My Chocolatier Program
Class 1 -- LET'S PLAY
Temper Dark Chocolate. Use couverture -- Stay present with Tempering solely in this first class as it is the most essential skill of a chocolatier.
Practice with the intent/acceptance that tempering is challenging and failure likely
Pour some into a chocolate bar mold. Some onto the silpat and some into molds.
READ: Lessons in Tempering
Class 2 -- TEMPERATURE & TEMPER
Play with tempering again. Do the pour off at different temperatures onto the silpat (110, 100, 90, 84)
At 110 it will be fudgy and bendy, at 100, it may still be fudgy or it may begin to hold shape. At 90, it won't be a perfect temper but it will almost certainly hold shape.
Notice the difference between how the chocolate forms when poured off at different temperatures in terms of ulitmate texture and time to arrive there.
Consider heating it back up above 90 or even 95 after you have gotten it to 88 "in temper". Reheating will do the same thing by breaking the temper.
Re-read Lessons in Tempering
OPPORTUNITIES
**** Pour off part of your chocolate as it cools/seeds at 110, 100, 90
to viscerally feel how chocolate gets when it is "in temper."
**** Let it cool to the point that you can't even pour it. See how it reheats (and how quickly)
CLASS 2-- REPEAT
I recommend redoing this class several times -- perhaps after class 3 and 4.
Variations can also include dipping chocolate into the tempered chocolate
Making a really stiff ganache / truffle that can be dipped into the tempered chocolate for little coated truffles.
Other awarenesses include working with chocolate at 84 vs. 85 vs. 86 vs. 87 vs. 88 vs. 89 degrees. Subtle temperature changes make it easier and harder to pour. Notice when streaking happens and when it hardens within 15 minutes and when it hardens overnight.
CLASS 3 -- EMULSiONS
Temper White Chocolate (basically just slightly different temperatures than dark chocolate.)
EMULSIONS = Ganache & Caramel
For the ganache, use the method of heating the cream and pouring over the chocolate.
Maple/Ghee Caramel is delicious in white chocolate
Heat up the tempered chocolate at the end of the day to watch it break
Get ready to make turtles as well as caramel filled molded chocolate and ideally a bar.
Read articles on emulsions
AWARENESS: Chocolate and Caramel can break just like a vinaigrette. Mixing water and fat is an art and begin to see that.
CLASS 4 -- REFINING THE TEMPER
Temper untempered Chocolate. It's easier to temper already tempered chocolate. Refine your process by starting with untempered chocolate or unused chocolate that you saved from a previous class.
REMEMBER- when using untempered chocolate, you must cool to 82 or 83 and then reheat to 88 for ideal tempering.
Try out another ganache -- always a good filling for the chocolate you are tempering.
CLASS 5 -- CACAO BUTTER & the SMOOTHNESS of CHOCOLATE
Temper chocolate chips rather than couverture to feel the difference. Semi-sweet chocolate chips and couverture have significant different in cacao solids: cacao butter.
Fry some eggs in cacao butter
Mix cacao butter into oil to change the texture (can use beeswax as well) -- Cacao butter is a magical fat
Make another ganache perhaps with white chocolate and jelly to get the sense of how the cacao butter works. White chocolate ganache is richer in fat than dark chocolate and is a fun texture.
CLASS 6 -- TEACHING WHAT YOU KNOW -- INFORMATION is A RESOURCE
Find a friend to make chocolate with. Everybody loves chocolate.
Do your favorite parts. At least do a ganache and tempering.
Explain it.
CLASS 7 -- PRODUCE NO WASTE
Save some of your chocolate that you don't use from a previous class and retemper.
If you haven't yet, try to make ganache by heating chocolate chips and dairy together on stove-top over low heat.
Put rice krispies and flavors into leftover bowl at the end of this class
CLASS 8 -- Starting from SCRATCH
Temper Baker's Chocolate with sugar and a little extra cacao butter
I guess cacao beans (Bean to Bar) would really be starting from scratch but this requires a grinder or a concher which are sophisticated / expensive machinery. Baker's chocolate is basically just someone made the cacao bean into a melt-able block.
CLASS 9 MOUSSE
Feel free to temper today if desired but I encourage giving most of your attention to the mousse.
My favorite BASIC Mousse is simply chocolate with eggs and cream.
Pour warm chocolate ganache onto the beating yolks. Then fold in whipping cream and whipped whites. I always add a bit of sugar to my whites to help them from getting dry (Even if overwhipped).
CLASS 10 NO THERMOMETER
As prepared as we always hope to be, there will be moments when we want to temper chocolate and we don't have a thermometer or we got our thermometer wet and it's acting funny. Practice tempering sans thermometer. Key awarenesses include leaving the seed in and when it stops melting, knowing that you are at about 90 degrees. Dancing between that seeding and the chocolate hardening and then just barely melting it again whenever it gets too thick to work with.
Curriculum Design Process
How to create a Curriculum
The creation of a curriculum in many ways is simply another design process.
SADIM fits my approach to designing my curriculum for chocolatiering.
SURVEY/OBSERVATION
Research how others construct classes. Research necessary requirements to "be a chocolatier."
In my case, read and watch dozens of youtube and other websites on how to temper and how to make ganache.
Highlight discrepancies between different methodologies. I like reading massive amounts of material and pulling out the pattern level awareness from different people.
The project can then be Actively Experimenting with discrepancies between different explanations so that we can viscerally experience for ourselves when there are differences of opinions. When everyone agrees on something, it often is useful to experience it for myself but I have a less critical eye if everybody is in agreement that X causes Y.
Initial survey will help you recognize necessary materials for your project/class as well
ASSESS
Find several books to read from trusted sources.
I decided on textbook from CIA (classic), a textbook from a French chocolatier (classic) and an American doing more modern style flavors and such. I also read plenty online and David Wolfe's Naked Chocolate.
Determine Materials needed.
Determine specific points of contention amongst noted sources.
DESIGN
Decide how much to do in any given class.
Decide how many classes you feel like you may need.
I highly recommend having a written curriculum even if it is just your "best current guess" that you know will change. Having the curriculum written out gives one the opportunity to reflect with a hard-copy upon what the curriculum is and how to improve or change it.
IMPLEMENT
Take classes with a physical written curriculum.
Make notes on the curriculum to make clear what was effective and what you would do differently next time. Encompasses Active Experimentation and Doing.
MAINTENANCE
Alter the curriculum based on what you learn in each class.
This is the cyclical opportunity available in doing it and reflecting upon what went well, what was challenging and what I would do differently next time.
In my case, I realized that stacking making a ganache and tempering chocolate was easy to do together and that then I had a nice ganache to use as filling for some of my chocolates.
TOOLS & INGREDIENTS
TOOLS needed -- bring to each class
Silpat, Molds, Bowl scraper, Thermometer, Glass Pyrex bowls, Heat proof Rubber Spatulas, Scale
INGREDIENTS
For each class, you will need 1-2 # of couverture chocolate, and 2-5 sets of fillings. I recommend doing a ganache as one of the fillings for each class
— 1 - 2 # couverture chocolate (can be dark, white or milk)
• FILLINGS — need 3-5 sets each class
• peanut butter + honey + cacao nibs
• maraschino cherries + port
• coffee beans
• toasted nuts
• ganache
• caramel = sugar + ghee + maple + himalayan salt crystals
• honey + bee pollen + herbs for infusing
• maca + tahini
ganache (filling)
• Always chocolate chips half/half or cream + tab of butter
• optional:
• spices
• coffee
• peanut butter
• rosewater
• oranges (for peel) + sugar + gran marnier