The Wonderful World of Chocolate

Early last week my little one had a very big milestone in her life.  She watched, and instantly became hooked on, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  I’m talking about the original…the one with Gene Wilder where the screen play was actually written by the same man who wrote the book…not the other one.  She loved it!  Why wouldn’t she?  And it totally got me in the mood for chocolate week in class!

From the first time I tempered chocolate in culinary school, chocolate quickly became one of my favorite things to work with.  I think it’s because you really have to know what you’re doing to work with it successfully.  Not just anyone can melt down chocolate and turn it into something beautiful.  It was a challenge for me.  And I fell in love. 

This week was like a little piece of home invaded school in France.  I thought back to the first time I worked with chocolate and how I got it in places that didn’t even make since.  I thought of my favorite pastry teacher from AICH telling us that chocolate wasn’t messy, we were.  I thought of the countless hours I spent practicing truffles for competition.  I thought of the extreme relaxation that come over me whenever I stand in front of a marble slab covered in melted chocolate and mold it into something wonderful.  I thought of all the smiles those little pieces of heaven have brought to people.  This was going to be a good week.   

Now, I may have been slightly spoiled for the week when it comes to working with chocolate.  You see, my chosen area of the kitchen is to work in the back corner on top of a marble covered refrigerator.  That’s right; my table of choice is made out of cooled marble.  What a perfect spot for tempering chocolate.  My colleagues often joke that I’m the only one in the class that hasn’t moved or changed spots in our three weeks.  But if you know me, you know I’m a creature of habit.  And when I find something good, I stay put.  My new partners can come to me.  Check out the marvelous creations I made this week.

1848 – A chocolate bar found in France.  Our pastry chef told us it was one of his favorites, so he figured out how to make it on his own.  It’s a combination of milk chocolate flavored with peanut praline (also made fresh) and then coated in gold luster dust to give it an appearance of being a gold block.  Oh yes!

 

Après Saison – This green striped chocolate actually has two layers on the inside.  The bottom layer is a raspberry pate de fruit (a candy with a jelly like consistency) and the top is a white chocolate verbena ganache.  Verbena is an herb that I learned about this week.  Slightly citrus, slightly herbaceous, altogether fabulous!

 

Ardechois – Roasted chestnut and rum ganache coated with dark chocolate.  A small milk chocolate line serves as garnish.  Yum!

And last but certainly not least…

 

Sucette Cachuete et Caramel au Beurre Sale – In other words, the best Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup you’ve ever had…one a stick!  These lollipops of wonderfulness are filled with a salted caramel and peanut butter ganache with a few caramelized peanuts in there for surprise.  No surprise these were my favorites.  You can’t beat chocolate and peanut butter. 

 

This weekend we explore a nearby town.  So how was it...