Chocolate you fresh devil

Sweet, it's time to talk about chocolate.

Here's the book I want for Valentine's Day: The Art of the Chocolatier.

Here's why. The day came to teach a class on how to make truffles. The concept is not hard. Make a filling of ganache (chocolate and cream, flavorings), pipe it into spheres and allow to set. Temper some couverture chocolate, dunk said spheres. Decorate.

Not difficult. And yet. If your ganache is out of ratio, with too much or too little cream, you'll get off on the wrong foot and leave trails of despair, nay, chocolate streaks, all around you and on the floor, perhaps even the walls.

If the ganache won't set, not even in the freezer, you've got to grab the calculator and do the math. Are you using dark chocolate? Ratio is 2 to 1 - two parts chocolate to 1 part cream, and if you're adding liqueur and butter, make allowances. If it's white chocolate, better use 2 and 1/2 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. White doesn't have the cocoa solids and the same amount of cocoa butter that dark has. Trust me about this.

Why should you? I've got the kitchen floor with the evidence to back up my claims that you must do your math. The Art of the Chocolatier is clear on the subject.

Chocolatier does a marvelous job of presenting the right steps for chocolate work. It's loaded with recipes and even more thrilling, guidance on how to do chocolate sculptures. If you go down this chocolate path, that could be where you end up, amazing and amusing your friends with impressive chocolate designs that defy gravity.

I heard about the chocolate book because one of the gifted and talented kitchen assistants where I teach loaned me her copy. She knew me to be the kind of pastry chef who studies the problem from multiple angels. Yes I said "angels," not angles, but that applies, too. Angels step in when you are most perplexed and hand you something good.

Thanks to her and the book, we made it through class with only one broken emulsion (the white chocolate, wouldn't you know?) and 2 batches of leftover ganache, hidden in the fridge.

A class attendee asked me which is harder, making truffles or macarons. The better question is, which is messier!

The answer? Chocolate, that fresh devil.