Chocolate Paradox

I planned on Wednesday night to produce the third piece for this year's assortment. I did not plan to engage in battle with the chocolate I was using. As Ella Fitzgerald sang in "But Not for Me," it all began so well... 

I had two brand new molds prepared for shelling with dark chocolate. I used the direct tempering method and tested the temper with a piece of parchment. Seeing the chocolate begin to solidify after two minutes, I decided to proceed. I filled, tapped, inverted, tapped, and scraped -- and was particularly pleased with how cleanly I had completed the task. But after the molds took a short rest in the refrigerator, I discovered something very strange: the chocolate in one tray was in perfect temper, shiny and set, while the chocolate in the other was covered in speckles -- a clear indication that it was not in temper. Strangely, though, the seemingly untempered shells could easily be released from the mold when normally they would stick. 

Somehow, the chocolate was both tempered and not tempered at the same time. 

Not only was I utterly baffled by the situation, but I became very annoyed with myself. As tempting as it was to proceed, I knew that I had to backtrack and re-shell the offending mold. If not, I would be reluctant to use those pieces in an assortment or to serve them to guests. 

Before proceeding, I paused to reflect on what had gone wrong. I was using the same chocolate, the same tools, the same method. Logically, I should have achieved the same results. And then it hit me: I was using a different microwave to melt the chocolate. And that microwave is more powerful than my old one (which is enjoying early retirement in Newfoundland now). 

I cursed. Aloud. And pulled each of the 21 shells from the mold. Then I tempered a new batch of chocolate and repeated the shelling procedure.

This little misstep was, thankfully, easily resolved because the issue was discovered before the chocolates had been filled. If it had been discovered after they were filled, then I would have had 21 "seconds" on my hands. While I'm sure no one would complain about having to help "dispose" of chocolate (especially since it would taste exactly the same), it would have been unfortunate given the exorbitant price of chocolate these days thanks to climate disasters, tariffs, and other factors. While I saved the chocolate, I lost about an hour of my Wednesday evening if you count the time spent troubleshooting, tempering, cooling, and verifying. 

I'm happy to say that the rest of the process went as expected. Actually, better than expected. I think this was the best capping job I've done to date! And I attribute that to a new tool -- a spatula from Temu of all places. I saw it online about a month ago while trying to find something to add to my cart so that I met the minimum order threshold for free shipping. It was only about $3 so I didn't have high expectations, but I did think having a second spatula could be helpful when working on two molds at once. WELL! This thing is incredible! It's more flexible than the other one I have and that somehow makes it easier to complete the capping process. Maybe it's the angle? Maybe it's better control? Whatever it is, I am going to have to get another the next time I place an order. 

That's three flavours down and one more to go before this year's assortment is unveiled!

Chipping Chocolate

Usually when I'm working with chocolate, I choose to start with callets. That's a fancy name for small disc-shaped chocolate pieces. They are relatively easy to work with, particularly if using the seeding method of tempering, and they are better suited to small production runs. In contrast, larger facilities with high-capacity melters and tempering machines are more likely to purchase chocolate in 5kg slabs. These slabs are like a giant chocolate bar, with "breakaway" blocks of about 500g each. In practice, of course, you'd need a pickaxe or a table saw to separate them. 

Last Christmas, I was surprised to find these blocks of Callebaut chocolate in the bakery section of a local grocery store. Individually wrapped, the 454g pieces were selling for somewhere in the vicinity of $23. As time and Christmas passed, they were slowly marked down. Having just ordered 2.5kg of milk and 2.5kg of dark chocolate from my supplier, I wasn't particularly interested in these bricks of chocolate, knowing they would be difficult to work with. When they finally hit about $8 each, though, I decided I would be foolish not to purchase something given the increasing cost of chocolate as a result of extreme weather conditions impacting cacao harvests. So, I picked up one of the white chocolate blocks. And then the following week, another. 

Fast forward to this week, when I was working on the second piece for my four-piece assortment. It required white chocolate. I pulled out the brick and assessed my options. I could attempt to grate the chocolate, but the heat from my hand may take it out of temper in the process. It would also be the messier of the options. Alternatively, I could use a serrated knife to shave the chocolate, but when I've tried that in the past the knife wasn't particularly easy to control. And so I found myself hiking downstairs and opening a box of chocolate implements to locate my weapon of choice: an ice pick. 

When I was enrolled in the professional chocolatier program, one of the items on our materials list was a chocolate chipping tool. I drove out to the local restaurant supply and asked if they had one. They didn't, but they had an ice pick and led me to it. I dutifully purchased it like any keener would when going back to school shopping, but as I recall I only used it once. On Wednesday evening, however, its moment to shine had arrived.

Slowly but surely, I chipped away at the white chocolate brick while roasting nuts. Since I had the oven timer on, I can confidently tell you that it took me about 8 minutes to fully chip one pound of chocolate. Satisfied with my work, I proceeded with tempering the chocolate and preparing 50 pieces of what I hope will be a delicious addition to this year's assortment.

The ice pick was certainly the right tool for the job. Efficient, easy to use, relatively neat. 

Of course, every time I looked at the pile of chocolate pieces in front of me, all I could think of was how delicious those chunks would be in a chocolate chip cookie. There's about 185g left, so perhaps next weekend, I'll test my theory. 

Reopening the Chocolate Factory

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.