Valrhona Ivoire 35%: The White Chocolate That Belongs in Professional Kitchens

Valrhona Ivoire

White chocolate divides opinion. But Valrhona Ivoire 35% tends to convert even the sceptics. It’s not the cloying, overly sweet white chocolate you might be used to — it’s a refined, technically excellent couverture with real depth and remarkable versatility in patisserie.

What Is Valrhona Ivoire 35%?

Ivoire is Valrhona’s flagship white couverture, made with 35% cocoa butter — significantly higher than most white chocolates. That extra cocoa butter content gives it a cleaner, more rounded flavour and superior working properties.

Flavour profile: Delicate, creamy, and milky with subtle notes of vanilla and fresh cream. It’s sweet but not sickly — the high cocoa butter content keeps it balanced and clean on the palate.

Format: Fèves for precise scaling and even melting.

Why Chefs Choose Ivoire

  • High cocoa butter content: At 35% cocoa butter, Ivoire has excellent fluidity and a silky mouthfeel that lower-quality white chocolates can’t match.
  • Clean flavour: Subtle enough to let other flavours shine — fruit, floral, and citrus notes come through beautifully alongside Ivoire.
  • Colour: Its ivory-white colour makes it ideal for decorative work, coloured cocoa butter applications, and white glazes.
  • Infusion base: Ivoire absorbs infused flavours exceptionally well — it’s the go-to base for flavoured white chocolate ganaches.

How to Use Valrhona Ivoire 35%

Ganaches: Use a 2.5:1 chocolate-to-cream ratio for a firm ganache. Infuse the cream with lemon zest, lavender, earl grey, or raspberry for stunning flavoured bonbons.

Mousses: Ivoire makes a beautifully light, creamy mousse — pair with passion fruit or raspberry for a classic combination.

Glazes: Melt with neutral oil for a white mirror glaze. Add oil-based food colouring for dramatic coloured finishes on entremet cakes.

Infusions: Gently warm the cream, steep your flavouring (citrus zest, herbs, spices, tea), strain, then pour over Ivoire. The neutral base lets the infused flavour take centre stage.

Tempering: Melt to 40–45°C, cool to 25–26°C, bring back to 27–28°C. White chocolate is more sensitive to heat than dark — use a thermometer and be precise.

Recipe: Valrhona Ivoire & Lemon Ganache Tart

A bright, elegant tart — the delicate sweetness of Ivoire balanced by sharp lemon zest and juice. A showstopper that’s deceptively simple to make.

Serves: 8–10 | Prep: 35 mins | Chill: 2 hours

For the Pastry (Pâte Sucrée)

  • 200g plain flour
  • 80g icing sugar
  • 25g ground almonds
  • Pinch of fine sea salt
  • 120g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp cold water

For the Ivoire Lemon Ganache

  • 320g Valrhona Ivoire 35% fèves
  • 180ml double cream
  • Zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
  • 40ml fresh lemon juice
  • 25g unsalted butter, room temperature
  • Pinch of fleur de sel

Method

1. Make the pastry

  1. Blitz flour, icing sugar, ground almonds, salt, and butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  2. Add egg yolk and cold water, pulse until the dough just comes together.
  3. Chill for 1 hour, roll to 3mm, line a 23cm tart tin, chill 30 minutes.
  4. Blind bake at 170°C fan for 15 minutes, remove beans, bake 8–10 minutes until pale golden. Cool completely.

2. Make the ganache

  1. Place Ivoire fèves in a heatproof bowl.
  2. Heat cream with lemon zest until just below boiling. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for 10 minutes.
  3. Strain the cream, reheat gently, then pour over the Ivoire in three additions, stirring from the centre until smooth.
  4. Add lemon juice and butter, stir until fully emulsified and glossy.
  5. Pour into the cooled tart shell. Tap gently to level.
  6. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until set.

3. Serve

Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before serving. Finish with thin slices of candied lemon, a few lemon zest curls, and a pinch of fleur de sel. Serve in thin slices — it’s rich.

Tips for the Best Result

  • Don’t overheat Ivoire — white chocolate scorches easily. Keep temperatures gentle and use a thermometer.
  • Add lemon juice at the end — adding acid too early can cause the ganache to split. Stir in after the cream and chocolate are fully combined.
  • Steep the zest properly — 10 minutes in warm cream extracts far more flavour than simply adding zest to the ganache.

Pairing Suggestions

Ivoire’s clean, creamy profile pairs beautifully with: lemon, passion fruit, raspberry, yuzu, lavender, earl grey, pistachio, and vanilla. For a more exotic version, replace lemon with yuzu juice and zest — the result is extraordinary.

Shop Valrhona Ivoire 35%

We stock Valrhona Ivoire 35% fèves at Nut House — the white couverture that changes how you think about white chocolate.