Samantha Rain's summer

Beautiful summer days are not over yet. Next week will bring a lot of sun and warm days. Yet this doesn’t stop chocolate lovers from enjoying chocolate and pastry chefs know it. Today we are talking about summer and chocolate with one of the winners of Bake Off: Creme de la Creme, Samantha Rain.

Chocolate is also nice on hot summer days: what is your favourite way to enjoy it in the warm sunny weather?

My favourite way to enjoy it in the summer is in a light version - combined with nice fresh fruits - for example white chocolate and raspberry mousse with fresh raspberries.

Summer is also a time when people spend more time in the fresh air. Do you play cricket - or why and how did it happen that you created a cricket showpiece out of chocolate?  

The cricket showpiece was created for a cricket festival at Cheltenham college. As the Sosa development chef for HB ingredients, I went to Cheltenham college with one of our food service groups to help the executive chef Mike Rooke and his team with ideas and production of the desserts for the cricket day. The dessert collection included delicacies like chocolate cricket balls filled with gin and tonic mousse, Pimm’s jelly with elderflower foam, and White Russian trifles. The centerpiece was a wicket, created by me, made entirely from chocolate!

Which chocolate did you use?

I used the Cacao Barry Blanc Satin chocolate.

What was the greatest challenge in creating that showpiece?

The greatest challenge was the heat - the function was held in a marquee on a very hot day, so we were worried that the stumps could fall down and in fact they really fell down slightly, but however this happens also on the playground from time to time so actually it still looked very authentic.

Autumn is near ... what autumnal ingredients are you looking forward to and what do you like about autumn?

With autumn approaching I am always looking forward to apples, blackberries, damsons, elderberries and also pumpkins. I enjoy creating desserts that are light but full of flavour. I love the changing colours of autumn which are covering the entire warm spectrum. I try to use these as an inspiration when I am creating desserts.   

Any plans for your autumnal creations already?

I am currently planning my autumnal desserts for the upcoming demos and shows. Right now I am testing combinations of chocolate and beetroot (which I am a massive fan of), chocolate, yoghurt and blackberry and white chocolate mousse with poached damsons.