more chocolate

Our third class in the pastry skills series involved enrobing truffles in tempered chocolate, making chocolate decorations, and working with lots and lots of tempered chocolate. Surprisingly, half of our class was missing tonight. I realize things can come up, but for the amount of money we pay for the course that is a hefty price for missing out on a class.

making parchment cones for piping

piping white chocolate designs

Another pastry class made a chocolate ganache dacquoise that was brought into our kitchen for consumption in addition to pâté, cheeses, gazpacho, and a fabulous wild greens salad. With the slower pace of the class, I was able to talk at length with Shan about his business and his training. Kate, our assistant, works for a chocolatier in Denver and shared her stories with us too. Pastry chefs, it just so happens, are my kind of people. They are uptight, perfectionists, self-critical, highly motivated, and obsessive. At first I thought, “I’m not a perfectionist” because I sort of tossed that idea to the wind years ago with respect to academics. But… I think it just squoze out of my academic performance into my creative outlets like pottery, baking, photography, crafts.

luster dusting on white chocolate

Still, I do feel a tiny disconnect because I’m so much more analytical about everything in the kitchen. I want to know the science of it, and I can explain the physics behind seeding and crystalization and tempering and bloom. That’s what is so beautiful to me – understanding the entire process and knowing your product from start to finish.

kona coffee truffles