Chocolatier facts for kids

A chocolatier's shop in Grenoble, France.

A chocolatier carefully making chocolate eggs.

Fun hollow chocolate figures for special holidays.

A chocolatier (say "shok-oh-la-tee-ay") is a skilled person who makes delicious treats using chocolate. They create all sorts of chocolate candies, desserts, and even amazing chocolate sculptures.

It's important to know that a chocolatier is different from a chocolate maker. A chocolate maker starts with cacao beans and other ingredients to create the actual chocolate. A chocolatier then takes that chocolate and turns it into wonderful edible art!

Becoming a Chocolatier

Skilled chocolatiers can craft beautiful and delicious pieces of chocolate.

How do people learn to become chocolatiers? Many years ago, especially in Europe, chocolatiers learned their skills by working as an apprentice. This means they trained with an experienced chocolatier. Today, many people also start as pastry chefs or go to special schools just for chocolate.

Being a master chocolatier means you are really good at working with chocolate. You learn to make tasty desserts and also amazing art pieces from chocolate. Chocolatiers need to understand how chocolate works. They study its science and how it changes with heat. This helps them create perfect chocolates, sculptures, and decorations. It takes many years of practice to master both the art and the science of chocolate.

Where to Learn Chocolate Skills

There are many schools where you can learn to be a chocolatier. Some are special chocolate schools, like the Ecole Chocolat Professional School of Chocolate Arts in Canada. The Chocolate Academy has twelve schools around the world. The French Culinary Institute also offers courses in pastry and candy making. These courses can help someone learn the chocolatier trade.

In these programs, students learn many interesting things, such as:

• The long history of chocolate.
• Modern ways to grow and process cacao beans.
• The science behind chocolate's flavors and textures.
• How to melt and cool chocolate correctly (this is called tempering).
• How to dip, decorate, and mold chocolate into different shapes.
• Recipes for chocolate treats like ganache and fondant.
• Business skills like marketing and how to produce many chocolates.

Chocolate Competitions

A chocolatier carefully making a chocolate tower.

Once a chocolatier has mastered their skills, they might be called a Master Chocolatier. The very best chocolatiers can compete in a big event called The World Chocolate Masters. This competition started in 2005.

Some famous chocolatiers who have competed include Naomi Mizuno from Japan and Francisco Torreblanca from Spain. Naomi Mizuno won the World Chocolate Masters competition in 2007. He was only 28 years old at the time!

The competition judges chocolatiers in several areas:

• Molded pralines (chocolates made in a mold).
• Hand-dipped pralines.
• A special chocolate dessert.
• A small chocolate showpiece (a sculpture).
• A creative chocolate showpiece (a larger, artistic sculpture).

Chocolatier Techniques

Chocolatiers use several special techniques to create their amazing treats:

• Tempering: This is a very important step! Tempering chocolate means heating and cooling it very carefully. This process makes the chocolate shiny and gives it a nice "snap" when you break it. Chocolate contains cocoa butter, which forms crystals. Tempering controls how these crystals form, making the chocolate look and feel perfect.
• Molding: This technique uses liquid chocolate. The chocolatier pours melted chocolate into a mold. Once the chocolate hardens, it takes the shape of the mold. This is how many chocolate bars and figures are made.
• Sculpting: Sculpting means using chocolate to create a piece of art. This can involve using molds, putting pieces of chocolate together, and decorating them with intricate designs. Chocolatiers can make incredible statues and displays entirely out of chocolate!

See also

In Spanish: Chocolatero para niños