Late October

Updating this has been at the top of my list for awhile, but I can't seem to utilize the 24 hours a day I was given to their full potential. I guess I could if I would just give up sleep, but quite honestly, sometimes it is the best part of my day.

I really admire those women that do everything; be a great mom, work, write books, maintain friendships, start businesses, cook dinner every night, have wonderful marriages and all the while looking absolutely gorgeous. I don't know how they do it. Being a mom of 3 boys (one of which has an ASD), and a husband who has been gone quite a bit has always been enough to keep me busy. Once they went off to school I thought, "here comes my time!!" It is sad to say that I have realized I was delusional! No one person can do all that, without help. Being a military wife, always away from family has made me very self reliant, to a fault. I pride myself on being able to do everything by myself. Now I am beginning to ask, "why?"

I love fall, I love it better in a place where fall has that storybook look, the hills, gorgeous leaves, fog and cool temps, but.... I love fall. I love the warm, comforting flavors of fall, cinnamon, pumpkin, apples, ginger, all the things that make you feel like snuggling up in a pile of blankets for a nap. I tend to forget all the allergies and the colds, the tissues and vicks vapo-rub and the spilled bottles of cough medicine, until it is staring me in the face. So, on October 16th, I started working on my chocolates for an event at Let's Talk Wine on October 24th. I had been working on a new truffle, had all my ingredients ready; I was fully prepared for everything, I thought. On the 18th, I woke up with a bit of a tickle in my throat and I thought my eyeballs were going to pop out of my head from sinus pressure, but it was Sunday, everyone was home, I had things to do. I had a small chocolate job to finish and I needed to start infusing some cream for the next batch. Did I mention that my husband rescued a 9 month old puppy? A 9 month old Bernese Mountain Dog(Romeo) who weighs in at 75 pounds? Yes, he is adorable and looks so much like our 6 year old Berner, Lucy that he is tough to resist, but... it has been raining and he likes the mud! I am sick, he can rest his head on the counter and apparently never met a food he didn't love. Needless to say, if there was a week in my life that I shouldn't be making chocolate this was it. I had to stop the chocolate to buy my 8 year old a new pair of shoes,(teething puppy) I had fencing lessons with my 12 year old, (a 35 minute drive and I can't see while I am sneezing) I had to go find another batch of star anise (which isn't very common in my part of the world) because Romeo ate the first pack. More chocolate, I get sicker and am positive I am dying of the H1N1 or something far worse. But I need to assemble boxes and print labels and take photos and make more ganache, and breakfast and fill lunch boxes, then make dinner then ....... go buy a new cell phone because Romeo ATE MY cellphone, which is my work phone.........and as much as I would like to call in sick, I can't; my work is my life, I don't mean that in a type A workaholic way, I mean all of this stuff is my life, my everyday life in my "yay it is the me time part of my life!!"

I did survive, on nyquil and cuppa soup. The chocolates did work out well, except for one recipe. They should really put on the nyquil bottle that it impairs the ability to do math of any kind. I spent the 24th, a little congested, but no worse for the week, except now my 12 year old is sick. Thankfully, no chocolate this week and I can take care of him.

There may soon be an additional place to pick up my chocolates, Krysia Witkowski Branum the owner of INTEGRATIVE Manual Therapy & Wellness, has been kind enough to take some samples to see if her clients might be interested in them. I was delighted to hear the excitement when I dropped them off yesterday! I have been asked about sugar free chocolates so I am going to start some research into that. It is honestly not something that I have ever considered, but I do have a few diabetic customers and I would love to get something tasty and not dangerous to them!

cream infusing with spices for Istanbul

All the chocolates for the Let's Talk Wine event

The only new one of this run was the Balyan:

Named for the most well known architect of Art Nouveau style in Turkey. I had been making bars with fresh ground pink peppercorn and star anise for awhile. I love the combination, and thankfully did quite a few people. I started playing around with a truffle with these flavors. As usual, I initially made things far too complicated. The flavors are balanced so well with a great 65% chocolate. I personally think that you can add anything to the Felchlin 65% and it will taste amazing (which may be giving away a huge secret!)

I brought back the marshmallows, by request. I do love the Bewitched style transfer. I loved all the halloween transfers available and hope that bit of whimsy doesn't turn anyone off the chocolates. I realize that a couple of them would have looked much better with white chocolate, but honestly, with the week I was having, I was lucky to get any of them done!

I am just going to sit here in the chocolate room, watching the leaves in the breeze while I am sipping my chai tea. I am pretending that it is about 55 degrees and crisp. I am ignoring the 70 degrees and 98% humidity and the big muddy puppy rolling in the mud.

No new chocolates for you to track down and eat yet, hopefully next week. Although, my 8 year old is sniffling now!

It's below 90!!!!

Yay! It is finally below 90 degrees. It is still humid and too warm for me, but atleast I can wear clothes and not be completely miserable on when I run to the car! As the temperatures fall it is time to start thinking about chocolate again. Last night, it was about 65 and breezy, I actually craved a chai tea truffle (that never happens).

I have to say, I haven't been completely idle this entire summer; I have 3 boys at home, so that is next to impossible. I have repainted my chocolate room, I have been working on a new brochure, checking out new packaging, researching new products, typing up all the recipes that I came up with that were written on chocolate stained sticky notes and I have been rereading some chocolate books for inspiration.

So, fall is no longer just a distant dream, in a few weeks the first pomegranates will show up and the pumpkins, it truly is the small things that make life so much better! Soon I will be able to turn off the dehumidifier and everything!

There will be a tasting at Let's Talk Wine on September 19th from 1200 to 1600, I am not sure which wines will be featured, but you can bet they will be amazing. While I know that technically fall is a few weeks off, I have fall flavours spinning around in my head, so just think of this run of truffles as ushering in fall! Right now I am thinking that I will be making the following:

Tiffany:Pumpkin

Istanbul:Chai

Turin:Hazelnut

Roma:Cappuccino

Paris:Classic

Brittany: Sea Salt Caramel

and hopefully Rossetti: Pomegranate

Hope to see you there!

Chocolate in July?

Is anyone thinking about chocolate in July, especially here in the South? The only chocolate that I can think about is chocolate ice cream or milk shakes. So, what is a chocolatier to do in the dog days of summer when eating, let alone making chocolate is the last thing on her mind? Nothing fun, let me tell you. I have been working on new marketing strategies, rearranging my workspace, taking inventory, compiling new recipes to try out, making list after list after list. Have I ever mentioned that I just want to make the chocolate? I am trying to figure out the best way to paint my chocolate room next, how can I do that without actually moving anything? How can I enlist my children without breaking any child labor laws?

Although I don't seem to have anything but time on my hands these days, I have no idea where it is going and I have absolutely nothing to show for it, aside from some key lime pie made with white chocolate in a chocolate cookie crust. If you don't have Fran Bigelow's cookbook Pure Chocolate, you should pop on over to amazon and get it. I have changed her recipe up a bit, made it a bit more sassy. People are always surprised at the combination, when are they going to start to trust me??

I have also been spending a bit too much time at these sites:

www.pastryscoop.com

www.thechocolatelife.com

www.allchocolate.com

www.doriegreenspan.com

www.davidlebovitz.com

If you are looking for a great beach read, here are a few (which are proof I need to get a life outside chocolate!):

• The Chocolate Connoisseur: For Everyone with a Passion for Chocolate

by Chloe Doutre-Roussel

• The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe
• Chocolate A Bittersweet saga of Dark and Light by Mort Rosenblum

Enjoy what remains of summer!

truffles and wine and cakes oh my!

I can't seem to my act together and update this in the correct order! It doesn't do me any good to tell you about an event once it is already over, but that isn't going to stop me.

The first event of the month was the Chocolate and Wine Pairing Seminar at Let's Talk Wine. I am so glad we had a few trial tastings before the actual event, it is much more difficult than one would think to find a great combination. I was a little worried about the seminar, how can you educate people about something as subjective as taste? I was really pleased with the turn out, I have to say. We used 4 types of chocolate tasting squares: 3 of which were Michel Cluizel (72%, 65% and 50%) and my favorite, Amedei 70%. We had 4 types of wine that Ian chose after our trial tastings. They were a moscato di asti, a Banyoul, Jester Cab and Marietta Zin. My notes are illegible down towards the bottom, so I am going with my faulty memory! I think the biggest surprise pairing of the bunch was the Moscato and the 65%. People were pleased with the 50%/Moscato pairing until they tasted the 65%, it was what I am looking for a pairing to be; they blended harmoniously without taking anything away from either element. People always ask me when they are purchasing truffles, "what wine would go with this chocolate?" I always say that they are really at their best separately. I think to some degree that it may be easier to pair a truffle with the wine than it is the straight up chocolate, but it is still something you are going to have to play with to figure out. We have an amazing friend Paul who is a flavor savant and he recommended my coconut rum truffle with a Zin (I thought he had been drinking too much!) but it was an amazing combination. So, at the end of the day, there are amazing combinations to be had, but with plain chocolate it is a very hard thing. If you are willing to put in the work of methodically making combinations and taking notes ( a bit more detailed than mine), you may find something amazing, but it isn't as easy as saying, "oh, that's a dark chocolate, a cab will work." The absolute best pairing of the day: Jester Zin and chocolate chip cookies! Also, I think the best way to combine cab and chocolate is in a torte. I made one to show the difference in the taste, between the cooked and uncooked. It was the same chocolate and wine, just one in a little square and one in a flourless torte. Of course there were other elements to the torte that absolutely add to the combination, but that is my recommendation for a pairing.

The next event I am still cleaning up after! On saturday, June 20th, the hottest day of the year, I was at Let's Talk Wine again for one of their wine tastings. I was glad to be in the 64 degree shop that day, I think the heat index was up to 105 and I start getting crabby at about 80 degrees, chocolate or no chocolate! I brought along 13 different types of truffles and various bars. It was a rough week making the chocolates, not just because of the heat and humidity, but the kids were on their first week out of school. So, the block of time that I would normally have to work was interrupted every 1/2 hour or so with requests for food or for my referee services. I changed up the flavors a bit, didn't bring along some normal ones. There are so many great berries out right now, it was hard to choose. I thought with it being the day before Father's Day that I would try the more "manly" flavors; guinness, salty peanuts, rum. It was so nice to see my regulars, along with quite a few new people stopping in on their way to the Outer Banks. I love that people are not quite sure about some of my flavors, that I am surprising people, in a good way. Here is what I brought:

Modena: This was a labor of love. I love strawberries and balsamic vinegar (I love balsamic on just about anything really) and I wanted to find a way to make this into a chocolate. I searched around for recipes, I worked on this for over a month trying to get it right. You know when you have something very specific in mind and nothing really matches up to it? It finally did, this chocolate is a layer of strawberry pate de fruit (fruit gummy but in a way that you can't imagine) and a layer of ganache of 65% chocolate and reduction of balsamic. The name comes from where balsamic comes from.

Adamo: This was one of the chocolates that customers said, "really?" This is a 70% chocolate and lime, yes lime. Chances are, if you like chocolate and orange, you will like chocolate with just about any citrus (I do). When I taste limes, I think about Mexico. There isn't a lot of Art Nouveau architecture or artists coming out of Mexico. The Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City was the most prominent example I could find. Adamo Boari, the Italian architect is who designed the building is where I got the name of this chocolate.

Gibson: I haven't don't the Gibson since the fall when the peanuts are fresh, but it is one of my husband's favorites. (I didn't have to go Father's Day shopping)

Ponce: Coconut and rum, it is summer after all.

Brittany: I can't seem to make enough of the sea salt caramel

Dublin: This is another chocolate that I have to say, "please just trust me!" This isn't overpowering Guinness. I don't think you have to love Guinness to love this chocolate (although I do). The dark richness of the Guinness blends so well with chocolate, I make a cake with it as well. I think of the flavors in the same way I think of coffee.

Paris: I never go to the shop without them!

London: Earl Grey, one of the most requested flavors.

Ankara: I am so pleased that people have taken to the tea truffles, I think it is a great combination.

Milan: I haven't done this in awhile. It is pure flavor, you really have to be an espresso fan for this one!

Somerset: It sat in the sun a bit too long before I got this photo! I was afraid that this would disappoint, as it isn't as minty as a junior mint or a peppermint patty, but that is exactly why they loved it.

Beardsley: Raspberries are another of those flavors that make me instantly think of England. I don't know why, it may be that delicious jam I had on my scones while we were at the Cheddar Gorge, it's funny how our minds make these connections. Weaving taste and ambience together. This is a fresh raspberry puree mixed in a equally fresh fondant. It is an old fashioned favorite. England and Art Nouveau leads me to Aubrey Beardsley, an illustrator.

Rosario: I might just be asked to leave if I came without these.

I am starting more chocolates tomorrow for a wedding reception, it is so nice to be included in such a big day! I am not sure what will come next. A chocolate and beer pairing seminar? A chocolate 101 series? Another wine tasting? I will let you know when I do, hopefully before it happens this time.

Go get your hands on some Amedei chuao bars or squares, they are well worth the effort of tracking them down!

Why didn't I become a carpenter?

Why didn't I become a carpenter, or a botanist or something?  It is so hot outside, 93% and 89% humidity last check, obviously not great chocolate weather.  Chocolate ice cream, maybe.

I have been getting a emails asking about my return to Five Points, I am hoping it will be soon.  I am fully stocked and ready to go, unfortunately with no air conditioning in the market, it isn't the best place to be.  I am working on a solution and will be there as quickly as possible.  

I am also getting questioned about why it matters, why is the heat and humidity such a problem.  Has anyone ever left their junior mints in the car?  I don't mean to sound snarky, really I don't.  Chocolates and heat just don't work out well together.  It is so stressful for me as well; it takes me a week to make all these chocolates, then I sort out which look perfect and which become samples to be chopped up.  After they have been sorted and photographed for brochures or tasting cards I have to transport them. At this point I am usually giddy with relief that I am getting the chocolates out of my house without either my dog, my children or my husband eating them.  Imagine a lovely in Tidewater with a heat index of 104.  I take the lovely chocolates out of my climate controlled work room (68 degrees and 39% humidity) to get them into the car and within 5 seconds there are little beads of condensation.  Chocolate and water get along even worse than chocolate and heat.  Where there is condensation there is imperfection and stickiness or gumminess, do I just chop everything up then? It is a nightmare!

I am hoping to do a bit more educational events over the summer and less actual chocolate work.  I have an event coming up on June 7th, a wine and chocolate pairing seminar, which has been alot of fun to investigate (my notes are incoherent thankfully Ian drinks for a living!). People assume them to be a natural duo, but it is tougher than one might think.  I am also doing some chocolates for the shop on June 20th for their regular tasting event(any Father's day flavor ideas?).   So far, that is it for the summer and I am good with that.  We have talked about a chocolate and beer pairing seminar as well, hopefully the interest is out there.

I am also mulling over the idea of starting a chocolate society or club or something to that effect.  There is so much great chocolate out there, though not available locally.  I would love to expose people to some great chocolate and educate them as to why it is so great.  Many of the big cities have them and I do think it's a great idea.  We'll see.

A week without chocolate

After 2 big jobs in a row, I took the last week off, the bonus of being your own boss.  The only chocolate I even looked at was junior mints while at a movie!  I don't want chocolate to be involved with any of my five senses.   Of course  I had other business details to take care of, re-ordering, spreadsheets, all that fun stuff.

Here are some photos from the Chesapeake Regional Medical Center's "Red, White and Chocolate" event:

I did 9 different flavors, I still haven't heard back from them but I am hoping that everyone enjoyed them.

The last event was the anniversary celebration for Let's Talk Wine.  I love the events at the wine shop, I get to chat with everyone and hear first hand comments about the chocolates.  I had the usual questioning looks on the faces for some of my flavor choices, including the favorite of the day; the Brittany, which is a caramel with sea salt:

The second favorite was the Ponce, which if I named it for a friend would have been Cynthia.  This truffle is milk chocolate, coconut and rum, which is Cynthia!

The Sorrento was the other surprise that people loved:

In all I did 12 different flavors for the event, some recipes enhanced or re-tooled, most exactly the same.

I am now feeling a little uninspired.  I need to hit the market and see what is out there that I can play with for some new creations.  Local strawberries are starting to come in, which will be fun.  I did play around with making some small bars, flavored with dried fruits and or spices.  I really enjoy them myself, so I took some along.  The pink peppercorn and star anise was my favorite:

I am also working on a tasting event at Let's Talk Wine, a chocolate and wine pairing type event. I have found the chocolates that I am going to use, now I just have to find the wine.  A rough day of work is ahead of me again!

humidity on the rise

I am getting ready for 2 events in May, so I have been busy ordering more boxes, chocolate, etc.  I try to take care of all the admin business during the down time, but down time included spring break for my kids, which it rained most of.  I am learning to take care of all the little things ahead of time, because chocolate is very temperamental (no pun intended) add the unpredictable weather as I am sure I have mentioned, and it is a complete set up for disaster.  Unfortunately, trying to get alot of the small details done requires me to have things done in advance.  Things like determining which flavors I will be doing so I can do all the ingredient labels and inserts ahead of time.  I am not a very organized person, phew, I am so glad I got that off my chest.  I am spontaneous so while I may plan to make truffles with filberts in them, and write it all down and print it all out, I will inevitably wake up on the day I am making them and decide that I really can't stand the smell of filberts again.  Another thing about me, I tend to make things far more difficult than need be.  Instead of just making the filbert truffles, I rip up all the labels and decide to make truffles with peanuts.  How hard can that be?  Well, I then have to go get the peanuts, then realize that the truffle base is a different cacao percentage then I planned for, so I have to search through my chocolate stash for what I need, weigh it all out etc, half of my production day is now wasted!  I am learning though!  Keeping flavors somewhat seasonal is helpful, especially when there isn't much in season.

It has been a very wet week or so, it never fails that the weather throws me for a loop when I am setting up for production.  I am debating a dehumidifier,  a few extra fans and some way to keep all the sun out of my sun room (which is my chocolate work room).  I am trying to find ways to make the production run smoothly and efficiently, which I think is tougher in a home based business. I am not a gadget girl, I have been hand tempering for 4 years.  It is what I know, I have a system and it looks great.  Yes, it is time consuming and stressful.   For those of you who haven't been  my assistant, tempered chocolate is the outside coating, it should have a nice crisp snap and look gorgeous (basically).  To temper chocolate you have to melt it to a certain temperature range, then let it cool to another temperature range, then heat it back up, very gently to a 3 degree window.  When it its that window you are off and running, and you need to find a way to keep it in that window. Which for a long time required a heating pad, and constant running back and forth to the double boiler on the stove.  It falls under the making things more difficult than need be aspect of my life.  I felt that if I used a tempering machine that it was cheating somehow.  That I wouldn't be considered artisan if I used one.  After a few years of my husband and friends trying to convince me otherwise,  I have finally relented and purchased a small machine. There is a learning curve with everything and the first run was a nightmare, requiring phone calls and emails to the manufacturer, my chocolate provider, a chocolate scientist and a fellow chocolatier in Israel!  I am so thankful for all the help!  

I am still working on some new flavors.  The ones I introduced for Spring thus far are:

Sorrento:  I am happy that nearly everyone who tried it loved it as much as I do.  It is my new favorite.  I originally worked on a lemon-thyme combination, but it had a medicinal quality that I wasn't crazy about.  Whenever I smell lemons, or lemon blossoms I think about Sorrento, Italy; the lemon trees everywhere, the lemon pottery, limoncello!  It is my kind of place.

Gaudi: I never made it to Barcelona, which I will remedy one day.  When I ask people what they think about when I say Barcelona, I get wine or Gaudi.  This bon bon is late harvest zinfandel and dark chocolate combination.  I have been working on a red wine truffle for quite awhile, I am finally pleased with this combination, and since I sold out of them, it appears that my customers are too!

Ankara: This jasmine tea truffle got much better with time.  I felt it was a bit too strong at first, but jasmine tea lovers really enjoyed it.  I went through 3 different organic jasmine teas before finding the fragrance I was looking for.  I am not sure if I am going to keep this around though, I had a lot of requests for the Earl Grey, maybe I will do a small box of just tea bon bons.

Somerset: I have a confession to make, I love junior mints, they are my favorite movie food. I have been working on my own version with fresh mint.  It is quite the process to make fondant, it starts as a boiling liquid in a pot (one temperature for stiff fondant, one for medium, one for soft), add in all the flavorings, slab it to cool then mold up.  I really shouldn't do the fondants or caramels, I burn my finger without fail.

The last of the new chocolates, I am sad to say, I didn't love, so it is back to the drawing board.  It was great in theory, it just didn't come out with strong enough coconut flavor for the coconut lovers I encountered.

 

Havana: This is a combination of white chocolate, cream and coconut cream dipped in a dark chocolate, with a bit of fresh coconut on top.  Maybe it will work out better next time!

I am donating a bunch of chocolates to Chesapeake Regional Medical Center's Red, White and Chocolate event the first weekend of May.  I am flattered to have been asked to contribute after someone tasted my chocolate at Let's Talk Wine.  It is a great cause and I am happy to contribute.

May 9th is Let's Talk Wine's first anniversary celebration, so I will be there all day during the celebration and tasting with my chocolates.  It is a great shop, filled with great wines and people so try to make your way on over!  I am still working on which flavors I will be bringing with me, but I will have plenty on hand to sample.

Here comes the rain again! 

Early April

Today is one of those gorgeous spring days in the Hampton Roads area of VA.  73 with 95% humidity and a tornado warning!  Not the best day to start chocolate.  But, what are you gonna do.  I have been researching dehumidifiers, either that or I close up shop from May until October.  Not ideal when you are trying to actually START a business.  Did I mention that it is allergy time?  

Yesterday I started infusing cream.  I finally was able to procure somewhat local cream from 5 points!  I think it has a somewhat higher fat content, which may or may not screw up my work. Today I have been ganache making.  My lovely lemon is amazing fresh out of the bowl.  I have also finished the Roma, Rosario, Reims, plus a few new ones I have yet to name.   Coconut and jasmine tea.  I will be researching the  art nouveau/coconut connection as well as the jasmine tea for the next few days.

Remember, chocolates make a great hostess gift for everyone out there traveling for the Easter holiday!

Upcoming Events

I have had a few inquiries as to when I will have chocolate out again.  This is what I am doing for the next month or so:

April 11th 

Five Points Community Farm Market 

2500 Church Street Suite A, Norfolk

9a.m. - 5p.m.

May 9th

Let's Talk Wine 

Anniversary celebration

236 Carmichael Way, Suite 308, Chesapeake

11:oo a.m. until I run out

experiments

As I mentioned before, when spring rolls around I think of lemons.  Lemons like crazy.  I have worked on a lemon flavored truffle recipe, I have made lemon risotto, lemon cake, lemonade.  I am not sure why, but there you go.  I have heard that when it comes to sweets or desserts, there are two types of people, lemon people and chocolate people, I am sorry I can't reference where I heard that, but I did.... believe it or not (given my profession) I am a lemon person, so the lemon truffle  was a great experiment for me.  I don't really know how other people come up with recipes, but typically I take as many as I can find, look for similarities, change things up, depending on the chocolate % I want to use, then start mixing.  It took 3 tries, but I now have a lemon truffle that has taken the top spot on my favorite list.  

I have also been experimenting with red wine truffles, for a long time.  I started last summer, and it never works out well.  So, I go about my business, always coming back to the red wine truffle, it is like the giant jigsaw puzzle I leave out and come back to every so often.  I have annoyed everyone at Let's Talk Wine incessantly about which red wines to try, and why.  They are then tortured with the horrible truffle autopsy, why didn't this work.  Now, Ian (my wine guru) and I do agree, generally red wine and chocolate don't go well together.  You have to find the right combination, which in my primary wine education, requires the wine to be sweeter than the chocolate (that is my basic knowledge generalization).  It is a really popular combination right now, and people are always asking about it.  After experimenting and tons of research I have found a great combination.  As with the framboise, another dessert wine has worked the best, for me. Drum roll please, a late harvest zinfandel, yay!  

I am also working on a new tea truffle, I love the tea truffles, all of them so far.  I admit that part of the reason seasonal flavors appeals to me is that I don't (and hopefully my customers don't either) get a chance to get sick of what I am making.  It is still pretty tough right now though, as there isn't much out but citrus, and spinach.  My 8 year old son has told me, due to his strawberry craving, "mom, if we drive there, it is local." I love how their brains work.  We drove to Florida last summer!! I am off to the Five Points Farm Market again, hopefully there will be something amazing, or at least a coconut or two!  

I have taken this last bit of down time to organize recipes.  Sounds like fun, huh?  No one tells you these things when you are starting a business.  I guess by the time I am ready to open a shop I will have all the kinks worked out, which was part of the reason for starting small, and at home.  I am still trying to find better ways of tracking my costs, of making invoices and of getting all my boxes and labels and such ready when I take my chocolates on the road (the only drawback of not having a storefront thus far).  I have come to the conclusion though that I really only want to make the chocolate.  I love the process, the creating.  I am thankful for all my friends that are willing to be tasters, especially when they are completely honest.  Taste is so individual and it is something I find fascinating, how nothing changes within one group of samples, but everyone gets something different from it. 

I have a few more days of experimenting before I start chocolates for Easter, wish me luck,

Chocolate in the news

I have just come across some interesting chocolate news.  The first is about energy.  Lindt USA and NH largest energy supplier are testing the viability of using cacao shells and waste to produce engery.  Cool.

The second deals with debating the "chocolate is good for your health" philosophy. Check it out.

Another health benefits of chocolate article, this one deals with chronic fatigue.

The last bit is another health article, which I have already mentioned something about.  Natural vs. dutch processed cocoa powder.  It is to do with processing and the antioxidant properties.

It is all fascinating stuff, but do we need the health benefits to eat chocolate, or does it just assuage our guilt a little bit??

I recently heard a radio spot on BBC about how Scotland wants to tax chocolate, due to chocolate's contribution to obesity. I am all for a "sin tax," I think most people are, as long as it isn't their sin, but I was flabbergasted.  "Real" chocolate doesn't do that, and as we can see from the articles above, there are many health benefits.  Thankfully Chantal Cody was interviewed and put a bit of light on the argument.  Chantal Cody has a book called "Real Chocolate" and is the owner of Rococo.  She went on to explain the difference between "real" chocolate and all the junk out there.  A candy bar, even though it is covered in a chocolate type substance isn't chocolate.  All the confections made with excessive sweeteners, preservatives and various other things that can't be pronounced aren't "real" chocolate, their junk.  We all love them, and they have their place, but when the bulk of your "chocolate" consumption comes from these types of "junk" chocolates, that is where the ill health side effects come from.

There are lots of great chocolates out there, perfect snack sized squares of heaven.  Amedei 70% porcelana for example.  Straight up chocolate is the best way to go, but if you are looking for a little more, try a truffle or bon bon.  Preferably one that is made by a local artisan, using fresh, high quality ingredients, without all the extra junk.

I am now off my soap box.

I am experimenting with some new flavors for spring, I will get lemon to work if it kills me.  Unfortunately, most the fruit in the area is coming from Chile or california, so I think I might start working on a red wine truffle and maybe something herbal, like mint.  

Spring?

St. Patrick's Day has just passed, along with another round of chocolates and my mind is turning to spring.  Of course the flavors that I associate with spring (asparagus and peas) cannot be put in chocolate, but there is one that can.  Lemon.  I don't know if it because my birthday is in spring and I always crave lemon cake, or if I have just had too much chocolate by this time in the year, but lemons are on my mind.  So, I will be experimenting for a bit.  Spring also makes me think of Paris, and here are some examples why:

What they do with chocolate is amazing.  I was not given the sculpture gift.  I can admire it and I love it, but I can't do it.  Frankly, I am ok with that.

I worked on a few new chocolates for this last run, in honor of St. Patrick's day:

Grafton:

I thought that Bailey's came from Northern Ireland for some reason, when I found out it was headquartered in Dublin I was in trouble, Dublin was already taken.  Grafton street in Dublin is where all the action is, so, there you go.  This was the hands down favorite at Let's Talk Wine.  All of whom are stilling willing to be tasters for me.   This is a 72% chocolate and Baileys Irish Cream.  

Dublin:

What else could this be?  Guinness of course, and 65% chocolate.  I am sure it would taste so much better if I was using Guinness from the tap in Ireland, but.... I'm not.  This was the second choice at Let's Talk Wine, but it came in first with my new taster Brenda.  I really appreciate her willingness to try the new stuff.  There is only so much chocolate I can try before they all taste the same.

Glasgow:

This one is still in the experimental phase.  I realize Glasgow has nothing to do with St. Patrick's day, but it seemed a good fit.  I know there are some fine Irish whiskeys to be had, but this one I have been carrying around for a few years hails from Scotland.  The last time I was in Scotland a few years back I picked this up Deanston 12 year in Stirling.  It is a local local distillery near Doune, with it's castle (which appears in Monty Python and the Holy Grail).  I admit I know next to nothing about Whiskey, basically it was what I had on hand and it was combined with a 65% chocolate.  I have started researching, so hopefully the next batch will be the keeper.  Glasgow has a wealth of Art Nouveau architecture due to the influence of Charles Rennie MacIntosh.

Brittany:

While everyone loves to sample the marshmallows, and loves them, they aren't a great seller.  I love flavors that are a bit paradoxical.  My friend Helle introduced me to Danish salty black licorice, which sounds bizarre but is so yummy.  When I was looking for something to replace the marshmallows with I had a craving for salted caramel.  The fleur de sel that I used has its origins on the coast of Brittany (Bretagne) region.  The fleur de sel caramel is hand dipped in 61% chocolate.

All of the other chocolates in this batch were requested from previous batches.  Paris, Vienna, Reims, Antwerp, Roma,London, St. Augustine, Rosario, and Malaga.

I finally recovered from my last round of rejections at commercial locations, and have started taking samples out again.  If I can get a few commercial locations I will be able to fill the small 1 box requests that I keep getting.  Keep your fingers crossed.

I was trying to do twitter (I don't know if that is the correct verbage!) while I was making chocolates, I thought people might be interested in the volume and the steps involved, but I couldn't keep up.  Then I started thinking that people would think I was a bit self involved to think that anyone would care! So, ciao twitter!  

Valentine's tsunami

I survived my first Valentine's Day making chocolates for a retail shop.  I had a few major catastrophes, mostly weather related (as usual).  A few weeks before I started working on the chocolates I said "if we have a warm week and it rains again, I am done."  Well, we had a really, really warm week, in the 70s for most of it, but it didn't rain.  I will keep it up for awhile.  I went from having heat on 1 day to ac the next, it was crazy, but I am done.  So, all weather and temperature things aside, I had a very successful run.  

For Valentine's Day, I did 10 different truffles.  I was sampling and selling at Let's Talk Wine.  I have to say another round of thanks to Ian, Trish and Linda for believing in my products enough to include me in their tasting events.  They had a great turn out, which means I had success.

I was very pleased that everyone that tasted my chocolates enjoyed them, feedback is always nice, positive feedback is even better!  People had a lot of questions, which I love because there is nothing better for me than educating people about my process and chocolate in general.  There were a few faces filled with disbelief at some of my flavor choices, but all I had to say was "please taste it" to make some believers!

I will be back at Let's Talk Wine in 4-6 weeks, whenever they do another wine tasting event. I am happy to make chocolates available there when requested as well.  Hopefully we will have some chocolate centered events coming in the near future, I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again to Sharon and Lisa, it is nice to have people who are willing to give of their time for no payment other than chocolate!

So, here are the chocolates I did for Valentine's Day:

Malaga:

Creamy milk chocolate and almond butter ganache rolled in almonds and dark chocolate.  The name Malaga comes from an area of Spain where almonds grow, as well as several sites with Art Nouveau architecture.

Paris:

A return favorite that always sells out!  A classic french truffle, nothing but an amazing 65% chocolate, cream and butter.  There is no need to embellish this.

Roma:

Rome is the first place I think of when I see the word cappuccino, you?  I have taken my double espresso ganache and added a sweet, creamy white chocolate flavor.  This was a best seller.

Vienna:

Another customer favorite, and my personal favorite.  You have to love fresh ginger.  This is a soft, dark chocolate ginger ganache that can't be fully described.  

Reims:

Another flavor that has carried over from Christmas.  While the champagne flavor isn't in your face, this truffle made with 65% chocolate and champagne has a bit of something special in it.  This was a best seller as well as a most requested.

Lyon: 

I have been told not to show up if I don't bring the marshmallows.

Antwerp:

Antwerp is not only a city rich with Art Nouveau architecture, it is also a variety of raspberries, which ties in nicely to this truffle made with a 70% chocolate and framboise, which is a fortified raspberry wine.  Not for the faint of heart, this has a very intense raspberry flavor.

Rosario:

Rosario, Argentina is one of the few South American cities to contain any Art Nouveau anything!  While I don't believe ancho chiles or cinnamon come from the area, I know the combination of chocolate, cinnamon and chiles are traditional to many areas of South America.  While not spicy, this truffle is flavorful.

London:

This was a surprise favorite!  It has such an amazing scent and taste, it is just beautiful (if I do say so myself).  This took a few trials to get right, but it was well worth the effort.  The combination of chocolate and Earl Grey tea may seem odd, but it tastes great!

St. Augustine:

Another combination people thought was odd, chocolate and grapefruit; until I ask "doo you like chocolate and orange?"  Very few people say no to that.  Because this is chocolate, cream, butter and only the zest of some grapefruit it is very subtle.  I chose the name St. Augustine because I remembered that there is a stained glass window at a church in St. Augustine, Florida by L.C. Tiffany, as well as several other pieces done by Tiffany at the Lightner museum.  I know it is a stretch, but grapefruit comes from Florida when you live on the east coast!