[Closed] STOP EVERYTHING! STW HAS A CHOCOLATIER AS A MEMBER!

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aye there has been a few chocolates on here for years. 😉

I read that.

*adds somafunk to list of useful friends*

He's always been my favourite forumite you know.

Choclatiers? You do know that they are partially responsible for Obese Britain?

I class them with Macdonalds, Costa and Greggs.

Ha-ha....They do exist and i've been working as one for the past 6 odd years....but i left the job 8 weeks ago to work for a mate who owns and ran a small bike shop on his own for the past two years as he needed the help and anyway.....I was getting kinda fed up doing the same job 5-6 days a week for the past 6 years even if it was working wi chocolate and fillings and other willy wonka stuff, nae oompa-loompas though - they're just fantasy but i did have a gaggle of 4 girls, all around 21ish who were a good laugh to work with.

I used to work as a speciality chocolatier at [url= http://www.thecocoabeancompany.com/ ]The Cocoa Bean Co[/url] on the A75 between Castle Douglas and Kirroughtree, i'm sure many folk on here have stopped in on their way or return from the trails at Kirroughtree, i made 130 odd different types of filled chocs with all varieties of chocolate from 90% speciality, single source cocoa beans (boutique) dark chocolate to your bog standard white chocolate that i do not consider to be a chocolate as the cocoa content is less than 30% and white chocolate is for kids only imho. I preferred the single source milk and dark chocolate to work with as i could get a mirror/shiny finish on my chocs, I still help them out when they need it as i was Claire's first employee really, she started it in her garage as a hobby 8 years ago and it's grown massively over the past few years to a purpose built factory and workshop, It's xmas season and we make for Harrods, Boots, Waitrose, John Lewis group, Royal Yacht Britannia, Debenhams, upmarket delis etc..etc..and probably just about every other big retailer you can name so it's kinda hectic out there at the moment and as i only work a few days in the bike shop i don't mind helping them out when i have a day off, i worked an extra 36hrs hours last week for the xmas orders and also designing new chocs/designs/flavours for the coming season.

S'funny but i don't really like chocolate all that much?, don't get me wrong i don't mind it but i can't remember the last time i ever bought/ate a choccy bar/sweetie,biscuit was?....I guess when you are working with it all day and constantly tasting it to check whether it's in temper or not and sampling the fillings to make sure they are ok you never want to eat the stuff. All hand made stuff by the way - no production machines or mechanisation - quality before quantity everytime.

On the reasoning above regarding why i don't eat chocolate outside work i'd hate to work in a distillery 😀

Id hate to be a gynaecologist for just the same reasons 😉

Its nice to have a "portfolio" of jobs too.

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nearly the end of page one with no mention of whether or not he also packs fudge / fudge packer

this forum aint what it used to be !!!!!!

I once met a guy in a pub who was a ....errm I can't remember the name of his job but he made nice diamonds out of rocks pulled out of the ground. He was one of those chaps who spends three months looking at a rock before hitting it with a chisel in *just* the right place.

Very interesting chap indeed. The stuff he knew about gems was impressive.

Howe is this relevant? Errm dunno.

interesting stuff Somafunk. Don't diss white chocolate though!

Sorry Keveves this is gonna upset you big style but i will stand by my statement that white chocolate has absolutely no place in my choccy repertoire 😀 , unless i pipe it on for decoration or use as a swirl to colour a mould before moulding a shell to be filled with a single estate dark chocolate, preferably of 70 -75% cocoa as that is the perfect ratio of bitterness to complement a dark sweet cherry ganache filling.

So. Erm. Does your former company require testers? I will grudgingly put myself forward as a volunteer.

I love chocolate! I love it so much I could live off it and never eat anything else..ever! so I don't have it very often 🙁
But I want some now.. I dream of the land of chocolate..

jeesus I want some chocolate now!

I just ate some christmas chocolate decorations in desperation.

...oh the shame.

Anyway. I will wait patiently for a STW discount code, for the Cocoa Bean Co, to appear 8)

work for a mate who owns and ran a small bike shop on his own for the past two years

Grand daughter won her age group Easter comp @ the Cocoa Bean 😀

And to think when i'm working wi the stuff i must throw away approx 200g of the finest stuff each day along with countless samples that require me to take a teeny nibble out of to check the chocolate is tempered correctly....sorry folks - i've been complacent with my work, i apologise profusely and from now on if i'm working with chocolate i'll treat it with the due deference it so obviously deserves after reading your pleas and cries.

😉

and to think when i'm working wi the stuff i must throw away approx 200g of the finest stuff each day along with countless samples that require me to take a teeny nibble out of to check the chocolate is tempered correctly....sorry folks

😡

That's right trekster, kenny here, i used to own a blue singlespeed soulcraft, i still do but it's broken and i now own a cove hummer.

Well done to your grand daughter, i hope she got loads of chocolate 😀 , the kids chocolate workshops are very popular wi the visitors, they can have 300/400 kids a day in the summer holidays through the workshops.

bastard! I really want some nice smooth chocolate. You're a ****, d'you know that?

Anyway. I will wait patiently for a STW discount code, for the Cocoa Bean Co, to appear

I guess i could arrange that for subscribers to the magazine?, enough mtb'rs stop in as it's on the way to Kirroughtree on the A75 and does good food and coffee in the large open plan cafe, Ti'z also good for kids n' mum as the kids can do a chocolate workshop for an hr then spend a few hrs playing on the indoor and outdoor activities, mum can sit n' chill, dad can head off on the bike to ride the trails at Kirroughtree as they're only a 20min drive away.

Sorry Keveves, it probably doesn't help to say i have a KG of hand rolled milk, dark (and white )truffles in the kitchen does it?. 😀

I'm going to bed 🙁

Some virtual chocs for you to enjoy 😉

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Xmas display, the martini glass is 3ft high

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One of the cabinets full of chocs

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I'm getting my hair cut t'morn at a mates salon so i always make the girls a box of chocs, seeing as it's their xmas party on friday i've made them a 1 KG box, a mixture of milk Cheesecake cups in the outer two trays - 34% cocoa chocolate cups with crumbly biscuit base and topped with various cheesecake flavoured fillings and in the middle tray from the top, Banoffee, Toffee Barrel, Gin Fizz, Coffee bean 3 layer macchiato cylinder made with real espresso, Milk latte and finally Strawberry and Marshmallow vanilla 3 layer cylinders.

Enjoy 😀

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*goes to wipe himself down*

*finds concept of Jamie wiping himself down uncomfortably and strangely alluring*

I'm reporting that post

The sales rep for one of the high end chocolate makers used to be my next door neighbour, when he left we inherited his sample store. Unfortunately it has all gone now.

I'm reporting that post

Too late. I already have.

Banhammer - BRING ME SALVATION!

I'm hoping if I keep saying nice things about Somafunk he will send me some free samples...

....I will even cut his hair 8)

I'm starting to worry for my safety now.........."Click....Locks door..... drops blinds....switches off lights....sits in the dark".

😯

WHY WON'T YOU LET ME CUT YOUR HAIR!

*buys bowl and secateurs*

Turning the lights off won't help.. And you should have locked the door half an hour earlier..
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NOW GIVE US SOME ****ing CHOCOLATE!!!..

Best thread on here this week. 😀

somafunk - agree 100% with you on white chocolate. Without any liqour it's just fatty sugar. That said I am partial to a bit now and then - think it's the memories of being 5.

Did you ever make a dark chocolate shell filled with blue cheese? Tried one in Poland and they are actually pretty amazing. Not sure on the shelflife though!!

Just about to place an order for 2000+ chocolate moulds myself - we produce on a slightly different scale.

Go confectionery!!!

Heh, small world, I used to live just down the road from Twynholm, been in the shop/play area plenty of times with my young cousins and grandparents. Amazing how much the place has grown.

Gotta say, chocolatier and bike shop mechanic is a pretty decent skill set 😀

my mum is a chocolatier and makes them for harrods, thorntons and other hi end retailers. she makes me some special ones for christmas.... yuuuuummmmm

*adds nasher's mum to the '[s]to stalk[/s] begging letter' list*

Jamie - Member
*adds nasher's mum to the 'to stalk begging letter' list*

was about to mention that my wife is also a chocolatier - but I won't now

was about to mention that my wife is also a chocolatier - but I won't now

Too late.

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My wife is also a chocolatier. She adores working with it but like you somafunk isn't all that partial to eating it herself. She is angered however by my love of peanut M&M's.

Christ. Is everyone a fudging chocolatier?

I thought Somafunk was the only one.

It's a bit like an AA meet. First you have to admit you are a chocolatier before you can do something about it.

Its all about who you know Jamie 🙂

Whilst it might seem ideal, as Somafunk says now is a very busy time and my wife is stressed to the eyeballs getting all the orders ready for christmas - one large G&T will be ready once they're all delivered.

Drooling all over the keyboard now.

"Click [url= http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/misc/smiley-vault-misc-152.gi f" target="_blank">http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/misc/smiley-vault-misc-152.gi f"/> [/img][/url] , is it safe to come out yet?.....it's getting a bit crowded in here as it seems another 4 chocolatiers have taken refuge in my panic room" - we've started to argue about the merits of hand tempering on marble vs machine tempering and chocolate is about to slung at each other.

teacake : , yeah, i have made some rather unusual combinations - one of my favs is marbled dark chocolate and stewed beetroot fresh cream ganache truffles, rolled in very fine crumbled goats cheese - they sound odd but believe me they taste abso****inlutely amazing, they have that sort of taste that makes you jump up and down in your seat with surprise whilst pulling a "Mmmmmmmmmmore please" face, fresh cream truffles have to be eaten within hours of making them though so i only make them for special occasions, One of my fav quick n' easy recipes to make at home is oven baked whole almonds, rolled in semi-melted high quality caramel when still fairy hot, cooled enough to stay in a workable shape and sprinkled in maldon sea salt when almost set and encased in either milk or dark chocolate or drizzle the melted chocolate over them on a tray. It's quite easy to eat rather a lot of these.

Where do you produce?, who for? - we do all the major retailers and the girls have just finished a run of 40,000 chocolate moulded snowmen for boots, see my post back on page 1 wi the martini glass in it? - the snowmen are at the bottom - it took the 4 girls weeks to make them as the moulds only held 4 snowmen at a time (50 moulds/200 snowmen a run) and you hand to hand/finger paint the snowmans white bits on first then fill wi chocolate and turn 'n tumble on the spinny/windmill machine for ages.

whatnobeer : Where did you stay? Gatehouse?. Yeah claire has done really well, i started wi her 6/7 years ago just planning to help her out out for a few weeks as i wasn't working at the time nor looking for a job either, it was just claire, myself and one other girl with two packers, her first big xmas order came in when she was up in her old house and working out of the semi converted garage/workshop, she got an order in from John Lewis for large chocolate decorated stars and it was quite a shock...."they want how many?....by when?", needless to say we got them done with very long 12hr days/7days a week and i remember melting the chocolate in the aga in the house and counting the minutes/seconds down as one minute to much and the chocolate would be knackered and useless, then running across to the workshop wi a bain-marie of chocolate and filling the tiny tempering machines we had back then, back across to the aga wi more solid chocolate to melt seems strange that was only a few years ago but the business has just grown and grown silly amounts since then, our new factory is only 2 years old but we need more space already, and the kids workshops and car park is packed out at all holiday times - i guess chocolate is recession proof as everyone considers it a justifiable treat.

So c'mon all you chocolatiers?, show us your fav filled chocolates or recipes, i'm sure the stw'ers would just love to be taunted some more 😀

have taken refuge in my panic room

Panic room, eh?

*gets the big drill*

Here's my favourite of what my wife produces, nothing like as fancy and technically adept as the work that somafunk does. A plain chocolate bar with whole roasted cashews, crystalised ginger and dried cranberries.

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I call it WYSIWYG chocolate, all flavours are there for you to see before you bite into it, no mystery about what the filling will be and whether you will like it.

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mangoridebike - basically like a big mondian. Nice

atlaz - yep, she does wee ones too, but I'm a fan of the larger ones, for obvious reasons 🙂

buzz-lightyear - Member

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