Business Buddies

I don't know if you've noticed or not, but when you become involved in something, or interested in something, don't you find yourself gravitating towards that subject, or going the extra mile to promote or support it?That's how I feel about small businesses. My husband Brad and I are both self-employed. He is a truly genius photographer who seems to enchant everyone he meets, and I, as you know, am a chocolatier and dessert fanatic :) Since we both rely on the good will, support and loyalty of our customers and friends, we often seek out independents to help spread the "supporting karma" of small biz owners everywhere! Like if we eat out, we do our best to find independent restaurants instead of going to a chain, or if we shop, we do farmers' markets and local boutiques if at all possible.

It just so happened the last couple weeks have surrounded me with the glow of small business owners, specifically, women business owners. Last week I participated in the Kossuth County Fair (had a quaint little spot selling baked goods and showcasing some of Brad's photos!), and shared a space with Nancy, who co-owns Colors (a Diamond Vogel paint and design store) with her husband, and who is also a talented designer and uplifting gal to be around. She is contagiously enthusiastic and thinks outside the box, turning ordinary objects into extraordinary works of art! (*also, lucky us, she's helping design the new photography studio and chocolate/dessert cafe! more info to come later...but be excited...very excited!)

Another gal I LOVE to be around is Kim, owner of Allure Salon. We just celebrated National Cupcake Day together. She hosted fantastic product specials and offered knowledgeable advice as well as free cupcakes (oh yes...customized cupcakes...chocolate cake with Italian buttercream, decorated to reflect the colors and mood of Allure!)

Kim just had her 5-yr anniversary of owning Allure, and her customers can't seem to get enough of her! Besides being a business owner, she is talented in the art of hair cut, color and styling, a nail extraordinaire as well as formally educated in make up application, specifically, Mirabella makeup. And if she wasn't busy enough, she is also one of The Chocolate Season's best customers :)

And lastly, a newbie in the small business world is Amanda, a Mary Kay consultant. By day she is a new mom, wife, teacher and friend, by night, she makes the world beautiful, one lucky lady at a time :) I helped host one of her parties last night and some lovely friends (thanks Clarissa, Laura and Sara!) came and helped support Amanda in her business. And what party is complete without chocolate?
So I thought I'd chip in and make 2 oh-so-yummy pavés (pa-vae) which is a chocolate sponge cake, soaked in caramel soaking syrup, layered with chocolate caramel ganache and diced apricots and then covered again, in chocolate ganache. (its supposed to look like a French paving stone...)Yum-o. :)
Just wanted to wish you the best of luck Amanda, thanks for being so attentive to everyone's needs, you'll do great!!!

So guess this post is getting a bit long. If you'd like any more information on any of these ladies, drop me a line! From hair, to make up to perfect design advice, these girls can help you out! (And don't get me wrong, these are not the only talented business owners I love...I love you all! From Icon, to The Market, Dario's, Tangles, Creative Design Concepts....the list goes on and on....hopefully I get to highlight them all soon!)

And before I end this entry, I did want to let you in on some super awesome news...yours truly will be an officially published pastry chic! Look forward to the Sept/Oct issue of Pastry and Baking North America where you will find your favorite Marbled Cheesecake Brownies turned into a fresh yet classic, plated dessert! I will tell you all about the components and show you pictures in our next post...so stay tuned :0)

PSS- completely random...a couple weeks ago we did a "manly" but whimsical Huskers cake for a dear client of mine, Anne, who ordered her favorite thing...chocolate cake with cookies n' cream filling and American buttercream....her favorite statement? "Anne? are there cookies in this cake?!!! Yummmmmmmmmmm!" love ya Anne!

Fun & Festive Treats

I love holidays. Its a wonderful way for the family to get together, celebrate a worthwhile occasion, and provides an absolutely splendid excuse to invent something new in the kitchen and get immediate feedback!!! :0)
My holiday started off with a chilly morning parade and continued on for the Jensens' 2nd annual wine, chocolate and cheese luncheon! (Thanks to Mary and myself for starting this tradition!!!) We picked out some delightful cheeses from Whole Foods, had some salami (i think...Rod would know what it was we ate!) *ha ha ha* sparkling white wine, lovely raspberry wine, dark chocolate and my first creation of the day, Pate a choux with Grand Marnier Mousseline, sandwiched with strawberry compote! yummmmmmm
If you'd like to try your hand at the mousseline, it is truly the best filling ever....use it on fruit, in pastries, on a brownie or heck, eat it with a bagel!!! (if you'd like to omit the alcohol, just add some OJ)

Grand Marnier Mousseline:

10 oz milk

zest of one orange

3 egg yolks

120gr sugar

25 gr cornstarch

115 gr butter, cut into small chunks

1.5- 3 oz Grand Marnier (depending on desired thickness)

1 tsp gelatin and 1 TB water

4 oz heavy cream

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Let stand until ready to incorporate into the pastry cream.
Bring the milk to a boil with the orange zest. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until pale. Slowly pour a small amount of milk over it while whisking vigoursly (to temper your eggs and reduce curdling)Make sure all your ingredients incorporate smoothly and then continue to add the rest of the milk.

Return the whole thing over medium heat and cook until thick for about 5-10 minutes. (carefully watch it and stir, scraping bottom, with spoon, don't let it boil, and if you see lumps, take off heat right away)

Remove from the heat (if you're feeling nervous about curdling, just push through a mesh strainer into a bowl!) add the butter and the Grand Marnier. In a microwave, dissolve the gelatin for 15 seconds. Quickly mix into the pastry cream. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (make it touch the cream so it does not let a skin form on top) and refrigerate until cold.

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks and gently fold it in the pastry cream.
Use as desired! Have fun!!!

Well, after the luncheon, it was too cold for pool time at the farm, so we went home and got ready for Steve's 4th of July party/BBQ. I had a ton of fun creating this next treat, a Raspberry Charlotte. This cake is light but creamy with a mixture of textures. I hand-piped sponge cake batter into two rounds and a set of lady fingers, made a raspberry cream mousse and a hazelnut dacquoise for the center.

To assemble, line torte ring with ladyfingers brushed with a raspberry puree/sugar syrup mixture, lay down one sponge brushed with syrup, pipe in some raspberry mousse, layer dacquoise, and another sponge brushed with syrup, top with fresh raspberries, and finally finish with the rest of raspberry mousse. Let set for 2 hrs and top with a mixture of berries!

This is probably one of my favorite things so far this summer! :0) I just love creating new desserts and then, of course, trying a bite!

(PS-thank you to Rod and Mary for a lovely holiday, full of parades, LOTS of food, family and fun, and of course, no 4th is complete without our trip to the fireworks show!!)

Also to help you celebrate summer, I created a Box o' Fun chocolate assortment that features both Bejeweled and Hand-dipped Chocolates, for the best of both worlds. And to sweeten the deal, every box size of this assortment is 15% off. So go ahead, indulge the last days of summer and let The Chocolate Season help you do it!!

Perfect Pairs

Some things in life always seem to come in pairs.....a pair of socks or shoes, a salt and pepper shaker, even things like ice cream and a cone. Same goes for life in the chocolate world. Just seems funny how we've had a couple duplicate orders in the last couple weeks...starting with two separate requests for one-piece favors to be tied with black ribbon (this is unusual as we don't normally carry black, but will special-order colors).
One set of favors was for a rehearsal dinner, which included the ever-so-popular milk chocolate mudball, and this favor was perfectly finished with a custom printed label. Not but a week later, the Magnolia Hotel was hosting a wedding reception and requested a variety of one-piece bejeweled truffles, with no truffle cup, and black ribbon.
That same week we had two PINK celebration cakes requested. One was for a long-time Chocolate Season customer, Robin, for her anniversary. She requested a cute, lil' 6-inch chocolate cake, with chocolate/caramel whipped ganache and American buttercream. Her wedding colors had been pink and burgundy, but with thoughts of summer, we opted for a completely pink cake! :) She said it was a big hit, and I was thrilled to please such a loyal friend and customer! (*thanks Robin!!!)*
The other celebration cake was for fellow Chi Omega sister, Angela, and her beautiful 1-yr old daughter, Helen. Requested was a very "girly" cake that had a dominant pink theme, with accents of white and purple. The cake was a 9-inch and 6-inch white cake with citrus simple syrup, torted with strawberry puree and strawberry Italian buttercream, iced with American buttercream and covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. We also included a 4-inch smash cake for Helen to dig into, which mimicked the larger cake, minus the fondant (we didn't think a baby could easily dig into that!) I loved how this cake turned out, and was super excited to present it to Angela, who also loved it! (*Thanks so much to Angela for this fun and creative opportunity!*)

And lastly, my other perfect pair for the month was Scott and Sara. They had their wedding in Okoboji, IA on June 14th, and the day couldn't have been more lovely. Brad took the wedding photos (as well the engagement photos below) and yes, sara, I've already had a sneak peek at the wedding pics and they are divine!!!! Can't wait to post more about the beautiful wedding and more importantly, what a beautiful and perfect pair this couple makes. They really do complete each other in a multitude of ways and I am so pysched to have Scott as an official part of the family! :)
Hope to write more later about some upcoming specials...but just thought I'd share all the fun pairs we've had in the last couple weeks! And if you're ever in need of your own favors, celebration cakes or just a day of sweet delights, then stop by The Chocolate Season...we'd love to help make any day a special one!

Some Cakes, Chocolates, and Crashing...oh my!

oops! late again with my blogging :) i guess that's good we've been so busy though...thanks to wonderfully loyal and always "sweet" customers like you!
Well, since our last post, the Low-Sugar Luxe Collection launched and can be found on the web site, readily available for you to enjoy, and just in time for swimsuit season! :P

Also in the works, we had our first set of solid chocolate bars come out for consumer-testing, and will hopefully be featuring those in the next couple weeks!

This last month was full of wedding fun, special requests for graduations and some celebration cakes. I had the awesome opportunity to work with the Werner family for daughter Lyndsie's wedding, and we had so much fun with their 2-piece chocolate boxes, filled with a sea-salt caramel and the honey-cranberry-amaretto truffle, accented by a custom ordered pink transfer sheet and special ivory boxes with green ribbon and tulle. Becky and Lyndsie are absolute dolls, and they truly made my April and May memorable :)

For graduation we had a fun request for a "vintage" treat, and provided Sue with a wonderful array of chocolate-dipped dried fruit for her daughter's party. Friends Abby and Zach Meyer celebrated Zach's medical school graduation with various treats, including a chocolate cake, filled with strawberry mousse, and covered in Italian buttercream. We went for a "scrub-colored blue gray" icing, and medical-related fondant accents :)

Another fun cake was for a bridal shower, with red and white being the main colors. We had a white cake with strawberry mousse, iced in American buttercream and had fondant flower accents for a light-hearted and friendly summer shower cake!A super fun bridal shower took place at the school house, and it was for my very own sister, Sara. Crystal, Amanda and myself hosted (BTW-crystal and amanda are the BEST hostesses ever!) and Sara's other bridesmaids, Shanna and Kelsey made sure the day ran smoothly, and made it a great day filled with a high-heeled cookie decorating contest, lots of cookies, chocolate and Nicole's famous scotcharoos, presents, and fun facts about the bride and groom! I can't wait for the wedding in just a couple weeks!!!!! (PS- we sure miss bridesmaid Lizzie who's in FL...i'm so excited to hug you soon!)

Among these custom orders, we've had fun with everyday orders, as well as thoughtful gifts delivered for Mother's Day. It's you, our friends and customers, that make every day exciting and unexpected...and for that, we thank you!!

On a side note, we did suffer a technical loss with the failure of a laptop hard drive. This hard drive had been backed up in several areas, but many areas were not. This was an emotional and stressful event for us, but there is a silver lining to this really big and wretched cloud! One of our customers, Aaron Shaddy, President of Plum Root Technology, offered to try to retrieve lost information, and even sent our hard drive out to CA in hopes for recovery. Sadly, it was unreadable, but having a customer go out of his way (and trust me, he's a busy guy!) to help, free of charge, made the whole situation bearable, and even made me smile. I am still in awe of this act of kindness, and wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks to him and his wonderful family.

And this only goes to show what great people and small business owners we can find in our own back yard. So take a moment and learn more about Plum Root Technology, and all the services they provide: (systems design, administration and maintenance, protection of digital assets and basically ANYTHING to do with technology problems and solutions!!) *these guys rock*

More to follow in the next couple weeks, and thanks to you for a memorable May! :)

A New Collection!

It's been quite the week recovering from an amazing chocolate conference in Canada! I met so many wonderful people, learned new skills and theories, (like using an airbrush, as seen below) and thought of a ton of more equipment i want to buy! *uh-oh!* :P
But it was such a fun experience, and even inspired some new recipe ideas as well as the little push needed to perhaps make some toffee for a monthly special? (i know a couple gals in alaska that would be pretty excited about that!)
This week did mark the close of one my favorite memories from 2009 thus far, which would be the Chocolate Exhibit at Durham museum. I was given the opportunity to sell at their gift shop and met some very friendly volunteers as well as many visitors eager to learn all about chocolate! (which, if you've ever met me, you know i could talk for DAYS about chocolate!)
As I've blogged before, I venturing into bread just for fun, and here are some of my latest creations...a chocolate rum ganache brioche

and a brioche braid filled with almond cream and fresh raspberries!
Lastly, as promised, the new Low-Sugar Luxe Collection is now available! These indulgent lil' truffles are so decadent, you'll never guess they are made completely from France's finest sugar-free chocolate....and if you'd like to read more about these luxurious treats and what makes them so special, check them out on-line!
Thanks again for all your sweet comments and fun suggestions, I always love hearing from you, so don't hesitate to drop me a line!

S'more posts please! :)

Hello hello! Here's a quick recap of the last month...and I promise, you'll be receiving "s'more" posts soon on the happenings at The Chocolate Season!!
This Easter was fabulous, I couldn't believe how big a hit these eggs were! You all went crazy for the painted milk, dark and white eggs...I couldn't tell if it was because they were so pretty? or because they came with your favorite treat...white mudballs inside! But your comments and suggestions were the inspiration for this special, so we'll make sure to do something like this again next year!

Also had some fun with my sorority sisters at Chi Omega's Eleusinia. We made some cardinal and straw-themed bejeweled truffles as a part of the table centerpieces and also donated some nostalgic caramels and the most adorable Chi-o celebration cake ever! It was a chocolate cake torted with chocolate caramel ganache, iced in Italian buttercream and covered in marshmallow fondant with a chocolate wrap accent. We also made some edible fondant owls, fondly named Roger and Lulu :) It was fun reuniting with Chi-o alum and active members, as well as my beautiful sorority family: felicia, hannah and jena (julie is also my lil' sis, but still in africa, and we're anxiously awaiting her return!)

In the kitchen, I've been having some good times experimenting with artisan breads (this one was slashed a bit too deep...resulting in a "knobby" look!) :P and with tarts, making a chocolate raspberry tart, and also my new favorite, nutella s'mores tart.

It's a sweet tart dough, layered with nutella, baked chocolate ganache topped with hazelnuts and then finished with a uber-yummy marshmallow icing! This icing is fabulous on graham crackers, tarts, or cupcakes, and can be "torched"! (i love torching anything and everything if possible!) If you want to try it at home, here's the recipe:
Marshmallow Icing:
1 1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 T. corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup mini marshmallows

combine the first 4 ing. together in a glass or metal bowl. use a double boiler (get a pot of water, fill 1/2 way, and put at a simmer. place mixing bowl on top of pot of water (you don't want the bowl to touch the water though) keep it at a simmer, and start beating the mixture with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. (this will take several minutes...and stiff peaks will be like if you're beating, then turn off your mixer, and left up the beaters, a peak will form in the bowl, and if the tip of the peak doesn't flop over, then you're good to go!)

mix in the mini marshmallows and vanilla, continue to stir or beat till combined. let cool to room temp then you can pipe with a ziplock baggy or piping bag, or just spread on the top of the tart with a knife. if you have a blow torch, i love to "torch" the icing for that browned effect, but its still great without the torch!

So, I hope you take some time to add a little bit of sweetness to your life, and look forward soon to a post about the launching of our sugar-free truffle line before Mother's Day, a fabulous and "slightly floral" gift for your mom, ideas for your graduate, and some fun pictures from Easter weekend with the fam!

A Reason to Celebrate...

The Chocolate Season has been super busy! Thank you so much for all your support the last couple months, your loyalty alone is reason for us to celebrate with a bite of chocolate! But if you need a reason at home to celebrate, why not take life's little joys and make it a memorable occasion with your own celebration cake?

That's what a few clients did a couple weeks ago, starting with a girly princess cake for a Abby's 1-yr birthday. The requirements were frilly, pink and purple and I think we accomplished that! The cake also featured a smash cake so that Abby could completely immerse herself in chocolate cake with american buttercream and cookies n' cream filling!
Another option for cakes is a traditional torted 9-inch layer cake, with a not-so-traditional spin on flowers as decoration. This 4-layer chocolate cake with filling and covered in (my favorite) Italian buttercream, was requested to feature bright pink and blue...the rest was up to us! But I heard that 10-yr-old Noel loved her birthday cake and that is was the hit of her birthday party!Lastly, if you just need a special cake to make an ordianary day extraordinary, than try our chocolate raspberry merlot cake with fudge icing and sugared rose petals. Mark used this cake for a dinner party and his parents and relatives from California just raved about it!

Besides being busy with cakes, the Durham Museum Chocolate Exhibit is going wonderfully and The Chocolate Season products have been selling like hot cakes! I've already gone to the exhibit twice, and I recommend trying out this colorful, interactive and truly fascinating learning experience! And if you need one more reason to go, I'll be there the 21st and 22nd handing out samples from 1-4 pm :)

So take this time to find a reason to celebrate life, and help us make that reason something memorable!!
http://www.thechocolateseason.com

PS- our first trial run of the low sugar truffles were wonderfully received. We're looking at a few flavors like dark chocolate vanilla, chai tea, espresso, lavender, and maybe one or two more. All made with sugar free chocolate, and flavored with organic agave nectar, resulting in a chocolate that has less than 2 grams of sugar in it!