It's that time of year again! After a six-month hiatus, this week I dusted off my tools and molds and began work on this year's assortment.
The planning for the assortment began about two weeks ago, when I wrote a shortlist of possible flavour combinations. Having kept notes on inspiration throughout the year, it was easy for me to pull together eight options. More challenging was whittling that list down to four. As I've written before, my goal in preparing any assortment is to achieve a variety of flavours, textures, types of chocolate, and techniques. This means in practical terms that even though I may really want to make a particular item, I won't if it doesn't work in the context of the assortment. (For example, I wouldn't do two truffles in a four-piece box.) The keeping limit for each piece is also a factor. The pieces that have longer keeping limits -- like caramels and solid pieces -- can be produced in November, while those with shorter keeping limits -- like truffles -- aren't produced until early December to ensure freshness and safety. I usually aim to produce four different pieces in four weeks or less.
Armed with my plan (to be revealed next month) and a vague idea for which would be molded and which would be hand rolled or dipped, about a week ago I went in search of appropriate molds. This task was complicated by the fact that I recently moved and all of my chocolatiering tools and materials are still in files boxes. I removed the lids and quickly scanned through them, plucking one mold out of my collection. I also made a mental note that as a winter project, I will need to sort, organize, and inventory my molds before transferring them into a more permanent storage solution.
Next I checked on my packaging and, in particular, the stickers I use to close boxes. Finding only one sheet remaining, I placed an order with Vistaprint to ensure I had enough, not yet knowing how many boxes I would target for production this year. (Unfortunately, when the new stickers arrived the quality was poor, so I had to reorder them. Fingers crossed the next set will be better!)
As for how many boxes I'll make this year, I haven't yet decided. For the last two years, I've increased my production with the intent of selling a few boxes. Both times, my plans were foiled -- first when poor weather led to a sudden change in travel plans and second when a postal strike shut down affordable shipping options. One does wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something. 🤔 For now, I will probably just make enough to give as gifts.
My next task was to order chocolate. Now, I already have white, milk, and dark chocolate on hand thanks to a strategic purchase at the end of last year (made knowing the price of chocolate was going to rise again). But with a plan to riff on Greweling's Madagascar marbles as this year's truffle, I was going to require one more chocolate type. His recipe calls for dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache piped one on top of the other and I had the idea to use dark chocolate and either gold or ruby chocolate. Unfortunately, after checking all of my usual suppliers -- and a few new ones -- I came to the conclusion that I would have to rethink my plan. Callebaut's Ruby callets are currently retailing for $80/kg! The prices for Callebaut Gold aren't much better. As much as I would love to work with one of these, it doesn't seem like the right time or the right project given the cost.
And so I went back to the drawing board and ultimately changed the truffle to a new flavour and technique. While reviewing how the four flavours would present together, I also decided to change one of the molds I had intended to use. With all of this firmly set in stone, I was able to prepare a production schedule and make a shopping list.
And that means that, as of the date of this blog post, the chocolate factory has reopened for 2025.
Note: Factory image produced with the assistance of Copilot.
