June at The Chocolate Fetish

There are no pending adventures in the chocolate world this month but there are plenty of interesting adventures with chocolate going on right here at home.  Summer has been unofficially kicked off by the grill out celebrations of Memorial Day and the heat has already started to bear down on Asheville.  We made the seasons first batches of frozen Chocolate covered bananas to help beat the heat.  Savoring a frozen Chocolate covered banana on a hot summer day is a great way to cool off and a much healthier option than ice cream.  We’ve got them in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate with pecans, and dark chocolate with pecans.

I’ve been hard at work learning to incorporate all the interesting things I learned at The French Pastry School class about Chocolate Showpieces that I attended in May.  A large part of my focus has been applying the technique I learned for creating flowers into creating specific flowers that can coordinate with people’s wedding bouquets.  Currently I can offer Gerber Daisies, Roses, Sunflowers and Dahlias and soon I hope to offer Orchids, Calla Lilies, and Anemones.  The result of all this experimentation has been the creation of some beautiful flowers which adorn some of our Smash Cakes.  For those of you that aren’t familiar a Smash Cake is a cake made with a thin shell of chocolate and filled with chocolates (not cake).  The cake is then smashed with a special hammer and the pieces shared with guests.   It’s a fun and unique way to celebrate.  I am also working on creating bouquets of flowers to be used as cake toppers so that someone seeking a more traditional cake can add a bouquet of chocolate flowers to the top of their cake.

I’ve also used the new flowers to create mini showpieces.  For the showpieces I drew on some inspiration that has been lingering with me since my trip through Kentucky in May (see blog post Bluegrass Country).  I used some new techniques to create wood grain on chocolate and constructed a base for the showpieces that resembles old barns and fences.  My goal was to create showpieces that would really show off the flowers, juxtaposing the rustic elements with the delicate beauty of the flowers.  They will be on display at the shop through June so come on down and check them out!

As for what the rest of The Chocolate Fetish kitchen is up to?  One of our chocolatiers has been hard at work in The Chocolate Fetish “shoe factory” refining our cowboy boots and chocolate high heels.  From animal prints to whimsical colors I am constantly delighted by the creativity and attention to detail that goes into creating these chocolate shoes.  There are always a great selection of fresh and stylish designs to choose from, it’s worth a trip to the shop just to check them out.  Another chocolatier has been designing some custom art that may soon grace the walls of The Chocolate Fetish while our Production Manager has been here all hours as he experiments with some delicious (and top secret) new flavors.  Keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter to be the first to hear about all the deliciousness coming your way!