The Best Type Of Desserts To Elevate With Miso

Robust miso pairs famously well alongside similarly bold ingredients like chocolate, caramel, and peanut butter. But, when Jennifer Boggiss is baking with miso, bright contrast is prized over a woodsy complement. Boggiss is the CEO of Heilala Vanilla, the company behind the world's most awarded bourbon vanilla products.

The name Heilala has become synonymous with ethical sourcing, zero-waste production, and cold-pressing technique to extract maximum flavor from the vanilla beans. In other words, Boggiss is all about commitment to premium quality and knows a thing or two about uncompromising flavor. "White miso works great in desserts — it's milder [than other miso varieties] and adds a subtle saltiness," the CEO shares with Tasting Table. "Pair it with sweet or tangy flavors, like sugar or lemon, to keep things balanced."

If you've never worked with it before, white miso (aka shiro) is mildly sweet and slightly funky. It's wicked accessible, less bold than red or brown miso, which are also made from fermented soybeans. But, comparatively, white miso paste has less salt and fements for the shortest duration. That mellow, nutty sweetness is a secret weapon for adding savory depth to tangy desserts. For minimal impact to the texture of your baked goods, whisk that gritty miso into your batter or dough at the same time as you're mixing together the wet ingredients. You could also add it into any cream and sugar that might get beat together with an electric mixer, as in making cookie doughs.

A little goes a long way with this concentrated Japanese condiment. Two tablespoons of white miso per cup of flour in the recipe is generally a solid rule of thumb for adding flavor without overdoing it. Also, be sure to leave out any salt called for in the recipe; the miso will be plenty salty on its own. You could also opt for a reduced-sodium white miso paste like this one by Marukome to avoid overdoing it and not have to alter your recipes too heavily.

We already love the umami-bomb ingredient in these double miso chocolate chip cookies. Here at Tasting Table, we even add it to the occasional cocktail for impressive umami intrigue. But, to play up Jennifer Boggiss' recommended juxtaposition with a little tanginess, you could stir a dollop of white miso paste into the dough for these orange creamsicle cookies with white chocolate drizzle. It isn't just for cookies, either. Try working that white miso into the base crust of bright lemon bars for balancing salty depth, or use it to elevate the flavor of vegan banana bread.

On the sugar-forward side of Boggiss' tip, you could stir a few spoonfuls of miso into your go-to batter for fudgy brownies or white chocolate blondies. It'd even make for layered flavor in lemon-glazed pound cake, blueberry crumble, or ultra-dimensional almond cake with orange blossom water, Hikari organic white miso, and Heilala vanilla bean paste.