I like to think that I have quite a high chocolate tolerance. By that, I mean I can eat far more chocolate than I should in one sitting before I start to think that maybe I should stop. One of my favourite ways to test my chocolate-consuming abilities is at Koko Black’s dessert degustations.

I first discovered these events last year, when a friend asked me if I wanted to go with her. We had such a good time that as soon as we saw this year’s degustation advertised we bought tickets right away (there were four sessions in Canberra this year, which all sold out).

Each year features a different theme for the degustation. This year’s theme was Koko Black’s Chocolate Truffle season (coincidentally timed during Canberra’s Truffle Festival season). What this meant was that each course was inspired by one of Koko Black’s signature truffles.

Upon arrival, we were each presented with the first course: a cocktail inspired by Koko Black’s Champagne Truffle, comprising white Cream de Cacao and Marc de Champagne Granita, spritzed with sparkling white wine and served with a dark chocolate swizzle stick. It looked and tasted beautiful, and trying to scoop up the granita with the chocolate stick was pretty fun.

As everyone was enjoying their drinks, the founder of Koko Black, Shane Hills, welcomed us to the event and introduced the team for that evening, which included Haley Koo, the Canberra salon manager, and Koko Black’s Executive Chocolatier, Grant Inches, and Head Pastry Chef, Adam Tippins, who were responsible for creating the delights we were about to enjoy.

Grant and Adam then said their hellos and introduced the next course, a profiterole-type dessert based on the Yuzu Truffle. This consisted of chocolate choux pastry filled with chocolate crème, and served with yuzu gel and citron fizz, which added a nice tang to the dessert.

Next up was the Liquid Salted Caramel Truffle dessert, which was a caramel mousse with a salted caramel centre, served on chocolate soil with caramel bubbles. As the staff carried out the trays, we could hear people exclaiming, and if you look at the picture below you’ll see why.

If you’re wondering if it tasted as good as it looked, then the answer is absolutely. My friends and I had great fun cracking open the ‘shell’ and watching the liquid caramel ooze out. The chocolate soil was featured in one of last year’s desserts, and I was very pleased to see it again, because it’s delicious!

The next course was the one that had caught my eye as soon as I looked at the menu, a warm chocolate fondant baked with a runny hazelnut gianduja centre, based on the Gianduja Truffle. I love love love both chocolate fondant and hazelnut, so a dessert that combined them? Yes, please!

We could smell the desserts as they were set down on the table, and it’s actually a feat in itself that I managed to get photos of it before diving in.

The gianduja dessert was my absolute favourite of the night. I confessed to one of my friends that if we weren’t in public I would have licked the plate, and she was of the same mind. We managed to maintain some decorum, but really did get the plates as clean as we could without licking them (evidence below).

The final course for the night was a caramelised pear and white chocolate pannacotta based on the White Chocolate Truffle, served with pear crisps, chocolate madeleine and truffle honey gel. This dessert incorporated truffle fungi with the chocolate truffle. We had learnt earlier that night that the first chocolate truffle was created in France in the 1920s, in the kitchen of Auguste Escoffier, when his apprentice accidentally poured hot cream into a bowl of chocolate. Escoffier noticed the texture of the mixture and played around with it, creating a ball which he then coated in cocoa powder. The new chocolate reminded him of the truffle fungus, and so the chocolate truffle got its name.

My friends and I had mixed reactions to this dish. The pannacotta and pear crisps were delicious, but some of us found the truffle honey gel a bit odd, although when you mixed it all together it was quite nice.

Apart from the desserts, one of the best things about the evening was Shane, Grant and Adam’s interaction with their guests. Before each dish, Grant would describe the chocolate it was based on, and then Adam would explain the dessert. All three of them wandered around meeting people, and it was really great to be able to have a chat to them.

We asked Grant how long it took them to come up with the desserts. He said it took about a month, starting from writing ideas down on paper, to Adam making trials, them discussing what was good and bad, and what textures and techniques they could use, and refining the desserts until they were happy with the final result. The next challenge would then be to figure out how to make and serve the desserts to 40 people at a time.

Adam said he really enjoyed these evenings as it gave him a chance to create things that he wouldn’t get to do for the shops normally, and they were a good opportunity to allow him to express himself as a pastry chef.

The only sad news from the evening is that the Canberra store will close for a few weeks later this year or early next, but for very good reason—a big refurbishment. Shane was nice enough to give my friends and I a sneak peek at what we have to look forward to, and let me tell you, it’s going to be amazing (if you’re curious, look up photos of Koko Black’s Chadstone store).

I was in a bit of a chocolate coma as I wrote this, but it was worth every bit of cacao (and just in case we didn’t get enough chocolate during the evening, everyone also got goodie bags to take home), and I can’t wait to see what they come up with for next year’s event.