Chocolate Goat Cheese from Montchevre

August is National Goat Cheese Month (seriously — we don’t make this stuff up), and lucky for us Midwesterners, we have a bounty of local goat cheeses from which to choose for this all-important celebration. From Donnay Dairy in Kimball, MN, to Bass Lake Cheese Factory, to Carr Valley Cheese Company in Mauston and La Valle, WI, we can feast on creamy fresh chevres, aged cheddars, and crumbly blues. But if you have a raging sweet tooth or are looking for something a little different for your cheese platter, give chocolate goat cheese a try.

The Whole Foods near Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis takes fresh chevre from Belmont, Wisconsin’s Montchevre and mixes it in store with cocoa liquor and cocoa butter, creating a thick spread that’s both tangy and sweet. The cheese still has the fresh, lemony flavor that distinguishes a good chevre from other cheeses that are past their prime, while the cocoa butter lends a richness to the dairy concoction.

Too thick to be likened to chocolate mousse, chocolate goat cheese nevertheless makes a luxurious addition to your dessert tray. Savory crackers would be an ill-suited match; spread the cheese on graham crackers or simple cookies. The dollop pictured above is paired with a classic Bramblewood Treats shortbread cookie, which has a fantastically buttery flavor that complements the goat cheese’s tang.

Chocolate goat cheese is available at Whole Foods (3060 Excelsior Blvd, Minneapolis). Bramblewood Treats shortbread can be found at the Mill City Farmers Market, Surdyk’s, Golden Fig, and other specialty-food stores.