Last, and Lasting, Memories: Chef Timothy Koch’s Chocolate Desserts at Hilton Short Hills

“People most enjoy a dessert that blends ingredients they know, like chocolate and raspberries, with an exciting twist,” he says.

By Patricia D. Sherman

“Dessert is the guest’s last experience of the night,” says Timothy Koch, Executive Pastry Chef at Hilton Short Hills in New Jersey.  “It should be memorable and exciting, yet not intimidating.  People most enjoy a dessert that blends ingredients they know – like chocolate and raspberries – with an exciting twist.  We want to take something classic and step outside the box.”

Chef Koch creates desserts that marry the familiar with the new for The Dining Room, which has had it five AAA diamonds more than 12 years, The Terrace, a casual, Mediterranean-influenced venue, and The Retreat Lounge, as well as for banquets and room service. His famous sugar sculptures enhance the Hilton’s acclaimed Sunday Brunch.

Chef Koch relies on chocolate, the flavor everybody knows and loves, to make his desserts memorable, he says. He shared more of his thoughts on chocolate with Chocolate Atlas:

CA: What is your chocolate philosophy?
CHEF KOCH: Chocolate is like fine wine. You must taste as many different varieties as possible.  It's not just white, milk and dark.  There are single origin varieties, different production methods, etc.

CA: What is your favorite kind of chocolate?
CHEF KOCH: Among my favorites to eat and work with are Felchlin, a Swiss variety, and Michel Cluizel, a French variety. I like bittersweet, 65 percent to 75 percent cocoa.

CA: What is your signature chocolate dessert recipe?
CHEF KOCH: An all-time favorite is the Warm Belgium Chocolate Cake. It’s a rich semisweet chocolate sponge cake with a warm chocolate ganache center.  Serve it with your favorite ice cream. Outstanding! Another of my favorites is Black Forest Cake with Cherries (left).  Click here to see the recipe.

CA: What are your first chocolate memories?
CHEF KOCH: Going down to the local chocolatier and getting a pound of chocolate fudge or some chocolate covered crackers (my favorite).

CA: Other ways do you use chocolate besides desserts?
CHEF KOCH: My mother always puts a little in her chili. It's pretty good! We also like to use it in showpieces and for decorations. It can be molded or sculpted into about anything you can dream up.

CA: Most unusual thing you have ever made or seen out of chocolate?
CHEF KOCH: At the chocolate show in Manhattan I've seen models wearing nothing but outfits made of chocolate.  I have taken a 50-pound solid chocolate sculpture of a woman on a plane with me to Atlanta, Ga. for a pastry competition. Don't even ask about security.

More about Chef Koch

Chef Koch earned his degree in pastry and baking arts from Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School in 1996.  He joined the culinary team of Hilton Short Hills in 1996 as a pastry cook, and was promoted to assistant pastry chef within a year. In May of 2001, he became the Hilton’s executive pastry chef.

Chef Koch’s artistry has earned him awards, including a gold medal for his Petit Four Glace from the International Geneva Association, a silver medal in the 1999 Southern Pastry Classic’s Chocolate Centerpiece Competition and Most Artistic Dessert honors in the Somerset Arts Association’s competition.  In 2001, he was a finalist in the Patisfrance US Pastry Competition. He has also been recognized in Pastry Art & Design and Culinary Trends.

For more information, www.hilton.com.  

Patricia D. Sherman is editor of the Chocolate Atlas.

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