
As an inclusive brand, all our ranges have chocolates sweetened with stevia for diabetics or people with dietary restrictions!
• What sparked your interest in chocolate making?
I think it’s every kid’s dream to run a chocolate factory – but for us the motivation was deeper; to make chocolates that are inclusive of all dietary needs. Under the Bean To Bark label we have no refined sugar chocolates, vegan, gluten free, sugar-free, keto friendly, diabetic friendly – there’s a chocolate for everyone!
• Your secret to getting the perfect chocolate
The perfect chocolate is one which is experienced with all the senses. The secret is to remember this!
We eat with our eyes first so first impressions matter right from packaging to the appearance of the chocolate – be it perfectly moulded chocolate or handcrafted slivers. Smooth and lucious to touch, one should be able to inhale the chocolate’s many aromas and get the mouth watering. And of course the taste, the velvety mouthfeel, how it melts on the tongue, its complexity, the flavor pairings and the lingering taste that remains long after you have finished the chocolate. Our goal at Bean to Bark is to create the perfect chocolate that lets one experience our journey in making the chocolate with all their senses.
• Any tips for budding chocolatiers
Pure chocolate is an art as much as a science. Get loads of practical experience, whether it is via workshops, courses or learning from experienced chocolatiers. Make sure to master the basics!
Experiment with combinations – there are some classics and some unusual out of the box combinations. You may not like a particular flavour on its own but with the right chocolate, a subtle taste can actually hit the spot.
Happy Chocolate Day! Enjoy your chocolates, dig in and satisfy your sweet tooth cravings!
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