We Can't Decide Between Yuzu Custard and Strawberry Custard. So We're Asking You.

We have a problem.

Our next chocolate is going to be a custard ganache. We know that much — the format is settled, the base recipe is close to right, the texture is where we want it. A custard ganache is richer than a standard cream ganache, with an egg yolk base that gives it a depth and a smoothness that is genuinely different from anything else in our current range.

What we cannot agree on is the flavour.

Two of us want yuzu. Three of us want strawberry. We have been having this argument, in various forms, for several weeks. Nobody has moved. The score is 3–2 and it has been 3–2 for longer than is comfortable.

So we're doing something we've never done before: we're asking you.

The Case for Yuzu

Argued by the two of us who are right.

Yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit — small, intensely aromatic, with a flavour that is somewhere between lemon, mandarin, and grapefruit but is not quite any of them. It is floral in a way that lemon isn't, complex in a way that mandarin isn't, and less aggressive than grapefruit. In Japan, it is used in everything from ponzu to desserts to bath salts, because the aroma is that good.

In chocolate, yuzu works for the same reason that any citrus works: the acidity cuts through the richness of the ganache and brightens the cacao's own fruit notes. But yuzu does this with more elegance than lemon and more complexity than orange. The floral quality lingers after the acidity has done its work, leaving a finish that is long and interesting.

In a custard ganache specifically, yuzu is exceptional. The richness of the egg yolk base needs something to cut through it — something bright and precise. Yuzu is exactly that. The combination is sophisticated, unexpected, and the kind of thing that makes people stop and ask what they just tasted.

Yuzu custard chocolate is also something that almost nobody in India is making. It is genuinely new territory. And genuinely new territory is where Cavasa should be.

The Case for Strawberry

Argued by the three of us who are also right.

Strawberry and chocolate is one of the great pairings in confectionery. Not because it is safe — it isn't, when done well — but because the relationship between the two flavours is genuinely excellent. The sweetness of the strawberry and the depth of the chocolate are natural complements. The slight acidity of the fruit cuts through the richness of the ganache. The colour, when the strawberry is present in the filling, is beautiful.

The argument against strawberry is that it is familiar. The argument for it is that familiar, done exceptionally well, is not the same as ordinary. A strawberry custard ganache made with real strawberry — not extract, not flavouring, but actual fruit reduced to concentrate its flavour — in a rich egg yolk base, in a dark chocolate shell, is not a safe product. It is a classic executed at a level that most people haven't experienced.

There is also the accessibility argument. Yuzu is a flavour that requires explanation — most of our customers will not have encountered it, and some will be hesitant about something unfamiliar. Strawberry requires no explanation. It invites people in rather than asking them to take a leap. And a product that more people are willing to try is a product that more people will love.

Strawberry custard chocolate is the product that converts people. Yuzu custard chocolate is the product that impresses them. Both matter. But conversion comes first.

Where We're Stuck

The honest reason we can't decide is that both arguments are good.

Yuzu is more interesting. Strawberry is more accessible. Yuzu pushes Cavasa into new territory. Strawberry executes a classic at a higher level than it's usually executed. Yuzu will surprise people. Strawberry will delight them.

We have tasted both versions. Multiple times. The yuzu custard is elegant and complex and slightly challenging in the best way. The strawberry custard is immediately, unreservedly delicious. Tasting the yuzu makes you think. Tasting the strawberry makes you reach for another piece.

Both of these are good outcomes. We cannot agree on which one to pursue first.

This Is Where You Come In

We are not going to let a vote decide this — product decisions at Cavasa are not made by committee, and we are not going to start now. But we are genuinely curious what our customers think, and we are willing to let that curiosity inform the conversation.

So: tell us. Yuzu custard or strawberry custard? And more importantly — why? What would make you more excited to open a Cavasa box and find one rather than the other?

Leave a comment, send us a message, find us on Instagram. The 3–2 deadlock has been going on long enough. We'd like to know where you stand.

Whichever one we launch first, the other one is coming. We've already decided that much.

While you're thinking about it, explore what we've already decided on in our Cavasa Chocolates collection — made in Ambur, Tamil Nadu, after considerably less internal debate. 🍫