In 2015, SWEET55 was finally introducing the Rolls Royce of Chocolate Making.
The gadget that we lovingly called our Rolls Royce of chocolate making had arrived in the New World. We were referring to our brand new German chocolate coating machine, and our excitement over its arrival could not have been bigger. The coater was by far the fanciest addition ever to grace our kitchen, and we knew it would simplify, quicken, and perfect our enrobing process.
I always knew we would get here, but it took three years of perseverance. When I say perseverance, I mean something along the lines of dipping thousands of chocolate ganache pieces - by hand. Not only is it a time-intensive process, but it can be a lonely task. There were days when, just for fun, I found myself in a chocolate-dipping contest with my alter ego. Time and space disappeared, leaving me completely focused on dipping more quickly and creating more perfectly enrobed chocolates every time. If repetition has a meditative quality, dipping 900 chocolates per day might as well be the road to nirvana.
There is a rhythmic quality to the process: load ganache onto three-pronged fork, throw it head-first into couverture, load it back onto fork, dip it, remove it through series of quick upward motions, transport it to edge of chocolate warmer, tap it to eliminate excess chocolate, transfer it onto silicon paper to dry, and repeat. It takes about 20 to 30 seconds to enrobe a single piece before the cycle starts again.
Do we ever look back to our hand-dipping days and get nostalgic? We're not sure about that, but the faster we work the "Rolls Royce", the more we miss our daily meditation. Modern Times...