19 hours nonstop yesterday, a frenzied orgy of creative chocolatiering. Started compiling formulas/recipes and schedules at 5:30am, made it into the kitchen at 9:30am, and didn’t get home until half past midnight. I haven’t had this much fun since the Davis Double Century (200 mile bike ride that took 18.5 hours to finish – yes, I rode 200 miles in one day!).
But I am triumphant. We got done a HUGE amount of chocolatiering, I discovered that I am remarkably fast and efficient at dipping chocolates, and not only did the quality not suffer at all, they actually look more beautiful than they have in the past, thanks to the acetate transfer sheets, which put beautiful designs on top of the dipped chocolates. Will definitely have to do this again next year, it’s quicker and easier than messing with molds.
Flavors we finished yesterday include:
- caramel/milk chocolate (mostly made on Friday, but finished off the batch)
- hazelnut/milk chocolat (ditto)
- Chambord
- Armagnac
- Irish coffee (Scotch truffles rolled in espresso powder and crunchy sugar)
- peanut butter
- strawberry balsamic vinegar
- jasmine tea
- mint
- orange marmalade
- Amaretto
and possibly goat cheese/honey and Scotch, depending on what Michael got done after I left.
All in all, a wonderful day of chocolatiering. I took some photos and will post them once I get caught up – I have two Weavolution conference calls starting in an hour or so and also have LOADS of work to do before the chocolate-packing volunteers show up at 1pm. Today’s another busy day.
I LOVE this time of year!
