I’m feeling more like an artist every day, though I’m not exactly sure what an artist is supposed to feel like. As I sit on my stool with a tiny feathered paintbrush applying yellow cocoa butter to a mango-ginger caramel bonbon I’m not thinking “wow, I’m doing art;” I’m just thinking “hmm, needs a highlight of bronze lustre to take the edge off.” And I add the faintest highlight of bronze lustre and suddenly the piece is beautiful. But that’s just painting–chocolate as art actually begins when I notice the that ataulfo mangoes are in season in the grocery store and my mouth waters. Then I think, “a hint of ginger would add a nice warm note.”
Back at the kitchen, I decide to take it toward a creamy caramel wrap it in Jivara, Valrhona’s dark caramelly African milk chocolate. Needs a touch of dark though, so I mold it square with a delicate Aztec motif and cap it with Felchlin’s Cru Sauvage, a fruity 66% made from wild Bolivian cacao. A single swipe of yellow cocoa butter to evoke the brightness of mango and sunlight and warm places, a burnished bronze highlight to soften the look. I name it “Soothing the Soul,” because that’s exactly how it makes me feel–warm, comfortable, a bit exotic.
I like this job.