We just did our chocolate practical at ICE, and what a relief it is over. Don’t get me wrong I’m one of the biggest chocolate lovers out there. Chocolate is something I will certainly be playing with but it was so much pressure completely a bon bon in 4 hours. It’s not that it can’t be done cause of course that’s how chocolatiers do quickly to mass produce. There’s a lot that goes into it.

Was I worried? Oh yes I was. I had missed a chocolate day where the chef had shown us how to cap (close) the chocolate. So the first time I did it was on Friday and I was a huge mess as well as my work station. I was on the verge of tears I just felt like the day went to terrible. However, my honey lavender bin bins managed to come out beautifully despite all my struggles.

So all weekend long, I was internally stressing about my practical. I knew I had to due well. I was constantly going over the tempering temperatures, the method of how to create a bon bon and just doing my best to not self sabotage as that’s something I do when I’m close to succeeding.

Sunday night came around and Matthew wouldn’t get to sleep, I’m stressed about doing well and didn’t sleep either but I got myself organized on what tools I need at my station and what I’m doing first to get my act together. Monday morning that list was what really helped get myself together. Yes I struggled a bit. I missed a part of the mild when painting, which also could have been cleaned better. My filling was a little high on a few and my capping wasn’t perfectly pretty but I nit only managed to get them all looking great, I kicked ass and got a 91.

Why I don’t enjoy working with chocolate? It can be very tricky. Tempering chocolate is a master skill. It’s so easy for it to go wrong. It’s pricy too. The amount of work that goes into making chocolate is a lot. From farmer inn, harvesting, fermenting, roasting, grinding etc. It’s a long and huge process with many people involved. I would gladly pay a lot of money for others to make my chocolate.