A milk chocolate Crispearl is a crowd-pleaser: a toasted cereal centre wrapped in a sweet, creamy Belgian coating that snaps cleanly and tastes of the chocolate rather than the cereal. At about 4mm they are small enough to decorate an elegant truffle and large enough to see on a finished dessert.

Which Crispearls Should You Choose? 

All our Crispearls share the same crisped cereal centre and the same 84% coating, so the decision is entirely about the chocolate on the outside and what it's paired with. Milk is the classic and tastes great in all applications, next to a huge variety of flavours. Dark leads on cocoa mass and cuts through sweetness, so it belongs on caramel, banoffee and anything already rich. White is the most eye-catching, which makes it the one for dark glazes and photographs. Ruby brings a berry sharpness and a pink that no colouring can copy. Gold is caramelised white chocolate with a hint of salt in the centre, so it balances a dessert rather than sweetening it.

How to Use Milk Chocolate Crispearls 

Add them last and keep them cool. Milk chocolate softens at a slightly lower temperature than dark, so fold them into a mousse, a buttercream or a gelato at the very end of mixing and keep the mix below about 28C while you do it. Scattered over a glaze or a dipped surface they set in place as it firms, with no piped dot needed. As a garnish allow 5 to 10g a portion; folded through a mix, 30 to 40g a kilo puts crunch in every spoonful without turning the texture gritty.

Troubleshooting

Thanks to the chocolate coating, these cereal balls maintain their crispiness and crunch even when used in chilled or creamy applications. High water content applications such as fruit purées will cause them to soften over time, so leave it until the last minute to add them.

If the pearls clump in storage they have been too warm. Keep the bag closed at 12 to 20C and away from anything strongly scented, since the cereal centre may pick up an aroma through the coating.

Pairings and Ideas 

Milk Crispearls suit hazelnut, banana, caramel, coffee, cinnamon and berries, and they are the natural choice where the rest of the dessert is doing the talking.

• Through the filling of a chocolate and hazelnut babka, as in our Chocolate & Hazelnut Babka Cake
• Inside a stuffed cookie, as in our Christmas Stuffed Cookie
• Pressed into moulded figures for crunch, as in our Miso Caramel Crunch Bears
• Folded into a banana mousse or a banoffee layer
• Scattered on a caramel glazed entremet while the glaze is still tacky
• Stirred into gelato at the end of the batch