chocolates: pretty and perfect?

[Trishiad]

cute boxes and stylish ribbons bring the folks in the door, don't they? How can you talk average Jane into buying a $30 box of chocolates if they aren't in a cute box? If they don't look pretty? Sure it's the flavor which will keep her coming back and telling her friends but if that box isn't cute you better believe she won't be giving it as a gift.

The following of See's is a good thing to bring up. Packaging is weak, flavor is gross (my opinion) but the price is, at only $13 per pound, a huge selling point. Folks ask me to make things like rocky road eggs "like see's". See's says they don't use preservatives and that makes customers think they are SO much better than Whitman's or whatever. Still gross and people still take a number to buy it at Christmas.

I agree with Steve that with something truly wonderful in their mouths people will recognize that there is indeed a huge difference. I've seen this to be true. I've seen people be converted. I believe it when they tell me they don't buy Hershey's bars anymore because I've spoiled them. And, sure Steve, I'm scared, nervous, worried that they will buy that freakin box of Godiva because the machines made every little detail perfect. That they'll buy the chocolates in the custom boxes with the custom ribbons and pads and cups that I cannot yet afford even though they may not taste as good as mine.

Yesterday I bought a box of chocolates in a little resort town. Paid a fortune for chocolates that looked like lumps, many of them drizzled in Summercoating. Bought them for research, I always do. They are disgusting, made with chocolate, shortening, corn syrup and flavorings. Five people were lined up behind me to make their purchases. Lesson learned: They consumer will never care as much as I do about my product. People are fickle and varied. They will buy it or not. Make what I love, aspire to be only what I want to be. Spend less time worrying about what the "others" are doing and worry more about what I want to be doing.

[pchef_247]

Since it's YOUR bon bons, why don't you decorate the "clay" as per your liking? Since she uses lots of color ask her not to-to keep the natural color of her material as she wishes you to keep concerning the chocolates. How absurd is this woman anyway. Does she were nothing but monochrome clothing too?

[devlin]

Yesterday I bought a box of chocolates in a little resort town.  Paid a fortune for chocolates that looked like lumps, many of them drizzled in Summercoating.  Bought them for research, I always do.  They are disgusting, made with chocolate, shortening, corn syrup and flavorings. Five people were lined up behind me to make their purchases.  Lesson learned:  They consumer will never care as much as I do about my product.  People are fickle and varied.  They will buy it or not.  Make what I love, aspire to be only what I want to be. Spend less time worrying about what the "others" are doing and worry more about what I want to be doing.

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The only thing I know about chocolate is from the consumer end. But I will say that I am often disappointed by a lot of highly-designed, beautiful looking chocolate (and I can't even tell you what it is). For me, a roughly-made thing that tastes fabulous wins every time over the high gloss chocolates with artistic patterns and color and all kinds of designs that frankly don't move me. I want flavor and texture. I really don't care what it looks like (within reason, of course).

This thread, though, is reminiscent of conversations I have with my husband and a few friends about breads. We're all of us routinely drawn to places (you all know them, the chain bread stores) that have gorgeous looking breads of all shapes and types and sizes in their windows and display cases. And every time, with hardly an exception, we're disappointed. The breads are showy, but they're not good. Some are flat out bad. Over-yeasted, and really nothing without a lot of added stuff that masks the flavor of the actual dough to a large extent, except that overwhelming yeastiness that so many people thing is the mark of all bread, they're so used to it. It's awful. But we get suckered by the look again and again, even though we know better.

[Steve Klc]

But we get suckered by the look again and again, even though we know better

That's because, be it bread or chocolate, none of us wants to give up the hope that this time will be the exception. If enough people keep clinging to that, every artisan in the country should be fine.

[Trishiad]

"none of us wants to give up hope..." I love it! This has become such a philosophical thread. I'm glad I'm not the only one pouring over these questions.

[Truffle Guy]

Just to add my view on this topic, because I deal with this on a daily basis in my shop.

When I started my shop, I hand dipped my pieces because I could not afford an enrober.  Right away I realized that if I wanted to try to make a living doing this, then I would need to use an enrober to produce the quantity needed.  I have to say that  you could not tell a difference between the pieces I used to hand dip or the ones that I enrobe.  I take just as much care and time to get a uniform thickness and a clean perfectly placed transfer sheet as I did before.  I still make and pour all my ganache by hand, just as I did before.  As for the molded pieces that we make, everything is done by hand.  If a piece has an airbubble or a cooling spot or and kind of imperfection, we don't use it.  I guess we are not neccesarily going for that "handmade irregular" look that has been discussed.  My view is that we are charging a premium and we are using the best ingredients we can find so they need to look and taste as perfect as we can get them.  We actually strive to make our pieces look the same, even the completely hand made ones.  Maybe not a good example, but would you buy a new car if the windshield was cracked or it had a scratch in it?  There is a technique to apply a transfer sheet so that it is even and not overhanging, or not going all the way to the edge.  When I see a piece of chocolate where that is not the case, then my first thought is not wondering if it is handmade or not, but that the time and care was not taken during the production process.

As for producing your own unique transfer sheets and molds....it is very costly and not always an option for someone starting out.  We are in the process of creating all of our own transfer sheets so we have a more unique product, but this was not an option for us starting out.

Chocolates have come a long way over the years.  I love the experience of eating a good classic truffle, rolled in cocoa powder, I also love the experience of eating an enrobed square of ganache that is decorated with a transfer sheet, and I also love the experience of eating a Belgian style molded piece that is perfectly executed and shiny.  These are all very different products but all should still be made with the same care and love, most of all they should taste good.

Any way, for what it's worth, this is how I approach some of the issues discussed in this thread.

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I'm jumping into this thread late but thought I would add my 2 cents. Having had the good fortune to spend a couple days working with Chris I can tell you that he has the highest standards of perfection and if anything, the better equipment has allowed him to raise the level of his artisanship. Do we expect painters to all use their fingers or pieces of stick and grass to be considered true "artists"? Of course not and the same applies to chocolatiers who are able to use high-end prodcution equipment to their process. Ultimately, to me at least, it is less the look of the product and more the taste that really matters in any case. Using an enrober doesn't change your process for actually making the ganache it just ensures a more consistent application of chocolate at a much higher speed of production. A guitar cutter also doesn't detract from the flavor of the product, it is just an excellent way to get uniform products and greatly increases the speed of production. Again, it is still a cutting instrument that you have to do by hand you just make 2 cuts instead of 100.

Here is an example of Chris' artisanship. After cutting the ganache with the guitar cutter he is extremely careful in seperating the ganache not wanting any fingerprints or pieces flipped over. Although the enrober most likely would cover up any of those possible blemishes it was obvious it concerned him that any piece would not meet his standards.

Technology does a lot of great things for us and the key is to recognize when there is a tradeoff and when there is an improvement. For the chocolatier, it is probably a matter of choice as to what tools they use and what (if any) loss to their artistry that tool brings. A guitar cutter is not a high-tech piece of equipment at all, just a pricey one. An enrober is another story but when you are making choices that impact whether something can be or a business or just a hobby you have to access what will allow you to be successful.

On my way back from lunch today I stopped at a local chocolate shop and their pieces were all different because they used a large temper machine to dip each piece. I believe it was because of the expense of an enrober machine and the expertise to use it properly. Needless to say, although each piece was unique the quality was pitifully low compared to Chris's work. I've tried many of the top chocolatiers products and I still rate him the best. Having spent time with him it is obvious his passion is to be true to himself as an artist and there is no compromise in that by being so good that you look like a machine. I would say spend less time looking for airbubbles and imperfections and spend more savoring the flavor and texture of the chocolate, that is where the true artistry lies.