Chocolate books to help you advance your chocolate making skills

One of the more common questions I receive during class is “what books on chocolate would you recommend for the beginner?” Ten years ago I would have struggled with this question. There just weren’t many books, good or bad, available for the home chocolate maker. However, with the growing appreciation of artisan chocolates it has become much easier to find a flurry of good fantastic books.

While I have professional training as a chef, I do not have a formal education in chocolate. My route to chocolate making was through a stint as an assistant pastry chef. Molded chocolates were on the menu and so the pastry chef gave me my first lesson in the art of chocolate making. From there I turned to books to refine what I had learned and to build new skills. As my chocolate knowledge grew so did my chocolate library. I often peruse my favorite books looking for technical advice (how do you fix a broken ganache?), inspiration (what new finishing techniques are people using) and new flavor combinations (my newest find is absinthe chocolates). So, without further delay here are my top 3 chocolate book recommendations for the beginner:

Chocolate Obsession by Michael Recchiuti & Fran Gage: Chocolate Obsession is filled with recipes for both chocolates and chocolate desserts. While this book is light on the number of chocolate candy recipes (about 20) the majority of the recipes are unique in flavor and can be used to make truffles, which gives you the option to coat your chocolates in something other than tempered chocolate.

The Art of Chocolate by Elaine Gonzalez – The Art of Chocolate is for the person who is serious about chocolate making and wants a good guide on getting started. Many tools of the trade are explained and there is a through section on tempering. There are lots of images that fully explain more advanced techniques and the book goes beyond making chocolates to using chocolate to make beautiful decorations like leaves, bows and chocolate bowls and boxes.

The Chocolate Bible by Christain Teubner – This book is filled with recipes for chocolates, cakes, petit fours and more with the majority of the recipes having a visual step-by-step guide perfect for the beginner. This was one of my first chocolate books and proved invaluable in learning more advanced techniques.

Valerie Conyngham teaches Taste of Chocolate’s Chocolate Truffle Making workshop. She is a self-proclaimed chocolatier and is currently satisfying the chocolate cravings of her individual and corporate client base.

See us at the The Boston Wine Expo January 23 & 24th

Taste of Chocolate will be partnering with Aroa Fine Chocolate at the expo and offering samples of their finest chocolate and discounts to our tours and workshops.  Visit us in Booth #273 and find out more about Boston’s Sweetest new company, our Boston Chocolate Tour, the Chocolate Workshop, Chocolate Team Building, Chocolate Tastings and Chocolate Scavenger Hunts.  Wine and Chocolate – the perfect pairing – see you there!

January 13th Taste of Chocolate at Mass. Innovation Night

We are competing with other innovative companies to present at this unique get together.   The  top four vote getters get the cool presentation spots and currently we are the most requested presenter (it might have to do with the FREE Chocolate we are giving away).   Vote for us here.

You are also welcome to join us if you are so inclined, there are some very cool companies other than us.   RSVP here.

Mass Innovation Nights connect Massachusetts-based innovators with the marketplace using social media.  The monthly Launch Parties are FREE for everyone — companies and guests alike.  All we ask is that guests help spread the word about cool new products they see at our events.  Blog, Tweet (#MIN), Facebook, Linkedin or tell a neighbor or a friend (yes, in person, you know, talking…)

Welcome to Taste of Chocolate!

Welcome to Taste of Chocolate, what I like to call my passion business.  As a lifelong chocoholic, I decided to combine my love of chocolate with my love of starting a small business and bring all things chocolate to people who love chocolate as much as I do.

What will you find here?  On my blog you will learn about trends in chocolate and those that are in the business.  You will learn about the best chocolate and places to enjoy it.  You will meet some of the people behind the scenes making chocolate, and you will learn about where chocolate comes from and how it is made.  I think you will enjoy my little foray into the chocolate world and hopefully I will meet you along the way on one of our chocolate tours, workshops or one of our famous chocolate team  building events.

Thanks for reading and expect new posts about once a week.