Blog #10 Cioccolate

There are many things I learned from my mom. How to play handbells. How to play the piano. How to cook, bake, and clean. How to read. How to appreciate music, musicals specifically. And the biggest one, loving chocolate. I remember my mom used to buy bags of chocolate for her secret stash and attempt to hide them from me. I also remember always finding them and sneaking a bit of chocolate all the time. I also remember drinking hot chocolate with my mom after every epic snowball fight we had. To say we love chocolate might be a bit of an understatement. But for the longest time, I didn't know where chocolate came from. Here's what chocolate originally looks like.

That does not look like any chocolate I know. But I do know that you cut open those giant cacao pods and get the beans inside. From there you have to ferment the beans for seven days. During those seven days, the beans turn from that gunky white to the darker, brown chocolate color. You need to stop fermentation there, do not let it go too long. Once you get the right color you stop fermentation by drying out the beans.  Once the beans are dried out they are sent to a factory where they are cleaned, and then the nibs are extracted, ground, and liquefied. This liquid, called chocolate liquor, can be further separated into cocoa butter and cocoa solids. From there you can blend the chocolate liquor in various proportions with other ingredients to make the various chocolates ie. dark, milk, white, etc. Then the chocolate goes through a process called conching. The chocolate is put into a machine called the conch and continuously moves and heats the chocolate to make it smooth because the sugar particles make it a bit gritty.

After this there is tempering. That's when you heat a chocolate up, cool it down, and then heat it again, It gives chocolate a nice texture and sheen. Tempered chocolate is usually glossy and has a nice crunch to it when it gets broken.

I had actually heard about tempering before from the anime Yumeiro Patissiere. It's an anime about a girl who wants to become a patissiere. Anyway one of the guys in it is a chocolate specialist so you learn a lot of technicality of chocolate making. Highly recommend the anime to anyone!

I really love chocolate as a medium for art too. Honestly, Instagram and social media platforms have given cake decorators and food artists a wider audience. I honestly love sugar, cake, and chocolate art. It is some amazing and creative inspiration. I'd love to be able to do this someday. Check these out!!!

http://facts-about-chocolate.com/how-is-chocolate-made/

http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/i-love-chocolate/all-about-chocolate/making-chocolate/