Summer is coming to an end, though it's unseasonably warm this week in New Hampshire. That means chocolate season will be coming along soon, but not quite yet. In the meantime, here's a little glimpse of what I've been up to, including some new chocolate developments!
No, the pictures above do not mean I'm adding wedding cakes to the Clandestine Chocolates repertoire! But, over the years I've made quite a few cakes for friends and this summer started off with a wedding.
There's no chocolate on the outside, but the inside is loaded. A bit hard to see, but amongst the flowers there are small sugar figures I made and painted. They represent things important to the couple. You can click on the butterfly or the hummingbird below with your sound turned up for a little musical interlude.
There was some other cooking, too, like my annual stint with my friend Nancy as "co-chowder masters" at the Smith Neck Friends Meeting Clambake.
Nothing like cooking up the best quahog chowder you can find for 225 people on a glorious summer day.
There has also been some hiking going on, as my wife Dotty has committed us to going up each of New Hampshire's 48 peaks over 4,000 feet.
That may not sound like much to any westerners, but each hike often involves ascending 3-4,000 or more feet from the trailhead and many miles of hiking. Which, of course, provides an excuse for eating a jelly donut at the summit!
On to some actual chocolate news! In the last update, I mentioned the change in look for Clandestine Chocolates, and new custom boxes that won't involve any plastic, are fully recyclable, and made closer to home. They're in production now, and I just got test samples of the foil stamping that will go on the box (brown paper) and a closing band (blue). Can't wait to get the real things!
And then I did a big thing. I've been contemplating this for a couple of years and finally took the plunge.
Last month, a large shipment arrived from Italy.
What is it? What does it do?
Well, you know, when you have 2,500 pieces of chocolate to dip by hand? It takes a LOT of time and a lot of standing, dipping one by one.
This is a small enrobing machine, which enrobes the ganache fillings. There's still a lot of hand-work involved, but it's going to be a big time-saver.
I don't have my own video of it in operation (for reasons to be described shortly), but here's a short one from the manufacturer. It's kind of fun to watch.
So, why isn't mine up and running to make your chocolates? Well, it takes a little bit of space and a whole wall of my chocolate room has been pretty much taken up by a wood stove I can't use and the surrounding bricks.
What to do? Call in my demolition expert. Ummm, that would be my wife, Dotty.
Seriously, that was a lot of work getting those bricks out! I even had to help!
Now that's done, we're waiting to have new flooring installed later this month. Thus, the delay in chocolate production.
In fact, it's still too warm for shipping chocolate right now. But, I have gotten started on plans and designs for the first edition of the season, as well as an outline of themes for editions through 'til spring!
So, what's the plan? Well, there's a hint below in the painting that got me to thinking about a good geographic theme to start off the season. I'll see if you can figure out the region.
As for timing, the first edition will come out in late October (or so), assuming all goes well with reflooring and the test operations of the new enrober!
Stay tuned for the preorder email later this month. In the meantime, I'll get back to working on the individual chocolate designs related to the geography below.
Jonathan Doherty
Owner & Chocolatier
