About 25 years ago, Roselle resident Pam Vieau took at class on how to make a chocolate box with a chocolate bow just for fun.
“It turned out really well and I thought ‘that’s cool’. I want to do more of this,” she says. Then came a trip to Paris where Vieau visited some of the world’s finest chocolate shops and learned about a chef in New Jersey who taught classes. Her sweet journey continued as she took classes from the chef in New Jersey and just about any other class she could find. Vieau began making her own chocolate creations and teaching classes for others at Wilton Enterprises, Triton College and other locations.
She then was approached by an Elk Grove company who hired her to do research and development for new confectionery mixtures. “I kept learning new things about nut pastes, flavor profiles — I still am learning new things because new things keep happening,” says Vieau.
Although she enjoyed the various challenges of teaching and developing sweets for others, about 10 years ago, Vieau decided it was time to establish her own candy company, and founded Chocolate Inspirations. Currently, about 70 percent of her business is for corporate clients who want chocolate client gifts and 30 percent is wholesale and online chocolate orders. As a talented chocolate artist, she has filled orders for all sorts of things from a life-sized gilded chocolate shoe to a three-dimensional turkey.
One of her biggest challenges was for a client in New York. “This woman was hosting a knock-your-socks-off New Year’s Eve Party. She wanted to give everyone a jeweled chocolate crown filled with truffles. There was 11/2 pounds of chocolate in each crown and a pound of truffles inside each crown. She wanted 150 of them.” Vieau brought in helpers to create a crown assembly line to complete the order. “Then we had to figure out how to ship them. The crown had delicate points on it so it was not an easy task,” she recalls.
Fortunately, Vieau has been blessed with a daughter, Marcy Goetz, who has been willing to step in to help her mom with challenges involving packaging. “I am sales and marketing,” says Goetz who lives in Medinah. “I will do anything but the making. She does all of the chocolate.” Goetz cleverly came up with a way to safely package and ship the crowns which arrived safely and delighted all of the party guests.
Currently, Vieau has 30 different products and does custom orders for weddings, events and corporate clients. One of her most innovative products is her line of vegan confections, which has been popular. Her newest product is Elmore Squrtle, a square caramel and pecan filled chocolate. “Elmore is a turtle who is square instead of round. The idea is to celebrate being different. We plan to donate a percentage of sales to anti-bullying campaigns. ” says Vieau. Her biggest seller is her English toffee, but she has numerous artisan chocolate varieties from Italian orange to bourbon black tea.
In this season of dancing sugarplums, Vieau shares a few tips about adding chocolate to holiday treats. Her first caution is to realize that chocolate chips are not ideal for candy making. “Chocolate chips are formulated NOT to melt. There is very little cocoa butter in them so they don’t melt quickly. They are perfect for cookies but not for candy,” she explains. She suggests looking for higher quality chocolate which can be found at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or on the internet. “Look at the ingredients. If cocoa butter is not the first or second ingredient listed, use a different chocolate,” she suggests.
A good quality ganache can be the start of all sorts of easy-to-make holiday treats according to Vieau. “Ganache is great for dipping strawberries or fruits because it will keep for a few days in the refrigerator,” she begins. The rich chocolate mixture can be used to sandwich together or fill store-bought cooking and turn them into confections. Ganache can be used to fill mini tart shells for a rich, bite-sized dessert. It can also be used to make truffles by just chilling it and rolling it into balls. “You can add finely crushed cookies to the ganache to give it texture when making truffles,” she says. Traditionally, truffles are rolled in cocoa powder but they can also be rolled in nuts or other coatings. She shares a simple recipe for all purpose ganache for holiday treat making.
For a more sophisticated sweet treat, Vieau has developed a salted chocolate champagne caramel sweet shot. This mixture of chocolate, caramel and champagne can be served in a shot glass or a chocolate shot glass for a memorable ending to a meal. She shares the recipe which is easy to make. Goetz says she likes to use the mixture for dipping pretzels or vanilla wafers at parties. Vieau will be participating in the holiday market at Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook on December 16 through 18. Her other products can be found at her website www.chocolateinspirations.com.
Judy Buchenot is a freelance writer.
Holiday Chocolate Ganache
12 ounces quality chocolate
3 tablespoons butter at room temperature
11/4 cups heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Break chocolate into chunks and place in a food processor. Pulse several times to break chocolate into smaller pieces. Add butter to processor. Set aside. Place heavy cream and corn syrup in sauce pan and heat until just boiling. Pour hot cream mixture through a sieve over chocolate and butter in food processor. Process mixture till the mixture is smooth and “satiny” with no lumps. Scrape down sides of processor. Add vanilla or liqueur. Process till blended. Use ganache in several ways.
Chocolate dipped strawberries — Let ganache cool to 86?. Dip clean, dry strawberries into ganache, and place on parchment sheet. Can be rolled in crushed cookies or nuts if desired.
Ganache Sandwich Cookies — Make or purchase your favorite firm holiday cookies. Sandwich two cookies together with ganache.
Panettone with ganache — Slice panettone into thirds, pipe ganache on each layer. Drizzle top lightly with ganache.
Chocolate tarts — Pour or pipe ganache into tart shells. Let stand at room temperature to set for two hours or refrigerate for 1 hour. Garnish as desired.
Chocolate Shells — Let ganache cool to 86?, pipe into chocolate shells. Let stand for two hours at room temperature. Garnish as desired.
Truffles — refrigerate mixture until firm. Roll pieces into balls and coat with cocoa, nuts or toppings.
Salted chocolate champagne caramel sweet shots
13 ounces caramel sauce
6 ounces champagne, divided
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4.5 ounces milk or dark chocolate — chopped
raspberries (optional)
Pam’s Culinary Cue
To make truffles a uniform size, pour the ganache into a shallow pan. Refrigerate until firm. Then cut into equal squares. Roll each square into a ball to make the truffle.
2 tablespoons vanilla or favorite liqueur
chocolate cups (optional)
Pour caramel sauce into a microwaveable bowl. Pour 3 ounces of champagne into the bowl. Heat mixture for 1 minute in microwave. Add chocolate and sea salt. Stir until thoroughly melted and emulsified. Add remaining three ounces of champagne and stir until thoroughly emulsified. Serve in shot glasses or chocolate cups. If desired, place a raspberry in each cup before filling. If using chocolate cups, mixture must not be warmer than 88 degrees. Can be made with sparkling cider or grape juice in place of the champagne. Sweet shots chocolate liqueur cups are available at Chocolate Inspirations website, www.chocolateinspirations.com
