One of the world's best chocolate creation companies is located in West Chester, yielding unique products that enable enthusiasts to partake in delightful taste-testing and cultural trips around the globe with each bite.
Eating chocolate also releases a feel-good neurotransmitter into particular regions of the brain. Master Chocolatier Christopher Curtin, owner of artisanal company Éclat Chocolate in West Chester, is more than pleased to share his art and 20-plus years of experience to make customers even happier -- especially during February, the month of love. For gifts, he assures they will have heart-shaped boxes available for preselected chocolate assortments of nine, 16 or 25 pieces.
Éclat chocolate satisfies fans near and far. At presstime, Éclat confections even were being shipped to Japan, and Christopher says other chocolate companies continue to copy their creative methods and executions.
"Chocolate is extremely interesting, design-wise, in overall food creation," reveals Christopher. "The countries of origin for chocolate, and the people involved, are captivating. Many of them are third- or fourth-generation farmers, and they understand why I want to create specialties with their crops."
As a bean-to-bar chocolatier, he says he enjoys securing different varieties and sizes of cacao beans, and especially seeks out farmers and sources for hybrids or beans grown in the wild. In fact, he has personal relationships with cacao farmers in far-off locations, such as Mexico, Peru, West Africa, Bolivia and Nicaragua, and has cultivated a well-honed and large network of distributors who know he likes exclusive beans. He's frequently visited many farms to hand-select or test beans.
"Oftentimes, I start with a select taste or texture I'd like to achieve and work backward to determine the best fresh ingredients to combine. Being American born and European trained, I don't apply limits to imagination. We also have single-origin bars, and we sometimes age our beans for up to a year before using them in quality ways," says the chocolate-maker who's been headquartered from West Chester for 17 years.
Starting from his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, Christopher then trained at the House of les Compagnons du Devoir, the premier guild for pastry chefs in France. He says he worked alongside the best journeyman pastry chefs in Europe and became the first American to be awarded the honor of German Master Pastry Chef and Chocolatier in Cologne, Germany.
"I also was influenced by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, a fellow Wisconsin native, who had an organic approach to designing, sort of mid-century modern flair. I'm always seeking to improve the experience that consumers have with our chocolates," says Christopher, who adds that they deliberately chose West Chester from which to reside and work, due to its certain style of Old-World charm.
It takes approximately 400 cocoa beans to make a pound of chocolate. Christopher typically selects from the top 5% of one of the world’s rarest and most prized cacao crops to create bars that marry the purity and smoothness of the chocolate with the earthy appeal of the beans’ deliciously bitter cocoa nibs.
"I like to produce whimsical flavors," Christopher admits. "And bars or pieces that have two flavors in one so consumers can have fun with them. Like our Good & Evil Nibs, which are super silky from our direction but honestly raw cocoa flavor from another."
He says he also pays attention to creating different textures and shapes, while using various styles of roasting the beans. "I think about what story I want each small piece to tell."
One aspect of which Christopher is especially proud is that they were among the first U.S. chocolate companies to deliberately use plant-based elements, such as beets, to airbrush their chocolates with a variety of hues. "They are a milder color, which blend completely into the flavors of the chocolate. It makes our chocolate exotic, yet very approachable. We also use only clear trays to not contaminate the chocolates' exquisite flavors through a point of contact," he adds.
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Fun Fact: The first candy chocolate bar was invented in Britain during 1847 by Joseph Fry and his son.
ÉCLAT HOT CHOCOLATE RECIPE
Éclat Hot Chocolate base:
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups Éclat Dark Chocolate
- 1 tablespoon Éclat Cocoa Powder
Preparation
- Bring milk to a boil. Infuse milk with desired spices or herbs (recommendations follow). All herbs should be infused into the milk and strained before the chocolate and cocoa powder is added. When working with dried and fresh herbs, always re-measure after straining to make sure you have the proper amount of liquid. For an even better hot chocolate, use an electric hand mixer or whisk to add foam into the hot chocolate before serving. The fresh herbs should be added when the cream is at its hottest and steep like you would any tea. This is also a great time to adjust the amount of flavor.
- After straining hot milk, pour slowly into the cocoa powder and whisk vigorously until there are no more lumps.
- Melt chocolate in bowl.
- Pour 1/3 of the liquid into the melted chocolate. Mix so as to obtain a smooth, elastic and shiny texture, then pour the rest of the liquid while making sure to preserve this texture, and strain into a pan.
- Heat the chocolate mixture just before a boil, whipping vigorously to obtain a light and creamy froth.
Possible herbs and spices for infusing into a hot chocolate: Lemon mint, chocolate mint, rosemary, thyme, fresh ginger, dried herbs, cinnamon, lavender, Earl Grey tea, Aleppo Chili, Peruvian Aji Panca Chili, Balinese long pepper, allspice, star anise, cardamom, sichuan peppercorn or a pinch of salt. For a cocktail version, Chris recommends adding a splash of rum to this finished beverage.