For a food so wonderful and universally celebrated, it’s incredible that how chocolate is actually made, remains mysterious to so many! I’m often asked about it, even by the most serious of food lovers.
I want to inspire everyone to join my Chocolate Revolution, by sharing my passion for real, artisan chocolate. To do this I need to demystify the world of chocolate. So let’s start right at the beginning with ‘How is Chocolate Made?’
I make all my chocolate the artisan way, from bean to bar, with no short cuts and only the purest of ingredients. So what I’m sharing here, is how REAL chocolate is made.
I’ll tell you all about the almighty differences between artisan chocolate and industrial chocolate another day. But in short, industrial chocolate is made in just a few hours, at high temperatures, using lecithin as an emulsifier, and vanilla to add back some flavour. It is a process designed for cost, whereas the bean to bar process is designed for flavour.
The bean to bar process at the Willies Cacao Factory
The beans that arrive at my factory are all fine flavoured, heirloom varieties that I have chosen from individual farms around the world for their pure, charismatic flavours. They are like fine wines. So every step in the factory is designed to preserve these beautiful flavours. One may taste of nuts, another of plums, it is a whole world of delight.
