Home Chocolate Making

Ever wanted to quit it all and go back school? Me, too. But I couldn’t afford it. Plus, my passion is chocolate, and pastry school is expensive. And it’s scary to give up the safety net of consistent income. However, I still wanted improve my knowledge of chocolate. So after years of deliberating, I signed up for the …

As kids, we learn to eat our colors. This chocolate is white, maybe an aged-parchment shade of white, though white all the same. But the packaging, oh the packaging is super colorful. That counts, right? I think my mom would be on board. In fact, she has all the tools to make this “bag to …

There are lots of accessible DIY instructions on the internet these days, especially for recipes. But have you ever followed one, already knowing it would fail? I mean, a lot of things taste better homemade, but unfortunately chocolate is not often one of them. Making smooth and appetizing chocolate is an involved and expensive undertaking that most all do-it-yourselfers are …

Pulling information from a wide variety of home chocolate makers who have posted online, as well as little tidbits from the professionals I have worked with and read about, I have calculated my own recipe for a dark goat’s milk chocolate. If you are also a home chocolate hobbyist who wants to follow along, add …

On a whim, my first attempt at chocolate making occurred in three rounds, and its purpose was to figure out which milk powder I like best in my milk chocolate. These are the results, as well as the ratios if you choose to follow along at home. Building a Recipe For Chocolate Once I obtained …

On the farm here in northern Ecuador, we pick and process cacao every other Thursday, allowing us to control each step of the bean-to-bar chocolate making process. Preparing the Premiere Wonder Grinder Part of our weeks-long chocolate making endeavor is the simultaneous grinding & conching of the fermented & dried & newly-roasted cacao beans. To do this in a more …