Our Halloween goodies at the South End Open Market.  Halloween is the most fun of the chocolate holidays, at least for this chocolatier.  I was gleeful to discover the mold for my latest obsession, the Scary Pumpkins, when I visited my mold supplier in Montreal this spring.  I couldn't resist the toothy grin and the beady eye! We sold lots at our Halloween markets this past week-end.  It turns out Salted Caramel can be made even yummier with the addition of a crunchy element, in this instance miniature rice puffs.  Because they are big at 25 grams each, I didn't...

Fall is the perfect time to reconnect with our market customers.  We will be at three different Boston-area markets this fall, see our schedule here.  The picture above was taken at the fabulous South End Open Market, open every Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Every season, we take the opportunity to bring different products to the markets.  This fall, we are introducing our Baby Bars, our Baby Dragons and our Hazelnut Crème, all three got a great response this past week-end.  To appreciate the full difference between our Hazelnut Crème and Nutella, we set up a taste test,...

I first got introduced to this dragon in Toronto at Kerry Beal's (AKA the Chocolate Doctor) e-Gullet chocolatiers' conference, and couldn't resist adding it to our Critters' line-up.  Of course, since I just love, love color, I had to make them my own fanciful creations. There are two Baby Dragons: we have a Crunchy Salted Caramel with a soft bittersweet caramel, little rice puffs, and chunks of crisp chocolate with lace cookie bits; and a Citrus Nougat in a marzipan ganache with almonds, pistachios, grapefruit and Meyer lemon.  In brief, all of our yummiest favorites! They weigh in at a...

As Jane Austen said (albeit in a somewhat different context), "it is a truth universally acknowledged" that the world loves Nutella!  Nutella, however, is a very guilty indulgence, with palm oil and sugar as the two biggest ingredients, and hazelnuts only making up 13% of the total.  A long-term dream of mine has been to come up with a less guilty pleasure and just a few real ingredients, no junk and additives.  I was lucky to learn the basics when I studied with Ramon Morato in May, but in spite of his version's yummy taste, I felt there were not...

Summer is for discovery!  Freed up from the demands of chocolate production, I finally have time to plan.  I work on two fronts: first, figuring out new formats that will augment current offerings and dovetail with the various chocolate holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, all of December to the New Year).  And second, updating our seasonal line up to incorporate new flavors. My total focus right now is on bars.  There will be two, see above: a Baby Bar (20 grams) and a Big Bar (30 grams).  The Baby Bars will be sold four in our small boxes, the Big Bars will...

- - - Our class, with a part of our production - - - As soon as the last big chocolate holiday, Mother's Day, was over, I was on my way to Montreal to study with Ramon Morato, one of the greatest chocolatiers of modern times.  The two days in a Ganache Master Class proved invaluable and I am now full of ideas and eager to test new methods of production.  My colleagues were either French expats working in Montreal or Quebecois, with the exception of a fabulous California chocolatier who had spent 8 years in France.  Chef Morato's French...