Building with Chocolate

Finally; the opportunity to put my degree in construction to good use. Well; it isn't building like I remember it in University, but it certainly is a lot more fun in comparison to concrete and sand. Who could possibly resist gasping at a towering chocolate sculpture; stacked, built and coloured completely in seductively dark and rich chocolate!

Us lucky students had the opportunity to make a couple of these medium sized chocolate pieces with Chef Ewald and Chef James in class this week. Boy was it hard trying to keep myself from sticking dirty fingers into my mouth! It was just too conveniently delicious... "Whoopz~ mistake!... *swipe*..*lick* *grin*...hehee..."

It's the 6th month now at the NotterSchool; and us students from the 24 week program are pretty much settled in with basic chocolate techniques such as tempering; casting and molding. After weeks of guidance from Chef Ewald on the topic; he decided we were ready to
put together showpieces of our own.
I admit; we did make a mess of our marble top classrooms and crisp white uniforms with sprays and stains from dark splatters of chocolate everywhere! Chocolate on my chest; chocolate on my arms...chocolate on my face and shoes of course... my shoes were always covered with drips of chocolate. As each day went by; we eventually learnt that the less mess we made while we worked; the less clean up we had to do at the end of the day... naturally we smartened up and kept ourselves and our floors as clean as we could throughout the day. 2 weeks ago; I had more brown than white on the front of my apron and jacket; today... it was spotless. I couldn't believe it! For those who've seen the clumsy side of me must be just as amused! *giggle*

The past 4 days of classes have gone by like this.
Chef Ewald begins by showing us different techniques in creating showpiece components. He then puts a piece together to inspire us...and sends us off to toy around with separate pieces of chocolate on our own.Do you see a flower in this pile of mess?
Chef Ewald does. He sees amazingly intricate wild flowers from piles of chocolate shavings and swirls.




It's amazing how every student comes up with uniquely designed pieces being given exactly the same components to begin with. ...... the incredible power of imagination.Ready to see what I've concocted with chocolate?
It's really interesting to hear Chef Ewald discuss our showpieces individually at the end of the day. He mentioned today that he could "spot my piece from a mile away"; errr... he does have a strange way with words occasionally and its hard to tell if he means it in a good or bad way sometimes. *grin* . I laugh at how he constantly feels the need to remind us that he's not trying to be mean by giving harsh critic... we know chef; we know you mean well when you give us suggestions. How else are we going to improve?
I'm so excited about next week's sugar classes!! It's going to be great!
The weekend? Well... I've got my weeks pretty packed till I leave at the end of the month. Will be off to Honeymoon Island this week, off to San Fransisco next Saturday..Napa valley... mMmMmm... my weekends are going to be fantastic! Any suggestions for me guys?