Chocolate Art
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12/04/2002 Entry: "Chocolate Day"
I had class for 9 straight hours today. After the first 3 hours, my head was spinning, stomach growling, and I could hardly smile. Today was chocolate day. I had reason to dread this day. I’ve tried to temper chocolate before and have never managed to get it right. Chocolate is very sensitive – you have to follow the temperature curve or it won’t be brilliant, it could form bubbles and might not even harden. The temperatures differ for white, milk, and dark. Dark chocolate for example, you have to bring it up to 45°C, then lower it to 27°C, then raise it back up to 32°C. If you raise the temperature higher by 1 or 2 degrees, then you have to start over.
We made chocolates filled with praliné, and another type filled with caramel. In the evening we made our chocolate centerpieces – I am quite disappointed with mine. My chef lined up all our centerpieces right next to each other, and he commented on them one by one. It was quite obvious than I wasn’t an artist, but I refuse to let this get me down.
I didn't have time to write about our day with Pâte d'Amande (Marzipan). It was similar to playing with Play-doh.
