Fall has come. You can see red, yellow and golden leaves on the trees; they slowly begin to fall to the ground. The colourful foliage is everywhere; chestnuts lie in between. Who doesn’t like a little stroll in the warm sun these days? The air is fresh and clean and you can hear the leaves rustling.

Our bars of the month make this lovely fall atmosphere perfect. The bar Golden October is fruity and colourful. Milk chjocolate meets blueberries, orange bits and the gaudy flower mix. The bar Thanksgiving contains dark chocolate of roasted almonds, apple bits and candied rose petals.

Remember DIV Kinder eV? This organization supports children on the Ivory Coast and so do you. 1% of each of your chocri purchases is donated to this charity project. In the previous years it was already possible to finance a water well and several refrigerators with the help of your money. The current project focuses on building an orphanage in Gagnoa.

A few days ago we received some up-to-date pictures of the building. The workmen are done laying bricks, also the roof structure is solid, corrugated metal sheets are lying on top and windows as well as doors are installed. All it needs to finish the whole project is a reasonable ground floor and furniture.

We are very happy and proud to watch the orphanage grow. Obviously the money is being spent on something great and important. In the end so many kids will benefit from your donations.

One of those kids is Ibrahim. Playing soccer this little boy hurt his leg so badly that it had to be amputated. With your financial support it was possible to get him an artificial replacement and to supply him medically afterwards.

Where does the misery come from?

Ever since the Ivory Coast gained independence from France in 1960, the country quickly developed into one of the wealthiest states in West Africa. The ruling state president managed to establish political stability. When he died in 1993 things changed. Civil disturbances and economic difficulties led to fights all over the country. Nine years later the army acted against the government and took control of the northern part of the Ivory Coast. Ever since that time a lot has been tried to end this awful situation but new disagreements and struggles occur again and again.

We feel certain that also your future donations will make a precious contribution in supporting the people in the Ivory Coast. Again: Thank you all for your help.

This is the final step now. Did you hold out easily or did you already let the professionals make your chocolate? Let me tell you: It pays to be patient, even I finally made it. The chocolate mass reached about 45°C at some point and I did not forget to stir it. The instructions I read all told me to use a plastic or silicon item to keep the chocolate in motion. Furthermore it is important to make sure no water gets into the chocolate mass. It’s a lot to think about. =)

Anyway: I let the mass cool down again while stirring, stirring and stirring it. Afterwards it has to be warmed again so that it finally comes to a temperature of 30°C. This is the processing temperature.

Casting the chocolate into the mold

Here comes the fun part that I was looking forward to so much! Melted chocolate looks so incredibly good and it smells awesome. I love it! As the chocolate is for me, I guess nobody minds if I try a bit with my fingers? =) Then I cast the warm mass into the cooled mold. I don’t know how much fits in there, so I shake the plastic mold once in a while to spread everything evenly. The filled cast is gently tapped on the table to remove air bubbles in the chocolate bar. Done. Well almost, because now all I have is a milk chocolate bar, which looks a bit sad all alone. Luckily the additional ingredients are all here and I can decorate the bar straight away. The colourful chocolate dragées look so yummy and so do the gummy bears, too. I only have to wait for them to be completely solid. If I did everything correctly my selfmade chocolate bars will detach themselves from the mold without any problems. Either I am lucky or I am very talented: My chocolate bars look just perfect! They do not have any grey spots or lines and they did not break when I tried to get them out of the mold. They are beautifully lying in front of me. No for a very long time I guess. =)

Have you ever tried to make chocolate on your own? I’d really like to know how it was like, share your experience with me!

If you missed how I started to make chocolate on my own, you can find Part I and Part II of the report in our blog. There is also more information about the history of chocolate too. Learn about chocolate houses and Columbus.

Everything is prepared. It is amazing when you think of all the different steps that have already been mastered only to supply me with this block of couverture. So many things have happened before I can even start. It’s a long way from a cocoa fruit to chocolate.

Of beans and mosquitoes

The cacao needs a warm, humid climate to grow; also it only prospers in the shades. After being pollinated by little mosquitoes it takes four to nine months until the tree bears ripe fruits. These are being separated from the tree with huge machetes; the pulp and semen (the cocoa beans) are being taken out of the fruits and spread onto banana leaves. The pulp begins to detach itself from the beans, its bitter constituents oxidise and the beans take on their typical dark colour. This process is called fermentation. Before going to Europe and North America for further manipulation, the beans need another two weeks of drying to develop their characteristic aroma. Landed at their destination the cocoa beans are ready to be cleaned properly, for roasting and for finally being ground. It took quite a while but here it is: the cocoa mass. After adding cocoa butter, milk powder and sugar, rolling and conching the mass, it is finally done. This product is ready for the ultimate step: Becoming a chocolate bar!

Tempering

Compared to this complex production process, it is rather unimpressive what I will be doing now. The couverture is chopped up small. It is very important to cut the pieces in equally tiny pieces, so they can melt at the same pace. To make it melt I also need water that is exactly 55°C hot- which is hard to accomplish!. This specific temperature is incredibly important to help the chocolate reach the right crystal form, which again is necessary to process further. This temperature is also significant if you want to avoid grey spots and lines on your chocolate bar or to make sure it I doesn’t look dull or crumbly. As it seems it is really important to be precise and this needs a whole lot of patience. The latter isn’t really my strong point….

Did you miss how it all began? No problem, it's all in our blog. =)