• Research abstract
• Nice summary piece on research findings

• pallet knife
• digital thermometer
• chocolate world mold
• disposal pastry bags
• scraper

And there’s more.  The kit also includes a booklet with two recipes and an accompanying YouTube video demonstrating how to make molded chocolates from start to finish.

You could buy these items separately, but in the end you’d probably 1) purchase lesser quality products (You can’t find polycarbonate molds in the US.  What you find at places like Sur La Table and Michael’s are  flimsy plastic molds that are only appropriate for making solid chocolates not filled chocolates) and 2) pay more because you’d pay for shipping from several vendors.

Right now the kit is only available for purchase directly from Chocolate World in Belgium for the price of 36 euros plus shipping.  However, the kit will be available from their US distributor Chef Rubber who sells the complete line of Chocolate World’s polycarbonate molds.

When I give chocolate making classes people always ask what  they need to get started.  A while back I  wrote a post  listing all the items I use.    Chocolate World has made it easy by putting all the items you need together in one box.  The only thing missing are the ingredients.

You can buy small amounts of chocolate in the grocery store, such as Trader Joes’ Pound Plus (Here is a link to a short post I wrote on this topic).  Or you can buy  top quality chocolate in bulk from around the world online, such as from Worldwide Chocolate or Chocosphere.  Here is a link to a post I wrote on my trials and tribulations in finding ingredients online to make artisan chocolates when I first moved back to the USA.

I’ve written about Chocolate World more than once.  It’s the happiest place on earth for the chocolatier.  When I would take classes at Callebaute’s Chocolate Academy in Belgium chocolatiers who came from around the world would always make a pilgrimage to Chocolate World to invest in chocolate molds and machinery.  I know I never left Chocolate World without dropping a respectable amount of money.  Now that I’m back in the USA, I realize what a treasure I have in all my Chocolate World merchandise.  A trip to Belgium might not be possible for a person just starting in chocolate making, but you can do the next best thing.  Bring a bit of Belgium into your home kitchen by investing in Chocolate World’s new StarterKit.

Chocolate World’s StarterKit YouTube video

An easy and well worthwhile read for the confirmed chocophile.

A new study reported in Prevention via NBC’s Health on Today (the article did not link to the original study) found that feeling guilty actually enhances  pleasure.  As if we needed a study to tell us that.  To conduct the study researchers had one group scaned covers of health magazines and the other group look at magazine covers of non-health related publications.  Afterwards both groups were given a piece of chocolate.  Did I mention that all the study participants were women.    The women who had spent time looking at the health magazine reported enjoying the chocolate more than the women who looked at other magazines.  What did the researchers find out?  The write-up quotes Kelly Goldsmith, PhD, an assistant professor of marketing at Northwestern as explaining “If guilt and pleasure are repeatedly connected, either by others or by ourselves, over time our brains may start to expect pleasure when we experience guilt,” she says.  So go ahead and embrace the guilt with another piece of chocolate.

I knew I had to have one the minute I saw it.  I was taking a chocolate class from Belgian Chocolate master Ryan Stevenson.  While he was stirring a bowl of melted chocolate he took what looked like a square plastic gun from a holster on his waist and shot a red beam into the chocolate.  “Almost ready,” he said.  He had just taken the temperature of the chocolate without inserted anything.  Fast. Clean. Efficient.  I needed one.  I asked Ryan the price and he said his professional quality infrared thermometer with holster cost about 80 Euros.

For the rest of the class I keep coming up with reasons to try the thermometer.  I took the temperature of the room, the molds, even my scraper.   Now I could find out the exact temperature of the room; it is best to work in a room around 68 degrees.  Room temperature impacts how quickly chocolate cools during the tempering process.  I could also find out the temperature of my molds.  You don’t want to put chocolate in a really cold mold.  It is best to use molds at room temperature (no colder than 68 degrees). When I first saw Ryan take the temperature of the chocolate using the infrared gun I was intrigued.  After playing around with it I knew I had to have one.

That night I went on Amazon to see my options.  I found dozens of infrared thermometers ranging in price from $16 to $75 dollars.  I then started to read the reviews and found that some of the less expensive ones received outstanding reviews.  These less expensive options didn’t come with holsters, but I thought I could live without it.

Sometimes a kitchen gadget really does make a task easier.  I bought my first infrared thermometer about a year ago.  Now I can’t image tempering chocolate without one.

I should mention one drawback to purchasing the inexpensive thermometers.  I had to retired my first one after a year of hard use because it no longer was giving me accurate readings.  It may be retired from the chocolate business but it’s still going entertaining my cats.

Order one on Amazon

Couture Chocolate: A Masterclass in Chocolate
by Willam Curley
Aurum Press (November 1, 2011)

Fine artisan chocolates should look as beautiful as they taste.  Willam Curley’s Couture Chocolate: A Masterclass in Chocolate takes it a step further moving artisan chocolates from culinary creations to five-star food artistry.

From the first page to the last, the exquisite photographs are a rare treat in chocolate as fine art. Photographer Jose Lasheras redefines chocolate photography in his exquisite staging of the chocolates.  His culinary choreography tells stories of taste, texture, color and shape.  I found myself wanting to reproduce the staging of the photographs with my own chocolates the way a person reproduces the paintings of the great masters to learn their technique.

For me, pretty pictures alone do not justify buying a cookbook.  When it comes to Couture Chocolates amazing photographs are merely one of its assets.  This book is equal parts art book, recipe book, and first-rate instruction manual.

The book begins with a chapter titled “Chocolate Essentials” that lays out the basics of working with fine chocolate.  Topics include a clear and concise explanation of the different types of chocolates as well as sections with tips on tasting chocolate and advice on shelf life and storage. There is even a sidebar addressing the differences between making chocolates in a commercial kitchen versus a home kitchen.

What makes this chapter standout are the sections on tempering chocolate and making a basic ganache.  I would go so far as to say they are worth the price of the book.  Because tempering and making a basic ganache are two of the most important skills involved in making fine chocolate desserts, one cannot underestimate the importance of their mastery.  Each skill set is presented with well-crafted photographs and approachable text  such that one feels as if Curley himself is giving you a personal demonstration.  I particularly appreciated the sidebars addressing such topics as the benefits of using inverted sugar and the issues involved in tempering small amounts of chocolate.

The high standard set in this first chapter of the marriage of detailed and clear photographs with thoughtfully written instructions for the novice chocolatier continues throughout each chapter.  From truffles to molded and enrobed chocolates, to bars and plated desserts, each recipe is more than a list of ingredients.  Recipes are the foundation to take the reader on a tour of all things involved in that particular type of chocolate delight.  No issues or nuance of composition is too small to address in words and photographs.

I bought the book after following William Curley on Facebook.  I have a large library of chocolate cookbooks, probably didn’t need any more, but I’m so glad I purchased it. I find I learn something every time I open the book to look up a recipe or a technique.  If you are just learning to work with chocolate or are a seasoned home chocolatier, this book is a must-have.

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Last week I had my first Chocolate Therapy workshop at INOVA’s Life with Cancer center in Fairfax, Virginia. This was a hand-on workshop where cancer survivors made custom chocolates to celebrate wherever they were in their treatment–whether just starting or several years out.

My next workshop is December 12th at 7:00pm. For information on how to register, visit the Life with Cancer website (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the full list of current and upcoming classes).

Everyone made lots of healthy chocolates with nuts and dried fruit rich in fiber and antioxidants.

All the supplies and equipment for the Chocolate Therapy workshop unloaded and ready to be taken inside the lovely Life with Cancer center in Fairfax, Virginia.

Everyone hard at work making custom artisan chocolates.

Learning to make lovely Belgian-style ornaments to decorate their bags of chocolates.

The finished product: packed and wrapped the Belgian Way: chocolates should look beautiful and be packed beautifully.

Double-Boiler
A double-boiler consists of one pan nested on top of another that had a small amount of water in it (about 1/4 full).  There can used nesting saucepans designed just for this purpose and called double-boilers or you can create your own by placing a metal bowl on top of a sauce pan.  Either way you are heating the chocolate gently over water.

Double-boilers.  The pan on the left is a Revere Ware Double-boiler.  The pan on the right is a homemade double-boiler: a metal mixing bowl resting in a sauce pan.

A note of warning when working with water around chocolate.  Water will cause chocolate to seize.  Be careful that water does not get into the chocolate.  Only fill the saucepan 1/4 full of water so that the water doesn’t boil over.  If you need to refill the  water in the bottom pan, remove the pan with the chocolate and then add the water.

To heat chocolate in a double-boiler place the chocolate in the top pan of a double-boiler.  Try not to fill the pan more than  2/3rd full of chocolate so you have room to stir.  Plan the double-boiler on the stove and turn the heat on med high.  Stir the chocolate while it is melting so that the chocolate melts evenly.

As soon as most of the chocolate is melted, turn the heat off and stir.  The additional stirring will melt the remaining chocolate.  When the chocolate is completely melted, pour the chocolate into a plastic bowl.  The purpose of this is to put the chocolate in a container that does not retain heat so you can begin the cooling process.

Microwave
The second way to heat chocolate in a home kitchen is in a microwave.  This method is gaining popularity with professional and home chocolatiers alike.   The benefit of melting chocolate in a microwave is you can melt it at precisely the temperature that chocolate melts without getting the chocolate hotter than it needs to be.  The ability to have complete control of the temperature of the chocolate is one of the advantages of using a microwave instead of a double-boiler.

Chocolate in a plastic bowl ready to be melted in a microwave. For amounts 1 pound or less begin heating for no more than 1 minute.

To melt chocolate in a microwave, place the chocolate in a microwave safe plastic bowl.  I recommend using plastic and not glass because the plastic will not retain heat.  Fill the bowl no more than 2/3 full because you will need room to stir the chocolate without chocolate spilling out.

Heat the chocolate in short intervals until it starts to melt.  My rule of thumb is 1 minute for every pound of chocolate.  If you are melting less than one pound, start at 1 minute. After the first minute, remove and stir.

This will be the first of many heating sequences in the microwave.  You want to do it long enough to get the melting process started, but not so long that you burn the chocolate.  Because the intensity of the heat can vary from microwave to microwave, I recommend using med-high instead of high to avoid burning the chocolate.

Food in a microwave heats from the inside out.  Chocolate melted in a microwave will retain its shape until stirred.  What that means is that the chocolate may not look melted but once you stir the chocolate you see that the chocolate is indeed changing to liquid form.

After the initial heating sequence, repeat the sequence of heating the chocolate for 20-second and stirring until the chocolate is mostly melted.

I am providing three types of resources on the Seeding Method. The first is a flow chart I developed that walks you through the seeding method. The second is two sets of instructions in words and pictures. The first is a very short but thoughtful description of the seeding method from Anita Chu’s Field Guide to Candy that was reprinted on Epicurious. The second comes from the Callebaut chocolate academy and are step-by-step instructions on seeding using Callebaut callets. The last resource is a YouTube video demonstration of the seeding method.

ONLINE INSTRUCTIONS

WORDS & PICTURES

• How to Temper Chocolate
  Anita Chu  Field Guide to Candy
  Reprinted on Epicurious  | December 2009
  ABOUT:I found these instruction while playing with the Epicurious app on my iPhone and realized what a gem these instructions were in their clarity and brevity. Chu also does a thoughtful overview of the importance of tempering.
• Callebaut – Tempering with Callets
  http://www.callebaut.com/usen/techniques/tempering/tempering-with-callets
  ABOUT:  Step-by-step instructions on how to tempering with the seeding method.  These instructions come from Callebaut’s Chocolate Academy.

VIDEO

• Peter P. Greweling of the Culinary Institute of America and author of of Chocolates and Confections at Home with The Culinary Institute of America. starts this video on how to dip fruit in chocolate with a good demonstration of the seeding method.