Chocolate Apprentice

Marzipan Pig

 

I always wanted a pig.  I have fond memories of pressing my small (and not terribly clean) nose against the glass cases at Notte’s Bon Ton Pastry and Confectionary, a wonderful old-fashioned cake shop, which used to be on Granville Street in Vancouver, before it moved to the Kitsilano neighbourhood where it now resides.

The Bon Ton, as it is known is Vancouver, had the most wonderful, colourful menagerie of marzipan animals including a seal balancing a ball on the end of its nose, a grey elephant, and my favourite:  a bright pink pig with chocolate nostrils.

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Chocolate and Wine

It’s one of the many things I love about this Ecole Chocolat course, and about writing this blog:  the opportunity to explore and sample some really interesting things in the world of chocolate, most of which I had no idea existed.

This time, I have been given a very intriguing brick.  The instructions inside say that I must “fracture it into bite-sized morsels”.  Just let me get a knife.  This is going to be fun.

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Baked Expectations

My kids are amazing.

I have been spending most of my time this week, at the Gateway Theatre.  We are in Technical Rehearsals for a show I have been working on, as acting coach for a couple of lovely, talented child actors.  “Tech Week”, as it is known, involves very long hours, and can lead to people eating large quantities of junk food.

I have been having cravings for Wagon Wheels.  Yet another sweet of my Canadian childhood (although they were originally British and Australian), I remember them being ideal for lunchboxes, because they were flat and would fit perfectly on top of your sandwich. [Read more…]

Oh, Fudge !

This week, my Ecole Chocolat homework assignment is another in the series of my exploration of the textures and techniques of making centres, to help me (eventually!) create “signature piece” chocolates.

When I was a kid, I used to dream of the chocolate fudge the characters always seemed to have great fun whipping up, in old fashioned American children’s books, like “Betsy, Tacy and Tib” by Maud Hart Lovelace.

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Crunchy Stuff

This week, with the banging and hammering of construction going on next door in our bathroom (we are having the shower replaced after far too long), it seems fitting to make a little noise of my own.

I am, therefore, concentrating on crunchy, snappy textures.  I am going to make a big batch of croquant – one of the very important textures in creating delicious chocolates. [Read more…]