Thursday, June 20, 2013

Chocolate? Yes, please!

When Matt and I had our date night, we went into a wonderful chocolate store. As we were checking out, I noticed brochures for their chocolate factory tours just down the road! Well, who could pass that up? Not me! So, one mid morning, Aunt Grace and I took Hotrod and Princess.

Oh! What a treat!



Really....need I say anything to this picture?

Unknowing to Grace and I, hairnets are a must for factory tours.


No worries! We rocked those hairnets! I mean sexy! Woohoo! We even had to cross the street like this to enter the factory! 


We started off with a god bit of education on chocolate and how to discern the differences between the different types from ingredients to textures.


Rocking that hairnet, Aunt Grace!


We were first allowed to smell straight cocoa beans.


 Then we were given a wafer of white chocolate. Isn't she cute in a hairnet? ;)

When tasting chocolate, you are to look at it first to determine the color. Then you are to smell it.




You then put it in your mouth and snap off a piece. The darker the chocolate, the more it snaps because of the cocoa content. Cool!


Then you allow it to melt on your tongue to determine the texture. Hotrod raised his hand and said that the white chocolate was more bumpy. He was right! The higher sugar content in the white chocolate makes it more grainy.


(Is it just me or does anyone else want to turn their mouth up to this spigot?) 

We then moved into the actual factory. We did not know it at the time, but in the process of showing us how everything worked, they made us each a piece of chocolate! 


Filling the shell molds with just the right amount...


What a job!


This is a cool, cast-iron, caramel table! They put up guard rails, fill the table with hot or cold water, and then pour on the caramel or toffee. The temperature of the water determines how fast or slow the candy hardens.



Here are our shells! He then places them into this machine that wraps them individually.







Down the shoot!


Hotrod was asked to pass them out. ;)


That man looks very satisfied with his job! 


Finally! The dark chocolate!


We had to pose with Lucy!


Cocoa beans!


With the tour, each adult received a two dollar coupon for the store. You can't let that go to waste! So we all got a Frozen Hot Chocolate. Not bad!!


We had fun! What was next? Alligators!

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