CHOCOLATE PAINTING: Guest Post by Amber Royer

I love when my mystery and chocolate worlds collide. Today I welcome back Amber Royer, mystery writer and chocolate maven! Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse space opera series, and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists, and has co-authored a chocolate-related cookbook with her husband. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach.

AMBER ROYER: CHOCOLATE PAINTING

A couple of years ago, I took a class where we painted with colored cocoa butter, onto the smooth side of chocolate bars. The class was a lot of fun, and I duly Instagrammed about it and filed the information away to fit into my mystery series that stars a bean to bar chocolate maker. That class led directly to the newest book in the series, A Study in Chocolate, where I riff on the title in several ways. One of those is to have my protagonist offered the opportunity to sit for a chocolate painting. This would be a more elegant take on what I’d done in the class, with the artist using only different shades of chocolate, from dark to a caramelly white.

Such paintings are available commercially, either as commissioned works or showpieces. On a large scale, chocolatiers in Spain did a life-size reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica out of chocolate.  https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/culture/2021/04/23/picasso039s-039guernica039-the-world039s-most-famous-anti-war-painting-recreated-with-chocolate

And you can buy a detailed chocolate portrait of Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin or Audrey Hepburn done on a chocolate “canvas” for roughly $700.  (It claims to have a shelf life of a year.) https://globalrustrade.com/products/chocolate-painting-marilyn-monroe/  The artists do the work to order, to deliver the freshest art possible.

I even found a site that advertises chocolate portraits (or mosaics) of the bride and groom for weddings, with the idea that the piece will be smashed with a hammer and distributed to the guest as a party favor.  https://www.foodisart.co.uk/services/weddings-celebrations/

There are a number of on-line tutorials if you want to try your hand doing your own chocolate painting.  

These boil down to two basic techniques:

You can paint on the slab of chocolate you are using as a canvas, using a brush, creating strokes and textures similar to an oil painting. If you want to sketch out your work first, use edible markers (made with food coloring – available from cake supply shops or some craft stores). You will either need to work quickly, so that your tempered chocolate doesn’t solidify before you can paint with it, or devise a method of keeping it warm while you work. (You can actually buy a chocolate warming pallet, with cups to hold multiple shades or colors of chocolate, or improvise with a silicon tray in a crock pot.)

The other method is more similar to how chocolatiers make hand-painted filled chocolates using molds, where they paint the inside of the mold first, then pour chocolate onto the design. For this method, you need a sheet of acetate. You paint the image you want onto the acetate. Remember to do it backwards – with the detail work face-down on the acetate.  Then you pour tempered chocolate over the top of your image, let it set, then flip it over and remove the acetate.  The benefit of this method is that you can trace an image from a photograph or other source onto the acetate to outline your work.  But you lose most of the sense of texture or brush strokes, as the acetate serves to make for a flat finished surface.

Here is my attempt to paint Ruffles, the cat you see on the cover of A Study in Chocolate.  Not only was it fun, but it felt a bit meta, since this is similar to something the characters do in the book.

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The History of Cocoa Powder & Recipe for Felicity's Hot Cocoa Bombs: Guest Post by Amber Royer

I love when my mystery and chocolate worlds collide. Amber Royer is an established chocolatier and mystery author who has graced this blog before with recipes and writing information. She writes the CHOCOVERSE comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the BEAN TO BAR MYSTERIES. 70% DARK INTENTIONS was just published on July 20! Royer is also the author of STORY LIKE A JOURNALIST: A WORKBOOK FOR NOVELISTS, which boils down her writing knowledge into an actionable plan involving over 100 worksheets to build a comprehensive story plan for your novel. She blogs about creative writing technique and all things chocolate at www.amberroyer.com. 

Amber Royer:

The History of Cocoa Powder

Did you know that without a nineteenth-century Dutch chemist, the modern-day chocolate bar wouldn’t exist?  Chocolate is made out of cacao beans, which grow inside the pods of the Theobroma cacao tree. Originally, the dried and fermented beans were ground into a paste, suitable for making drinks.  But grinding doesn’t provide a smooth mouth-feel.  Chocolate made its way to Europe in the 1500s.  By the 1800s, the desire to do more with chocolate led to a great deal of experimentation and innovation.

One of the most creative of these innovations was when Casparus Van Houten and his son Coenraad Johannes Van Houten decided to take a hydraulic press to the stuff.  Casparus owned a chocolate factory in Amsterdam, and his son was the aforementioned chemist.  (Sources debate whether the press was invented by father or son, though it seems logical that they were working together.)  Why was this so important?  Cocoa beans contain fat in the form of cocoa butter.  Before them, other people had been experimenting with expensive, inefficient methods of extracting cocoa butter, which involved either boiling of freezing the beans.  But using the hydraulic press, the Van Houtens were able to press a goodly amount of that fat from the cacao solids (generally, chocolate makers extract about half).  The remaining “cake” could then be pulverized into cocoa powder.

Coenraad, ever the chemist, then developed a process involving adding alkaline salts (such as sodium carbonate) to make cocoa powder that could be easily dissolved in water.  The process also intensified the chocolate flavor, and darkened the color of the cocoa powder.  This process is now known as Dutching.  To give you a feel for the difference: red velvet cake was originally made with natural (un-Dutched) cocoa powder, because it would give the cake a reddish-color.  Red velvet cake made with Dutched cocoa powder generally rely on red food coloring to get the effect.

“Ultra-Dutched,” cocoa powder is known as black cocoa powder.  Usually bakers choose this for aesthetic reasons, as the powder has been so chemically changed that it won’t react with baking powder (to give cakes rise) and results in a drier result. This is the cocoa powder responsible for the distinctive color of such iconic treats as Oreos. 

The ease of access to cocoa powder led to the invention of a number of classic chocolate cakes in the 1890s and early 1900s, many of which are still made today.

Modern innovators have found a number of ways of extracting the cocoa butter, including expeller pressing (using a rotating screw to press the cacao, often assisted by steaming the nibs – or even applying infrared heat to the beans before roasting) and the use of food-safe solvents through exposure to “a food-acceptable gas.”  I even found one study exploring the use of supercritical fluid extraction, which proposed using carbon dioxide (though this appears to be still under development).

Cocoa Bombs

The stage was set to create eating chocolate in 1828, but the Van Houtens didn’t take the final step.  It wasn’t until 1847 that British confectioner Joseph Fry figured out how to add the cocoa butter back into cocoa powder blended with sugar that it became possible to make a substance that could actually be sold as bars.  Conching -- a process that allows for making silky smooth chocolate from either a chocolate “liquor”or directly from nibs --  wasn’t developed until 1879, by Swiss chocolate maker Rodolphe Lindt.  (Most of today’s craft chocolate makers simply conch nibs, but some do also make their own cocoa powder.)

In my book 70% Dark Intentions, my protagonist is just such a craft chocolate maker.  As she is growing her business, she starts experimenting with making cocoa powder – just in time to take a huge order for gift baskets that include hot chocolate bombs, which are a fun way to show off that water solubility of cocoa powder.

Felicity’s Hot Cocoa Bombs

Tempering Chocolate

To make your own hot chocolate bombs, you will need a mold to create the half-sphere shapes (2 1/2" sphere mold, silicone or acrylic.  We used two molds with a total 12 cavities to create six bombs at a time, repeating the entire process twice to get a dozen finished hot cocoa bombs). You will also need a thermometer to make sure you achieve the appropriate temperature to temper chocolate. Other than that, you can use equipment you probably already have in your kitchen.  In the book Felicity adds cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne to her cocoa mixture, but you can leave it plain or flavor it any way you want.

Ingredients

24 oz. dark couverture chocolate, chopped, melted and tempered  (You will need to monitor the temperature of the chocolate as you work to make sure it stays in temper.  I have posted instructions for tempering chocolate HERE.)
12 cupcake wrappers
3 c. mini marshmallows
12 Tbsp. Cocoa Mix (see recipe below)
Steamed milk, for serving

Polish your molds with a paper towel.  If desired, add any decoration that will be part of the chocolate. *

Spoon about a tablespoon of chocolate into the bottom of one of the cavities.  Using swift strokes, paint the chocolate upward, ensuring that you cover every bit of the sides and edge.  Repeat, one at a time, with each cavity, making sure to maintain the temperature of the chocolate as you work. Refrigerate the completely painted molds for five minutes. Add more chocolate to one of the cavities and paint a second coat of chocolate, making sure to fortify the rim of the sphere half.  Repeat with the remaining cavities. Refrigerate the completely second-coated molds until completely set, 5 to 10 minutes. **

Removing Shell from Cocoa Bomb

Release the chocolate half spheres from the molds and place 6 of them rim side up in the cupcake wrappers.  Fill each half sphere with 1 tablespoon of cocoa mix and ¼ c. marshmallows. 

Wear gloves for the remaining steps to avoid getting fingerprints on the chocolate shells.  Heat a dry skillet over medium heat.  Take one of the remaining half sphere and place it rim-side down for a few seconds in the heated skillet.  Immediately place it on top of one of the filled half spheres and press gently for a second or two to form a light seal.  One at a time, place each cocoa bomb onto the rim of a glass or a tall round cookie cutter, or whatever you can find to stabilize it as you work.  Brush a little melted chocolate around the joined edge to seal any cracks.

Decorate if desired, with sprinkles on the seal, or drizzles of white chocolate over the top, or any other edible design elements.

To serve: Place one hot cocoa bomb in the bottom of a large mug.  Pour the steamed milk over the cocoa bomb and watch it melt open and the marshmallows pop up to the top.

Painting Cocoa Bomb Seal

* I used colored cocoa butter, painted in different patterns onto each cavity of the molds using a paintbrush, to add a pop of color. I chose pink because it reflects the cinnamon in the cocoa mix.

** If using acrylic molds, instead of painting on the chocolate, you can fill the cavities with tempered chocolate, and then pour it back into the bowl, leaving a coating on the mold.  Set the mold upside down on waxed paper to continue draining, then refrigerate until set.

Cocoa Mix

8 Tbsp. powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
A pinch salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. Ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cayenne pepper (or ½ tsp., if you like things spicy)

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl.  Whisk to combine.

Assembling Cocoa Bombs

Bibliography

Method for Solvent Extracting Cocoa Butter from Cocoa Nibs https://patents.google.com/patent/US20070264417

Expeller Pressed Process of Cocoa Butter https://processfood.blogspot.com/2017/03/expeller-pressed-process-of-cocoa-butter.html

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Cocoa Butter https://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/files_mf/tan2008.pdf

Conrad van Houten https://searchinginhistory.blogspot.com/2014/08/conrad-van-houten-start-of-chocolate.html

How Bean to Baked Goods at Real Chocolate Shops Inspired The Bean to Bar Mysteries: Guest post by Amber Royer

AMBER ROYER:

My Bean to Bar Mysteries series is my newest foray into the realm of all things chocolate.  Ever since I did the chocolate cookbook (my first chocolate-related project), I have made it a point to visit chocolate shops/factories whenever I travel (oh, pre-COVID travel, how I miss you!) so that I can Instagram my favorite flavors and wrappers.  As a result, Felicity’s shop is basically a combination of some of the coolest aspects of different shops I’ve seen – from the bean to baked good aspect, to the artistic labels that tell her story, to the coffee and dirty horchata station to keep visitors in the shop.

I acknowledge that in some ways this may be unrealistic.  For instance, I have her just starting out, but she’s already visited origin to purchase beans for one of the chocolates she’s working on.  But I gave her the funds to do so because I wanted to be able to write about the most interesting aspects of craft chocolate.  After all, it is those kind of visits – in person or virtual -- that allow craft chocolate makers to sell you a story, of the farm the beans came from, of the care that went into turning those beans into something special.

But once you’ve bought that special chocolate, how can you show it off?  Consider baking with it.

Although most baking recipes call for blended-origin chocolate, so that you don’t have to take into account a particular chocolate’s flavors to get the “chocolaty” notes people expect, you can intentionally use the specific flavor notes of single-origin chocolate to either reinforce or contrast other flavor notes in a dish.  This is why a chocolate with a lot of tannins, which often comes across as citrus, goes well with lemon or bergamot flavors.  Chocolate with bright, fruity notes can often be paired with – or even take the place of – raisins or cherries. 

If you’re going for contrast, pair a fruity chocolate in a crust for a more savory cheesecake base.  A bitter chocolate layer can be the foil for a super-sweet filling.

And look for unexpected ways to be playful.  A tip I picked up from one maker that also has a café: chocolate with smoky notes go great in anything s’mores-inspired.

In Grand Openings Can Be Murder, Felicity’s assistant Carmen makes baked goods from Felicity’s chocolate.  One of the things she makes is chocolate-chunk pan dulce – in this case Besos (the word is Spanish for kisses), also known as yo-yos, because that’s what they look like.  There are a number of variations on what they’re sandwiched together with, and how they’re coated. 

Here’s a snippet of the scene from the book, showing how Carmen makes hers:

Logan takes a mini chocolate-chunk beso off the plate that had been under the glass cloche. “If Carmen’s innocent, then Monaco’s our main suspect. Unless you think it was Paul.”

“I’m not sure it was either of them. . . .”

I pick up one of the besos too and bite into it. Besos are a traditional Mexican sweet bread, made from a raised dough baked as two half spheres. Carmen had added chunks of my fruity Sierra Nevada chocolate to the mix, and joined the pieces with home-made strawberry jam and rolled the whole thing in fine coconut that had been infused with lavender. Traditional, yet elevated.

NOTES: If you’re up for making your own jam, you can infuse it with vanilla bean, which Carmen would have done for added depth of flavor. If you plan well in advance, you can make proper lavender infused sugar by layering lavender and sugar in a jar and shaking it once a day for about a month, then sifting out the flowers.  What I’m detailing below is a quick version that grinds the flowers into the sugar.

Single Origin Chocolate Chunk Mini Besos

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

2 teaspoons baking powder

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, plus one additional yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup water

1 cup chocolate chunks

1 tablespoon food grade lavender flowers

1 tablespoon caster sugar, plus 2 additional tablespoons

1 cup coconut flour

3/4 cup strawberry jam

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, yeast and baking powder. Set aside.

Place the softened butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, and cream the mixture until it becomes fluffy. Add the eggs and the vanilla, then mix until well combined  Add the flour mixture, the water, and the vanilla extract.  Mix on low for 1 minute, to combine and then increase the speed to medium. Continue mixing until the dough takes on a soft, smooth texture (about 10-20 minutes). Add the chocolate chunks and work them into the mixture using your hands or a spoon.

Using a 2-ounce baking scoop or the palm of your hand, place half spheres of dough roughly 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the spheres are browned (about 15-20 minutes). Cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a spice grinder or using a mortar and pestle, combine the lavender flowers and the tablespoon of caster sugar. Grind until you achieve a fine powder, then put the powder through a fine-mesh strainer. Re-grind any remaining solids. Discard anything that won’t go through the strainer. Place the lavender sugar in a medium bowl, add the remining caster sugar and the coconut flour and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Spread about 1 tablespoon of strawberry jam on the flat side of one cooled beso half. Place another half, flat side against the filling to create a sandwich with the jam in the middle.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes to stick better. 

Using your fingers, coat the cooled beso halves with the room-temperature butter. Roll into coconut sugar mixture, then tap off the excess coconut.

***

Amber Royer writes the CHOCOVERSE comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the BEAN TO BAR MYSTERIES. She is also the author of STORY LIKE A JOURNALIST: A WORKBOOK FOR NOVELISTS, which boils down her writing knowledge into an actionable plan involving over 100 worksheets to build a comprehensive story plan for your novel. She blogs about creative writing technique and all things chocolate at www.amberroyer.com.