FLAVOUR SYNC: Pure & Hazel
THE STORY
The Real Cheese Project caught up with chocolatier Fritz Schwartz of Pure & Hazel between markets and mould-polishing to talk about his newest creation for our November Cheese Crowd - The Bite: an apple strudel–hearted chocolate designed to sit alongside Doddington, this month’s hero cheese.
The Chocolatier - Fritz Schwarz
We battled patchy Wi-Fi, a ringing doorbell, and still covered plenty of ground: youth, Vienna, cinnamon ratios, and why shine on a bonbon isn’t an accident.
VIENNA ON THE TONGUE
When I mentioned the Dutch tradition of apple syrup with Gouda, Fritz’s mind went straight home to Vienna. “Apple strudel,” he said immediately. Not the vague idea of it, but the sensation. He wanted the warmth, the acidity of apple, the swirl of cinnamon, and the nutty richness of brown butter.
“There are three pillars,” he told me. “Apple, cinnamon, brown butter. Put them together and it is apple strudel.”
BUILDING THE BITE
Inside the shell, Fritz has constructed a tiny strudel in layers: a bright green apple jelly that melts first and floods the tongue, followed by a crisp brown-butter crunch that releases gentle nuttiness, all supported by white chocolate so the finish is clean and doesn’t trample the cheese.
He tested countless apple types before landing on a blend of tangy green apples to mimic the Austrian tartness he grew up with. The goal was that tell-tale malic tickle, the bright bite that makes strudel strudel.
THE DIVA IN THE KITCHEN
Cinnamon, Fritz says, will happily bulldoze a recipe if you let it. He iterated more than ten times, shifting tiny amounts to find the sweet spot. He played with sticks versus powdered cinnamon and ultimately chose powdered for precision.
The final balance is roughly two parts apple jelly to one part crunchy layer, like real strudel, where apple is the main act and pastry plays quiet support.
HOW TO EAT IT WITH CHEESE
Doddington, our hero cheese, is a beautifully complex British hard cheese with toasty, nutty depth and that satisfying crystalline crunch.
Fritz’s advice is simple: cheese first, chocolate second. Let the Doddington lay down its buttery, roasted notes, then bring in the fruit, spice and brown-butter crunch to amplify and refresh.
THE FERMENTATION CONNECTION
We detoured into the shared language of fermentation, how cacao, like milk, changes character through managed microbial life. Fritz has worked bean-to-bar and talked about how fermentation can push chocolate toward walnut, coffee or apricot notes.
It is the same rhythm we know in cheese: watch the acid, nudge the culture, and guide the transformation.
FLAVOUR AND FEELING
For Fritz, apple strudel is home: autumn turning to winter, fruit picked in late summer and carried through the cold months. He wants this bonbon to be a conversation piece, something that gets friends talking and passing the box around the table.
Food, after all, is better when we pause to thank the hands behind it and the land beneath it.
BEHIND THE GLOSS
If you have ever admired the mirror shine on a Pure & Hazel bonbon, know this: it is fingerprints in every cavity, hours of polishing, and very hot water to chase stubborn cocoa butter.
“The most time-consuming, most annoying part of my job,” Fritz laughed. I promised I will check the shine next time.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR PURE & HAZEL
With a new, larger workshop, Fritz finally has room to play. He is trialling three new flavours, including a Central European classic, sweet chestnut with rum.
He is also exploring elegant uses of alcohol in chocolate, aiming for perfume rather than punch, and seeking more collaborations that blur sweet and savoury worlds.
A consummate passionate professional
QUICK FIRE WITH FRITZ
Dark, milk or white: dark
Apple or cinnamon, the diva: cinnamon
Daily intake: around 100 grams of chocolate
Desert-island tool: whisk
Strangest customer question: “Can I put this in my coffee machine?”
If cheese and chocolate had a baby: Milky
Tempering, team sport or solo: solo, always
TASTING NOTE
Begin with a small wedge of Doddington at room temperature and let it bloom.
Follow with one Pure & Hazel apple strudel chocolate.
Notice the sequence: Doddington’s toasty butterfat and crystalline snap, the apple’s bright malic sparkle, the brown-butter crunch, and finally a gentle fade.
