{January 30, 2011}

My first attempt at true, handmade, tempered chocolates. I am not new to chocolate as I worked at my family's candy store, Libs Candies, from the time I was 15 up until I left for college. Course what I did there was package, wrap, and sell the already handmade chocolates so I wasn't familiar with the actual creation process. However, as a kid I did spend a fair amount of time running around the back of the main candy store (where all of the chocolates were crafted), marveling at the huge copper kettles, the enrobing machine, the naked creams waiting to be hand dipped in to luscious chocolate, and--with clean hands and only dipping ONCE--sticking a finger in to the melted chocolate for a taste (with permission from my uncle, of course). Stepping in to that store was like a blast from the past and to this day I still have fond memories of it all. And I still crave the hell out of that candy--some of the best I've ever tasted...and believe me, I taste A LOT of chocolate.

In the past I've made things like buckeye balls, cake balls, etc. yet I've never tempered chocolate nor have I ever attempted to create my own recipe. Recently I've been hooked on chocolates that have hardly any added sugar but are loaded with flavor from things such as goji berries, flax seeds, nuts, and spices. After partaking of a (new to me) chocolate bar I said to Ryan, "I want to make chocolate like this." I had him taste it so he could both see what I'm aiming for (and subsequently critique my future endeavors) and so that he would understand just how good this stuff tastes. Yesterday we ventured out to Butter's where I picked up some Extra Bitter 64% cacao chocolate pistoles and got some flax seeds from the grocery store. I already had dried cherries and slivered almonds at home which I knew would make a good addition. Last night I poured over websites looking for recipes only to come up empty handed. Today I continued the process yet was still unable to find what I was searching for. Undaunted, I watched videos on tempering, gathered my ingredients, and went to work. I'm quite pleased with the end result although we all agree that the roasted flax seeds are a bit too overpowering. It's possible I roasted them too long giving them a somewhat off-putting flavor (even though they aren't a true golden brown they sure taste super roasted). I think next time I'll go with unroasted flax seeds and throw in some crisp rice as well. I also need to bump up the spices as they are far too subtle. Still, I got the nice snap of a well tempered chocolate along with the sheen. They may not be perfect however it's definitely made me want to create more! For now I'll happily enjoy my Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond Roasted Flax Seeds with Nutmeg, Clove, Ginger, and Cinnamon chocolates.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}