Fantasy in Chocolate
Working in chocolate can be exasperating sometime. I once bought a giant Easter Bunny mould – at least 2 feet high – with clasps on the sides to hold it together. I had never worked with a mould that size, but I thought I knew what I was doing – I poured chocolate in both sides, rolled it, clasped it, made sure the chocolate was even – everything I was supposed to do. But when I would unmould it and unfasten the clasps – my big beautiful chocolate bunny would break! Argghhh!
Later I was working with my mentor, the extraordinary sugar master George Wagner, and I explained my problem with my bunny mould to him. There was a special technique, George explained, that was important to understand – the clasp had to be removed before the chocolate hardened, otherwise the change in pressure as the chocolate set would surely crack the piece. George then gave me this excellent book, written in German, English, and French, that has a detailed explanation of this special technique on page 23.
That wasn’t the only useful tip in this practical book, filled with countless small details that will make a big difference to your chocolate work. Some of the design ideas are hilarious -
As this was a relatively recent gift, I have not had enough time to study it, to give a thorough analysis of its techniques and recipes. That said, it has already been useful to me, and a real nice resource in my library, so I must recommend it to any chocolatier looking for ways to improve their craft.