The Three Chocolatiers

January is a dull month. The excitement of Christmas and New Year is over and spring still seems far off. So if you are looking for a way to cheer yourself up – might I suggest chocolate making?

My husband expressed an interest in making his own chocolate and I bought him some rather lovely ingredients for his birthday. And once you have made your own chocolate, no other will taste the same.

When Mariia discovered that we do this, she wanted to take part. Thus, the three chocolatiers were born.

Simply delicious

Of course, we do not make chocolate like the professionals. Pouring it out onto marble slabs and tempering it is way beyond us, but perfectly delicious chocolate can be made very simply indeed. It just won’t be as shiny as the commercial kind.

The ingredients are surprisingly few and readily accessible. I buy ours on-line where I can get the highest quality cocoa and cocoa butter. It may look expensive, but it makes more chocolate than you and your friends can eat. How much you make each session is up to you. My husband, who takes the expression, ‘Less is more’ and turns it into ‘If less is more, just think how awesome more is’ tends to make a kilo at a time. (Don’t worry. You don’t have to eat it all at once.)

Getting ready

If, like us, you want to make very bespoke chocolate, you may have to do some preparation in advance. You will need all your fillings to hand before you start making the chocolate.

Mariia loves toasted nuts and seeds and so filled little jam jars with a variety to choose from. Dried fruits need to be chopped small and I’d recommend dates, apricots, cranberries and my favourite, dried white mulberries. Candied peel is also delicious, so if you have some left over from making your Christmas cake, now is the time to use it up.

For this batch, I decided to make a caffeine addict version using coffee beans and cocoa nibs (raw chocolate). A brief bash with the mortar and pestle ensured that my coffee beans would be well distributed in the moulds.

Kitchen moulds

Silicone moulds can be expensive, but there is no need to invest in them yet. Jeff and Mariia (remember the more is more bit?) love to use muffin cases and tins for theirs. Being a little more restrained, I use mini muffin cases and this time a madeleine tray which made the most adorable chocolates. Silicone bar moulds are quite reasonable, but you might need to purchase a few if you want to make more than one bar!

And here’s how to do it

For the ingredients, take equal quantities of cocoa butter and cocoa chunks/ powder and place in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Don’t let the temperature get too high (you only want to melt the cocoa) and avoid getting water in the bowl.

Stir it constantly until the mixture melts and blends.

The next bit is a matter of taste, but this is how we like it. Add a cap full of quality vanilla essence, a tiny sprinkle of salt and sugar to taste. You can use any sweetener, but we found that brown sugar works best when it comes to setting. Add a tablespoon of sugar at a time until you have the flavour you like. We have ours quite bitter, but you may like it sweeter.

Ready to pour

Once the chocolate is sweet, shiny and smooth, you are ready to pour it into the moulds. Turn the heat off, but leave the bowl above the water so that it doesn’t harden.

For ease of pouring, I took a measuring cup full of the liquid chocolate to pour into the moulds.

Depending on what texture you would like, either pour the chocolate over the waiting fillings or add it at the end to give an extra bumpy texture. (Or both!)

The Long Wait

Now all you have to do is set it aside somewhere cool and wait for it to harden. If you can, leave it overnight.

When perfectly solid, peel out of the moulds and enjoy.

These chocolates are perfect for sharing and gifts. Though a word of caution: if you get too good at it, you may never escape your kitchen.