First Day

Well, it is technically the morning after.  I was exhausted last night and couldn't make myself stay up for a few minutes to write.

What did I do yesterday?

I stapeled corrugated cardboard to the front counter in the shop.
I learned how to properly hold a knife when dealing with chocolate.
I chopped a lot of chocolate.
I fiddled with the tempering machine.
I washed dishes.
I helped make almond dragees.
I helped (a little) to make blueberry and pink peppercorn bars.
I learned how to properly hold a scooper.
I scooped ganache into tiny identical balls.

Sounds really easy, right?

Ganache was created by the devil.  It's the creamy chocolate with all of the flavor on the inside of a chocolate truffle.  The basic make-up of ganache is chocolate and cream but you'll also find cocoa butter, glucose, and a few other things depending on what you're making.  Incorporating all of these, you have a thick sauce that you throw in the freezer.

I got it after the freezer.  It is a solid block.  And it takes a lot of pressure and direction to get it into the scooper, pack it in tight, scrape off the excess and pop it out onto a sheet.  I'm lacking the pressure and direction,  so it was like attempting to scoop hard cement.  After a few minutes of this, my playing with the ganache turned it into a soft mush that was impossible to scoop.  My hands were covered in it.  My apron was disgusting.  The scooper was slipping.  About five of the fifty I made were slightly presentable.  Luckily though, I learned to refreeze the ganache then wait a few minutes.  This made scooping easier, particularly once I practiced holding the scooper correctly (many fingers are involved).  But, I still think ganache is awful.

The almond dragees were a lot easier.  Dragee means "sweet little thing." I was handed caramelized almonds and told to freeze them.  Once cold, I mixed in melted dark chocolate and then made sure none of the pieces stuck together.  This was repeated three times.  Once the chocolate covered almonds were set, they are covered in cocoa powder.

For the blueberry pink peppercorn bars, my job was to take the chocolate molds that had been filled with a mixture of chocolate and blueberries, tap it hard on the counter to release all of the bubbles and then spread pink peppercorn on the bottom of each bar.  The job was easy, but I had to work fast to keep up with the molds that were being filled quickly.

I left around 7:30.  Exhausted.  I had only eaten a few handfuls of almonds and a few pieces of chocolate.  Made it home, laid down for a few minutes, and then gathered up some energy and left to visit friends for dinner.

Tired.  Sore.  Excited.