00:27 - Hi and welcome to Speckled

00:29 - Hen Chocolate Company.

00:30 - My name is Valerie Cannon

00:32 - and you are now in

00:34 - Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.

00:35 - We are located in western

00:37 - Pennsylvania and we are

00:39 - about 40 minutes north of

00:41 - Pittsburgh so Saxonburg is

00:43 - also in the southernmost

00:44 - part of Butler County.

00:46 - Just to give you sort of an

00:47 - idea of where you are.

00:49 - We are a unique chocolate

00:50 - shop in that we do have all

00:53 - of the traditional items

00:54 - that you might consider

00:55 - when you walk into any

00:56 - normal chocolate shop.

00:57 - We've got turtles and

00:58 - caramels and shortbread and

01:02 - solid chocolates but really

01:04 - the reason why I wanted you

01:06 - to be in my shop today is

01:08 - because I wanted to

01:08 - showcase some of the more

01:09 - unique features of the

01:11 - Speckled Hen Chocolate

01:12 - Company.

01:13 - So about seven years ago I

01:15 - decided that it was time to

01:16 - do something that I wanted

01:17 - to do with my life and I

01:19 - decided that I was going to

01:20 - sort of forgo the corporate

01:21 - world and really put my

01:23 - feet to the floor and make

01:25 - myself a business that I

01:26 - truly enjoyed every single

01:28 - day.

01:29 - So this is one of our

01:31 - creations.

01:32 - He is our Santa that came

01:34 - from a chocolate shop would

01:36 - be Regis Steedle Candy

01:37 - Company in Millvale.

01:39 - And if you're at all

01:41 - familiar with Pittsburgh,

01:42 - Regis Steedle's was a

01:43 - pretty big candy store

01:45 - there and he is probably -

01:49 - I would guess - 50 years

01:51 - old or so right here.

01:53 - So it's a mold that we

01:54 - purchased from Regis

01:56 - Steedle's and we made the

01:59 - chocolate here.

02:00 - But what we tend to do is

02:02 - try to take unique

02:03 - creations and make them

02:04 - even more unique.

02:06 - So this guy is sort of our

02:09 - what we bring out for

02:10 - Christmas.

02:11 - We also have an Easter

02:12 - Bunny that we do.

02:14 - And if you're at all

02:15 - familiar with the

02:16 - Pittsburgh area you

02:16 - probably grew up seeing

02:18 - this guy in the store front

02:20 - in Pittsburgh.

02:21 - Lot of fun.

02:22 - He really is part of our

02:23 - community here.

02:24 - And I'll get to show you

02:26 - some other things that we

02:27 - do as well that kind of

02:28 - make the Speckled Hen a

02:29 - unique place.

02:30 - The unique chocolate shop

02:32 - that we really are.

02:33 - So when we first started we

02:34 - started out with just

02:35 - blending a commercial line

02:36 - of chocolates which is

02:38 - chocolates that have

02:39 - already been processed.

02:40 - We'd buy them in bulk and

02:41 - then mix them together or

02:42 - blend them in order to get

02:44 - our signature taste.

02:45 - So we use several

02:46 - chocolates in order to get

02:49 - the Speckled Hen taste of

02:50 - chocolate.

02:51 - However what we started to

02:52 - notice was we had some

02:55 - people who needed to have

02:56 - gluten-free options

02:59 - available and because of

03:00 - the process of cross

03:01 - contamination in dipping

03:03 - different chocolates in a

03:05 - same communal pot, we

03:06 - needed to make sure that we

03:07 - could start our own line of

03:08 - gluten-free chocolate.

03:09 - So any solid item in our

03:11 - retail store is made on its

03:13 - own dedicated gluten-free

03:14 - line which we'll take a

03:16 - look at here a little

03:16 - later.

03:17 - We also then started to

03:18 - move into the need for

03:21 - sugar-free.

03:22 - So we've developed our own

03:24 - raw chocolate line.

03:26 - And then from that have

03:27 - developed a keto friendly

03:29 - line as well, where we

03:30 - utilize either stevia or

03:32 - stevia and swerve in order

03:33 - to make the chocolates

03:36 - taste good.

03:37 - So we have the raw

03:38 - chocolates.

03:39 - We have the keto line.

03:41 - Gluten-free lines.

03:43 - And then our commercial

03:44 - blend, which is the typical

03:46 - Speckled Hen Chocolate.

03:49 - So here we are in the

03:50 - Speckled Hen processing

03:52 - area where we make all of

03:53 - our chocolates.

03:54 - So what I said in the

03:56 - beginning here of our

03:57 - meeting was that we

03:58 - typically use a blended

04:01 - chocolate commercial line.

04:03 - And so this is sort of an

04:05 - example of just taking

04:06 - several chocolates that are

04:07 - already manufactured and

04:10 - then melting them and

04:11 - blending them into the

04:12 - specific taste.

04:14 - That is the Speckled Hen.

04:15 - So we use about several -

04:17 - we use seven different

04:18 - chocolates in order to make

04:19 - the Speckled Hen taste.

04:21 - And that's because we don't

04:22 - want any of our chocolates

04:23 - to taste like anyone else's

04:24 - chocolate.

04:25 - So we use those unique

04:27 - characteristics in each of

04:28 - those different chocolate

04:29 - tastes in order to create

04:31 - our specific blend.

04:33 - Now typically we do hand

04:35 - dipping.

04:36 - If you use an enrober my

04:39 - thought is that the

04:40 - chocolates tend to all look

04:41 - exactly the same or

04:42 - identical.

04:43 - And that's the point of

04:44 - enrobed chocolate.

04:46 - But here we like to do

04:47 - things a little different

04:48 - so that you have things

04:49 - that are a little more

04:50 - unique.

04:51 - Every piece has a signature

04:52 - to it and is done a little

04:54 - differently.

04:55 - So Kate likes to use a fork

04:57 - and that's totally an

04:58 - acceptable way to do it.

04:59 - Some of us like to use a

05:01 - gloved hand in order to get

05:03 - chocolate out of here.

05:04 - So we also have -- she's

05:06 - doing Oreos right now, but

05:08 - one of the other things

05:10 - that we have we just

05:11 - finished up with some fresh

05:12 - fruit and I think you saw

05:14 - those up next to Santa and

05:16 - that's just the mix of

05:18 - raspberries and

05:19 - blackberries and then

05:21 - drenched with a little milk

05:23 - chocolate.

05:24 - In that case we make those

05:26 - fresh daily.

05:27 - We also do fresh covered

05:28 - strawberries and we

05:30 - probably make - I would say

05:31 - close to 10 to 15 a day on

05:34 - a typical busy day.

05:41 - We also have -- so that is

05:43 - our commercial milk

05:44 - chocolate line.

05:45 - We also have a commercial

05:47 - dark chocolate line which

05:48 - is over this direction and

05:53 - here we're dipping some

05:54 - Swedish Fish.

05:56 - And this is actually one

05:57 - of, probably, our better

05:58 - selling items.

06:00 - If you've never had one of

06:02 - these red fish in chocolate

06:04 - it's quite amazing.

06:06 - The cherry tastes with the

06:07 - dark chocolate truly is

06:10 - sort of magic to taste.

06:14 - So we have our milk

06:15 - chocolate - our dark

06:16 - chocolate line here as well

06:18 - and we dip I would say,

06:20 - probably close to a third

06:23 - of our production in dark

06:24 - chocolate.

06:25 - So it turns out last year

06:27 - we did a little calculating

06:28 - to find out how much

06:29 - chocolate we actually did

06:31 - run through this facility

06:31 - and it was about 15,000

06:34 - pounds of chocolate.

06:36 - So seven years ago I would

06:39 - have never guessed 15,000

06:41 - pounds of chocolate.

06:42 - That was last year.

06:43 - I would believe that based

06:45 - on what we've been selling

06:47 - this year that we're gonna

06:48 - be close to 20,000 pounds

06:50 - in one year and, like I

06:54 - said, about a third of that

06:55 - is in dark chocolate.

06:58 - So one of the things that

07:01 - you can see we have a milk

07:02 - chocolate line and a dark

07:03 - chocolate line and we dip

07:04 - everything in those pots.

07:06 - So everything from Swedish

07:07 - Fish, to chocolate - making

07:10 - a solid chocolate mold -

07:11 - also things like pretzels

07:13 - and Graham crackers and

07:14 - Oreos.

07:15 - So that tends to make that

07:17 - pot not gluten-free.

07:19 - So one of the important

07:20 - features that we decided we

07:22 - needed was to have a

07:23 - dedicated gluten-free line.

07:25 - So we added a third line

07:27 - and this is where we make

07:30 - 100% gluten-free

07:32 - chocolates.

07:33 - And again chocolate

07:34 - typically is gluten-free.

07:35 - But due to the process of

07:36 - cross-contamination with

07:38 - things like pretzels or

07:40 - Oreos that would tend to

07:42 - lead the chocolate to be

07:44 - not not gluten-free.

07:48 - So what we've got going on

07:50 - here is a molding process.

07:52 - This is an advent calendar

07:54 - tree.

07:54 - So what we've decided to do

07:56 - and part of, you know, the

07:57 - spirit of being unique is

07:59 - to take this the typical

08:00 - mold and then change it up

08:02 - slightly.

08:03 - So that we have enough

08:06 - pieces on here to be one

08:08 - piece eaten throughout the

08:10 - month of Christmas leading

08:13 - up to Christmas.

08:13 - So sort of like an advent

08:14 - calendar tree.

08:16 - So it's also kind of fun

08:17 - because you start with a

08:18 - small amount of chocolate

08:20 - and then every day you

08:21 - increase your chocolate

08:23 - tolerance leading up until

08:25 - Christmas.

08:25 - And the huge feast.

08:27 - So that's what we've got

08:28 - going on here today.

08:30 - We also have - like I was

08:33 - talking about - and if you

08:34 - ladies will help me with

08:35 - this mold.

08:36 - We have a mold here that

08:39 - was the Santa that you saw

08:40 - upstairs.

08:42 - So this is sort of that

08:45 - mold that I was talking

08:46 - about with Santa.

08:48 - And typically it's a nice

08:52 - hard mold.

08:53 - But what we would do is

08:54 - bust the inside of the mold

08:56 - to make sure that we get

08:57 - all of the -- all of the

09:00 - sort of cocoa butter

09:01 - residue out of it.

09:02 - And so that our mold would

09:03 - be nice and shiny.

09:07 - We have a front half and

09:09 - the back half.

09:10 - And so this has also been

09:11 - prepped that way.

09:16 - What we'll do -- can I set

09:21 - this on here?

09:27 - Thank you.

09:29 - All right so we're gonna

09:31 - add chocolate to this.

09:35 - And if you wanna come over

09:36 - and start on this one so

09:39 - any chocolate that has

09:40 - cocoa butter in it needs to

09:42 - be tempered.

09:42 - So this chocolate has been

09:44 - tempered and tempering is

09:46 - just the process of working

09:48 - with the chocolate.

09:49 - Thank you.

09:51 - So that all of the cocoa

09:52 - butter crystals have been

09:53 - properly aligned and that

09:55 - when they cool they make a

09:58 - nice structure that is all

10:01 - very well aligned and that

10:05 - alignment will then lead to

10:07 - chocolate that is smooth

10:09 - and has the characteristic

10:10 - snap of tempered chocolate.

10:18 - So what you can see here is

10:19 - we're just sort of

10:19 - smoothing the chocolate

10:21 - throughout the mold trying

10:23 - to reduce any air bubbles

10:29 - and trying to make sure

10:30 - that the chocolate is

10:31 - evenly distributed across

10:33 - the mold.

10:37 - That will do.

10:39 - And you can see some

10:40 - chocolate in places --

10:41 - that's actually chocolate

10:42 - on the outside of the mold

10:44 - from the last Santa that we

10:47 - made.

10:48 - So we've got the back

10:49 - finished.

10:49 - We're also here working on

10:51 - the front and you can see

10:55 - this is no easy feat.

10:57 - It takes about four people

10:59 - to make this mold actually

11:01 - sort of come together.

11:04 - So then what we'll end up

11:05 - doing is picking up the

11:08 - mold and just giving it a

11:09 - once over on the bottom

11:11 - just to make sure that we

11:13 - got all of the air bubbles

11:14 - out and ours looks pretty

11:15 - good.

11:17 - We'll put this down.

11:19 - Do you want me to help you?

11:22 - And we'll just take a look.

11:23 - Just looking for faces,

11:25 - looking for beards,

11:26 - anything that might have an

11:27 - air bubble.

11:34 - All right.

11:34 - That should be good guys.

11:38 - All right.

11:38 - I'll take this guy.

11:40 - What we're going to end up

11:41 - doing is making one mold

11:45 - out of two.

11:48 - So flip this.

11:52 - We'll line up Santa and

11:57 - then sort of looks a little

12:07 - like a coffin.

12:07 - But never fear.

12:11 - So then what we'll do is

12:12 - we'll put bolts in to sort

12:14 - of make sure that we have a

12:16 - sandwich that is not going

12:17 - to allow the Santa to slip

12:20 - or to separate.

12:30 - And so the fun part of this

12:31 - is that it's you feel like

12:33 - you're really trying to get

12:35 - -- you're working against

12:36 - the clock.

12:37 - Properly tempered chocolate

12:39 - is going to start to

12:40 - solidify.

12:42 - Oh I would say within 2 to

12:43 - 3 minutes at least.

12:44 - Our blend of chocolate

12:45 - tends to solidify that

12:46 - quickly.

12:47 - Thank you.

12:49 - And so really we're sort of

12:51 - racing against the clock in

12:53 - order to make sure that all

12:55 - of our chocolate that we

12:56 - just put in here is not

12:59 - going to sort of settle on

13:01 - the back end of Santa and

13:04 - also sort of not settle on

13:05 - the feet.

13:07 - So what we'll do is get our

13:09 - bolts in here.

13:17 - That looks pretty good.

13:18 - So what we're going to end

13:19 - up doing is then quickly

13:21 - starting to rotate the

13:23 - Santa so that we can get a

13:24 - constant -- sort of

13:26 - consistent, I should say,

13:27 - movement of chocolate all

13:29 - the way around this mold.

13:31 - That's really pretty good.

13:31 - We can let that one out if

13:32 - you want.

13:33 - Okay.

13:34 - So then yeah, what we want

13:36 - to do is we're just gonna

13:36 - keep turning him to the

13:37 - right.

13:38 - And so if you can envision

13:40 - the chocolate that we just

13:41 - put in here on that was

13:43 - sort of, you know,

13:44 - solidifying or laying on

13:45 - the back end of the Santa

13:47 - is now sort of rotating

13:49 - around and we're going to,

13:51 - sort of, let it, you know,

13:52 - you kind of turn it this

13:53 - way, a little turn this way

13:54 - a little, and you can

13:56 - imagine the chocolate on

13:57 - the inside of that mold is

13:58 - just slowly, sort of,

14:00 - moving along the walls of

14:01 - that mold.

14:02 - And what we're trying to do

14:03 - is get a nice uniform

14:06 - coating of chocolate all

14:08 - the way around Santa.

14:11 - So we also do this -- I had

14:12 - mentioned to you that we

14:14 - also have an Easter mold as

14:16 - well and so we do have that

14:19 - and we do the same process

14:21 - typically.

14:22 - Also I could tell you that

14:25 - normal chocolate molds are

14:26 - not that large.

14:33 - In fact, here are sort of a

14:35 - couple of chocolate molds

14:36 - that are normally what we

14:38 - would work with.

14:39 - This is a witch with a

14:40 - little cauldron in front of

14:42 - her.

14:43 - And then this is a little

14:44 - turkey that I'll show you

14:46 - here in a second.

14:47 - And just kind of show you,

14:48 - so this is really typically

14:49 - what we would work with.

14:50 - We would put chocolate in

14:51 - here spin it around maybe

14:54 - empty the chocolate out.

14:56 - So this is quite the feat

14:58 - you know, working with the

14:59 - Santa making sure that we

15:01 - get a nice consistent mold.

15:03 - You can see that takes

15:04 - quite a bit of manpower.

15:05 - And part of the fun of it

15:07 - is actually trying to see

15:08 - if you can get it to turn

15:09 - out.

15:10 - And so that almost looks

15:13 - like a ride at Kennywood.

15:18 - So what's going to happen

15:19 - next is, once we sort of

15:20 - get this Santa guy all

15:22 - rolling around and we're

15:23 - pretty confident that the

15:24 - chocolate is just about

15:26 - set, we'll put it into our

15:27 - blast chiller, we'll allow

15:30 - that chocolate to firm up

15:31 - and to completely temper

15:33 - and to completely get

15:34 - solid, and then we'll try

15:36 - and demold him and see if

15:37 - we actually -- if we made

15:39 - it through.

15:39 - If it actually worked.

15:42 - Directly behind you -- I

15:43 - don't know if you're

15:43 - interested is our Easter

15:45 - Bunny.

15:46 - And so that is one of our

15:47 - larger molds that we made.

15:50 - He is also just our

15:51 - decorative piece.

15:52 - So we sort of use him in

15:53 - our retail store and he's

15:57 - actually a pretty cool

15:58 - rabbit.

15:58 - He also came from Regis

16:00 - Steedle's Candy Company

16:01 - down in Pittsburgh.

16:07 - So not all of our work is

16:09 - as heavy as working with

16:11 - that Santa mold.

16:12 - One of the, sort of finer

16:14 - details that we do is

16:16 - taking smaller molds and

16:17 - making them into something

16:19 - a little more unique.

16:20 - So I showed you this little

16:21 - turkey mold.

16:22 - This is actually what came

16:23 - out of that.

16:24 - So we have this cute little

16:25 - turkey.

16:26 - And what we do is we leave

16:27 - them hollow and then fill

16:29 - them with M & M.

16:31 - So this one has sort of the

16:33 - orange, and brown, and

16:34 - yellow M & Ms for a little

16:36 - turkey centerpiece.

16:38 - And leaving them hollow

16:39 - actually makes them a

16:40 - little less expensive as

16:42 - well because it's not as

16:43 - much chocolate.

16:44 - We also just started

16:45 - production of these cute

16:46 - little Santas and they also

16:48 - have red and green M & Ms

16:49 - in them.

16:50 - Something cute for a little

16:51 - centerpiece.

16:54 - Some other things that we

16:55 - kind of do are working with

16:58 - a shoe mold.

16:59 - Which this one is a very

17:00 - popular mold that we do.

17:02 - And you can see it's just

17:03 - basically a two piece mold

17:05 - that we separate out.

17:07 - We make and then comes

17:08 - together into something

17:11 - like this.

17:13 - So I sort of throw this

17:15 - back in here.

17:18 - So behind me is where Linda

17:19 - was working with the

17:20 - gluten-free chocolate line.

17:22 - She'd fill this up with

17:23 - chocolate.

17:24 - We would then pour the

17:25 - chocolate out and then wait

17:27 - until the chocolate has

17:29 - solidified, break open the

17:30 - mold, and pull out the

17:34 - molded item.

17:35 - These we typically

17:36 - decorate.

17:37 - I have a few here that

17:38 - we've kind of decorated

17:39 - just this week.

17:41 - And decorate them up make

17:42 - them look pretty.

17:44 - And each one is totally

17:46 - different but you can

17:47 - always make a little pair

17:48 - of shoes.

17:50 - This is a more unique

17:52 - chocolate.

17:53 - It is called Ruby

17:54 - chocolate.

17:55 - And so this is a new

17:57 - discovery sort of happened

17:59 - around 2017 by Barry

18:02 - Callebaut

18:02 - They came up with a -- they

18:04 - I think they've discovered

18:05 - or found a new type of a

18:07 - cocoa bean and it actually

18:10 - does not have any

18:11 - artificial flavors or

18:12 - colors in it.

18:13 - So it's a little bit of a

18:14 - sour tasting chocolate.

18:16 - A little bit fruity as well

18:17 - like raspberry and I think

18:19 - it makes beautiful

18:20 - chocolate.

18:21 - And so this is called the

18:23 - Ruby Slipper.

18:27 - One of our other ways that

18:29 - we take normal chocolate

18:30 - molds and make them into

18:31 - something a little more

18:32 - creative is our purse mold.

18:34 - So this is just the typical

18:36 - two piece mold that we fill

18:38 - with chocolate and make it

18:39 - into a cute little sort of

18:41 - designer purse.

18:43 - But of course Speckled Hen

18:45 - likes to put a little twist

18:46 - on it, and so we fill it

18:48 - with some blueberries -

18:49 - dried blueberries - which

18:51 - is a candy that we sell in

18:52 - our retail store.

18:53 - And it just gives it a cute

18:55 - little something different.

18:56 - So you know, if you're

18:57 - heading out for the night

18:58 - you want to grab yourself a

18:59 - cute little purse and maybe

19:00 - a new pair of shoes,

19:04 - Speckled Hen's got you

19:05 - covered.

19:09 - One additional thing that

19:10 - I'll sort of show you is

19:13 - making this mold.

19:13 - So this is one of our more

19:16 - fun molds.

19:17 - It's a little coffee cup,

19:18 - or like a little tea cup.

19:20 - So what we'll do is we'll

19:21 - make this just kind of show

19:22 - you the process.

19:25 - So I'm gonna head to the

19:26 - gluten-free line here next

19:27 - to Linda.

19:29 - What we typically would do

19:31 - is fill this mold with

19:32 - chocolate.

19:37 - Like this.

19:38 - And then make sure that we

19:39 - get all of the air bubbles

19:41 - out.

19:51 - Once we get this mold full

19:53 - - and this, and we get all

19:56 - the bubbles out.

19:58 - Let's do a few here for

19:59 - you.

20:06 - We will give this a little

20:08 - tap, even out the top, and

20:20 - then the fun part, give it

20:22 - the old flip over and shake

20:24 - out some of the chocolate

20:26 - because what we would like

20:28 - us to have these chocolate

20:29 - molds be hollow for our

20:31 - next step.

20:33 - So once the chocolate's

20:34 - been shaken out, you see we

20:35 - have a nice little cavity

20:36 - there.

20:37 - Give this the old scrape.

20:44 - Now we have a little

20:45 - chocolate cup that all it

20:47 - needs to do is harden, just

20:48 - a little bit, and then

20:49 - we'll be ready for our next

20:50 - step.

20:51 - So I'm gonna put this into

20:52 - the cooler and then -

20:59 - through the magic of

21:00 - television - pull this out.

21:11 - And typically what would

21:12 - happen is when the

21:17 - chocolate has been

21:18 - solidified and properly

21:20 - cooled, you will be able to

21:22 - pull these right out of the

21:23 - mold and you'd have a

21:25 - little chocolate cup.

21:29 - Now in the true Speckled

21:31 - Hen nature what we like to

21:33 - do is change up the

21:35 - ordinary to something very

21:36 - unique.

21:36 - So in this case, we're

21:38 - gonna take some hot

21:40 - chocolate that we've made

21:43 - and it's just that in a

21:44 - powdered form, take that

21:49 - and fill each of those cups

21:51 - and then we add a little

21:53 - magic.

21:54 - So what we're gonna make is

21:56 - it's called a Speckled Hen

21:57 - hot chocolate.

21:58 - And so it's using our

21:59 - chocolate and using -- I'll

22:04 - show you.

22:06 - Using a little bit of hot

22:07 - cocoa mix we had a little

22:11 - chocolate to this, seal in

22:22 - all of that goodness, and

22:30 - then add a little bit of

22:32 - something unique.

22:33 - So at this point we either

22:34 - add cute little candy canes

22:38 - or we'll add marshmallows.

22:40 - Today I'm feeling a little

22:41 - more like marshmallows, so

22:48 - what we'll do is add some

22:55 - little marshmallows and you

23:01 - can never have too many

23:02 - marshmallows.

23:03 - So add some of these guys

23:05 - as well.

23:11 - And the way we market this

23:12 - is it's a tiny little cup

23:15 - that you can make a cup of

23:16 - hot chocolate out of.

23:17 - So you can warm up your

23:18 - milk or your water and then

23:20 - dump this whole thing into

23:22 - your hot milk.

23:23 - Stir the chocolate on the

23:25 - outside will melt the

23:27 - chocolate on the inside

23:28 - which is the hot cocoa mix

23:29 - will melt and the

23:30 - marshmallows will float to

23:31 - the top.

23:32 - And so we call that a

23:33 - Speckled Hen hot chocolate.

23:42 - All right.

23:42 - So here we are in our test

23:44 - kitchen.

23:44 - And this is really the

23:45 - place where we put a lot of

23:49 - our concepts into action

23:52 - and try to see if we can

23:53 - actually make things happen

23:55 - the way that we want them

23:55 - to happen.

23:57 - So to take you back a few

23:59 - steps and talk about

24:00 - chocolate.

24:02 - These are some cacap pods

24:03 - that grow on trees around

24:06 - -- in the countries in the

24:07 - areas around the equator.

24:08 - And so these typically are

24:11 - not brown.

24:12 - These are dried because we,

24:14 - in Pittsburgh, are nowhere

24:15 - near the equator.

24:17 - These are actually dried

24:19 - and desiccated, but when

24:20 - they're harvested from the

24:21 - tree they are beautiful and

24:23 - bright purple, or orange.

24:26 - Just wonderful colors.

24:28 - What typically happens is

24:29 - they're harvested.

24:31 - They're broken open - these

24:32 - pods - and then inside, you

24:34 - can hear, are seeds.

24:35 - And so those cacao seeds

24:37 - are then taken, roasted,

24:39 - and fermented, and then the

24:41 - shells are taken off,

24:43 - they're dried, and then

24:44 - that is what makes our

24:46 - commercial chocolate.

24:47 - So this is sort of all of

24:49 - the chocolate that we've

24:50 - been talking about up to

24:51 - this point -- is chocolate

24:54 - that we would receive in

24:56 - big bulk shipments and then

24:58 - blended into our own

24:59 - commercial line of

25:00 - chocolate.

25:01 - Now for several reasons -

25:04 - some of just being that we

25:05 - like to be unique and

25:06 - different and we want to

25:07 - have our own line of

25:08 - chocolates - we have come

25:10 - to the idea that we'd like

25:11 - to try and make something

25:14 - that is very unique to

25:15 - Speckled Hen.

25:16 - And the reason for that is

25:17 - when you talk about a

25:18 - commercial chocolate line,

25:20 - it has it's cocoa, cocoa

25:22 - butter, sugar, cream,

25:24 - vanilla all already in

25:26 - here.

25:27 - So there's nothing we can

25:27 - do about that to make our

25:29 - own line.

25:30 - So I wanted the freedom to

25:31 - be able to create something

25:34 - a little different out of

25:35 - the main ingredients that

25:36 - come from the cacao pod.

25:38 - And so what we've done is

25:40 - we still - of course - do

25:41 - the commercial chocolate

25:42 - line.

25:43 - But what we've done is

25:44 - taken the major components

25:45 - of this cacao pod and of

25:47 - the cacao bean and made

25:49 - them into our own line of

25:50 - chocolates.

25:51 - So we do several different

25:52 - types.

25:53 - Our first one was really

25:54 - just to see how bare bones

25:57 - we could really go.

25:58 - And so what we did was we

26:00 - created a chocolate that

26:01 - was a cold pressed version

26:03 - of the beans that are in

26:04 - here now.

26:05 - Raw chocolates have many,

26:07 - many benefits.

26:08 - And it all started with a

26:09 - visit that I took to

26:10 - Sedona, Arizona where I

26:12 - fell in love with raw

26:13 - chocolate.

26:13 - And so what that actually

26:15 - is is instead of this cocoa

26:18 - bean being processed in

26:20 - terms of in terms of

26:23 - roasting and fermenting

26:25 - which takes the temperature

26:26 - of that product up to

26:28 - pretty high levels, we keep

26:31 - it at a cold-pressed

26:31 - version.

26:32 - So the beans are harvested

26:34 - - or the pods are harvested

26:35 - - the beans are then

26:36 - cold-pressed in order to

26:37 - squeeze out the components

26:40 - that are cocoa or cacao at

26:42 - that point.

26:43 - So if it's raw, it's

26:44 - considered -- it's called

26:45 - cacao.

26:46 - And that is these two

26:47 - ingredients.

26:48 - So we've got raw cocoa

26:49 - butter.

26:50 - And if you can smell this,

26:52 - it smells amazing.

26:54 - The chocolaty smell that

26:55 - comes from this -- it

26:57 - smells fresh.

26:58 - It doesn't smell

26:59 - chemicalized at all.

27:01 - It's just wonderful.

27:02 - And it's also really good

27:03 - if you wanted to use it in

27:05 - food products.

27:05 - Like if you want to use it

27:06 - as a as a lip gloss or as a

27:09 - hand moisturizer.

27:12 - And then we have the other

27:13 - component which is the

27:14 - dried version of it.

27:16 - And this is the cacao

27:17 - powder.

27:17 - So this is raw as well, so

27:19 - it's called cacao powder

27:20 - and these two ingredients

27:23 - are what comes of taking

27:25 - one of these beans and

27:27 - squeezing it, and called

27:27 - pressing it and getting

27:28 - these two versions.

27:29 - So I mentioned raw, and

27:31 - that's because they're not

27:32 - roasted or fermented.

27:33 - And so the temperature is

27:35 - kept around 100 degrees and

27:37 - never more than 107 in

27:39 - order to be considered raw.

27:41 - Now the reason for that is

27:42 - because this is typically

27:44 - considered a superfood.

27:45 - And you know when the

27:46 - doctor says hey, go get

27:47 - some dark chocolate and eat

27:48 - it you'll be healthy.

27:50 - He probably wasn't

27:51 - referring to chocolate that

27:54 - has been, just, you know,

27:55 - sort of commercially

27:56 - processed with the regular

27:58 - types of sugars in it and

28:00 - and whatnot.

28:01 - What I think that they're

28:01 - referring to is an actual

28:03 - raw product.

28:04 - And that's because

28:05 - typically this is a

28:06 - superfood.

28:07 - So raw cacao has probably

28:11 - the highest amount of iron

28:12 - for a plant-based product

28:14 - in it.

28:15 - It's also very high in

28:17 - magnesium.

28:18 - It's got all the really

28:19 - cool things like flavonoids

28:20 - and B vitamins through the

28:23 - roof.

28:25 - Antioxidants all the good

28:27 - stuff.

28:28 - So I can't say enough about

28:29 - raw chocolate but that's

28:30 - one of the reasons why we

28:31 - wanted to get into the raw

28:33 - chocolate was that I think

28:34 - it's pretty important that

28:36 - now that I got all of my

28:37 - customers addicted to some

28:38 - of the things that we

28:39 - create and they're coming

28:40 - in on a constant basis, I

28:41 - want to make sure that they

28:42 - have healthy options as

28:43 - well.

28:44 - And so this is sort of our

28:45 - striving to do that.

28:48 - So what we're gonna do is

28:49 - make a batch of our raw

28:51 - chocolate.

28:53 - And next to that we're

28:55 - actually going -- so we

28:56 - made raw chocolate

28:56 - yesterday, but I thought

28:58 - today what we would do is

28:59 - make a keto chocolate.

29:01 - It's based on the same

29:02 - concept.

29:02 - We use the raw ingredients,

29:04 - but in this case we add a

29:05 - little bit of stevia and

29:07 - swerve in order to make the

29:09 - chocolate taste sweeter

29:12 - than just our typical raw

29:13 - chocolate line.

29:15 - And also I could sort of --

29:16 - to step back, for our raw

29:18 - chocolate line we have

29:18 - several different kinds, so

29:20 - we've started out with our

29:23 - cornerstone which was to be

29:24 - as minimal as possible, and

29:26 - that was cacao powder and

29:29 - cacao butter and dried

29:31 - mulberries

29:32 - So it's actually 99% raw

29:33 - cacao bar,

29:36 - It's one of my favorites.

29:38 - It did take a little while

29:39 - to get used to.

29:40 - But I'll tell you, it is

29:41 - really worth the taste if

29:42 - you're trying to watch the

29:43 - sugar, and honestly, this

29:45 - is the reason I love

29:46 - chocolate anyways, it's not

29:48 - necessarily the sugars,

29:49 - it's the taste and smell of

29:51 - the wonderful aromas that

29:52 - this gets coming right from

29:54 - the cacao bean.

29:55 - So we also then from our

29:56 - 99% line started to

29:59 - incorporate -- we wanted to

30:00 - sort of step people into

30:02 - eating and enjoying raw

30:03 - chocolate.

30:04 - So we knew we had to add

30:05 - some sugar, so we started

30:06 - using organic coconut palm

30:08 - sugar in order to try and

30:11 - sort of dilute out the 99%

30:14 - bar to make it a little

30:15 - more palatable for people

30:16 - who wanted to get off of

30:17 - commercial chocolate with

30:18 - the sugars and then into a

30:20 - raw line.

30:21 - So in order to do that, we

30:22 - started with a -- or we

30:24 - actually added on an 80%

30:26 - bar, 70% bar and that's

30:28 - percent of cacao.

30:30 - But in order to get from

30:31 - 99% - or from 100%, which

30:33 - is just the two of these -

30:34 - we needed to incorporate in

30:36 - some different sugar.

30:36 - So we did that through

30:38 - using -- we've tried some

30:40 - monk powder and some other

30:41 - items as well.

30:43 - But let's just get started.

30:44 - So I have Emma she's over

30:45 - here melting down our cocoa

30:47 - butter and it's probably

30:49 - ready to go.

30:51 - Delicious.

30:51 - So this is sort of raw

30:53 - organic cocoa butter and

30:56 - we've got that.

30:56 - We're going to put it into

30:57 - our stone grinder.

30:59 - And stone grinding really

31:01 - just incorporates all of

31:03 - the different components of

31:05 - this chocolate in order to

31:07 - make it so that it is very

31:08 - smooth, has a really nice

31:10 - mouth feel, and and it's

31:13 - just very delicate tasting.

31:16 - So yes.

31:24 - And I love that sound.

31:27 - That is just the smoothest

31:28 - sound.

31:35 - Let me just borrow this for

31:36 - a second and just scooch

31:37 - that right in there.

31:52 - So thank you.

31:54 - Very much.

31:56 - So this now is cocoa butter

31:59 - in the stone grinder and it

32:01 - is beautiful to look at as

32:03 - well.

32:03 - I could just sit here all

32:04 - day and watch it.

32:06 - We do incorporate it into

32:07 - this mixture as a liquid

32:09 - form because, due to the

32:11 - nature of a stone grinder,

32:12 - where we actually have, you

32:14 - know, stones rolling on

32:15 - stones, we are counting on

32:18 - this to, sort of, you know,

32:20 - mash things together.

32:22 - If we throw a bunch of room

32:24 - temperature cocoa butter in

32:25 - here what's going to happen

32:27 - is this just gonna stall

32:28 - the mechanism.

32:29 - So we have that.

32:33 - Next I'm going to add in a

32:34 - little bit of sugar.

32:38 - So this is our stevia and

32:51 - then in this case we also

32:53 - use sugar erythritol, and

32:55 - that is swerve.

32:56 - So this is the hottest new

32:58 - - aside from monk powder,

32:59 - which is also another hot

33:01 - topic in the keto world -

33:03 - we use this swerve.

33:06 - So that's gonna go in here

33:07 - as well.

33:09 - You can see that once we

33:13 - incorporate something

33:14 - that's a little bit

33:18 - granular it gives us a

33:22 - couple little bumps in the

33:23 - road.

33:26 - But that means it's doing

33:27 - its job.

33:59 - Now another addition is

34:01 - going to be the cacao

34:03 - powder.

34:04 - This one can get a little

34:05 - dusty.

34:11 - But this is really where it

34:13 - becomes chocolate to me.

34:15 - So we've got the cocoa

34:16 - butter in here.

34:18 - We've got the cacao powder

34:29 - and now we're incorporating

34:30 - in - or back in - the rest

34:32 - of the products of the

34:36 - cacao pod.

34:39 - You can also do this from

34:40 - the stage of a cacao nib.

34:42 - And that would be one step

34:45 - sort of backwards in this

34:46 - process.

34:48 - You can do that.

34:49 - It's where you actually use

34:50 - like the cracked cacao bean

34:52 - and then grind it.

34:54 - It's a little noisy for

34:56 - this process and so I

34:57 - thought that would be a

34:58 - little easier to use the

35:00 - cacao powder.

35:04 - So once we get this all

35:05 - incorporated in, mixed this

35:22 - up, now it's starting to

35:24 - look like chocolate.

35:37 - You still see that it has

35:37 - some chunks in it and

35:39 - that's exactly what we

35:40 - would expect when you just

35:42 - mix cocoa butter, cacao

35:44 - powder, and some sugars.

35:50 - Now, one more ingredient.

35:51 - So this would pretty much

35:52 - be considered a dark

35:53 - chocolate.

35:55 - It's got the majority, you

35:56 - know -- when you do the

35:57 - calculations, really the

36:00 - sugar is the only thing

36:01 - that is going to account

36:03 - for something other than to

36:05 - make it -- it's, you know,

36:07 - it's 80-90%.

36:09 - So we're going to add in an

36:11 - organic plant based protein

36:14 - and that is going to bring

36:15 - the percentage of cacao

36:17 - down into the -- more of a

36:19 - milk chocolate range.

36:20 - Now you can do it with

36:21 - several different items.

36:22 - I feel that by using a

36:24 - plant-based protein, what

36:25 - we're going to have have

36:26 - happen is we're going to

36:28 - incorporate a little bit

36:29 - better mouth feel,

36:30 - something that's going to

36:31 - taste like milk, but I'd

36:33 - like to try and keep these

36:35 - this as vegan as possible,

36:37 - and so, and it's just sort

36:39 - of another another brand,

36:40 - you know, another name that

36:41 - we can add on as far as

36:43 - nut-free or vegan, and so I

36:46 - like to use plant-based

36:47 - protein and again what this

36:53 - does is not necessary if we

36:55 - want to make dark

36:56 - chocolate, but what I'm

36:58 - aiming for is a little bit

36:59 - more of a milk chocolate.

37:01 - And when you eat milk

37:01 - chocolate, what you what

37:04 - you notice is the

37:06 - creaminess.

37:07 - And so this is mimicking

37:08 - creaminess.

37:19 - So now we are getting

37:22 - something that is a one

37:24 - step closer to looking like

37:25 - milk chocolate.

37:39 - And if I stick my spatula

37:40 - down here for you, it's

37:41 - looking like that.

37:47 - So exactly what I expect it

37:49 - to look like at this point.

37:50 - It's gonna have some of its

37:52 - sort of components still

37:54 - sort of glistening there.

37:55 - You can see it looks a

37:56 - little bumpy.

37:57 - What we end up doing is

37:59 - we'll let this stone grind

38:00 - for about 48 hours and

38:03 - after about 48 hours we

38:05 - have something that is

38:06 - smooth, creamy, and

38:08 - delicious.

38:10 - So I can move you over here

38:11 - and show you I have that

38:12 - step for you as well.

38:23 - This is actually a tiny

38:26 - little melter and it has in

38:28 - it some of the chocolate

38:29 - that we made yesterday.

38:32 - So this is also a raw

38:34 - products.

38:38 - I'm going to grab a spatula

38:39 - here and show you.

38:41 - This is a raw product that

38:44 - has been stone ground for

38:46 - about 48 hours and you can

38:48 - see the difference here in

38:50 - creaminess.

38:52 - I don'tt know if you can

38:52 - catch that.

38:54 - But you can see there are

38:55 - no lumps or bumps and there

38:57 - are a few little air

38:58 - bubbles, but this is sort

39:02 - of our what we're aiming

39:03 - for as our final blend.

39:06 - This is a keto chocolate

39:12 - but smooth, creamy, and

39:13 - delicious.

39:15 - Once we temper this up what

39:18 - will -- and that's just

39:19 - basically changing around

39:20 - the temperatures in order

39:22 - to make sure that the cocoa

39:23 - butter crystals that are

39:24 - loose are freely flowing

39:26 - and have the ability to

39:27 - line up next to each other

39:29 - will then decrease the

39:31 - temperature and do it very

39:33 - slowly so that these cocoa

39:34 - butter crystals will

39:35 - actually line up and then

39:36 - stay in that formation and

39:38 - that will allow for a

39:39 - chocolate that is smooth

39:42 - and shiny.

39:43 - And when you break it, it

39:44 - snaps and then what we'll

39:50 - do is mold it into some

39:53 - molds.

39:53 - I do have a couple molds

39:54 - here.

39:57 - We'll put it into some

39:58 - molds and make candy bars

40:00 - out of it.

40:04 - So here we are in the

40:05 - Speckled Hen classroom.

40:07 - It was a dream of mine to

40:09 - be able to turn what I

40:10 - ended up doing every day -

40:12 - which was having fun

40:14 - playing with chocolate,

40:15 - learning new things,

40:16 - creating new things, and

40:18 - just really absolutely

40:20 - loving every second of

40:21 - every day - I wanted to

40:23 - make sure that I could,

40:24 - somehow, portray to my

40:26 - customers, as if my bubbly

40:29 - personality wasn't enough,

40:30 - that this can be so much

40:33 - fun and so invigorating to

40:35 - just stop and play.

40:37 - So often in times these

40:38 - days we're so busy and so

40:40 - serious with everything

40:41 - that we do that I knew that

40:43 - there needed to be an

40:43 - outlet to allow people to

40:45 - come here and enjoy

40:47 - themselves.

40:48 - Just play and chocolate.

40:49 - Take the time to create

40:50 - something.

40:51 - And like I said, if it

40:52 - doesn't turn out you can

40:54 - eat it.

40:54 - No one has to know.

40:55 - It's not something you hang

40:56 - on your wall.

40:57 - So from that thought, the

41:00 - Speckled Hen classroom was

41:01 - born.

41:02 - So we took an existing

41:04 - storage facility, an

41:05 - existing storage space, and

41:07 - we got a grant from Butler

41:09 - County Tourism to, sort of,

41:11 - change this existing space

41:13 - which - just held boxes and

41:15 - parts - into something that

41:17 - we could allow the

41:19 - community to come and

41:21 - enjoy, and to play.

41:23 - And so here we are.

41:25 - So I'm going to show you a

41:26 - few things in here and

41:28 - actually just play with

41:29 - chocolate and show you how

41:31 - creative you can be.

41:32 - So we do birthday parties

41:33 - for kids where they can

41:35 - come in with their friends

41:36 - and learn and play and

41:37 - discover and have fun with

41:39 - chocolate.

41:39 - But we also do things with

41:41 - adults.

41:41 - And so some of the kid

41:44 - things that we've done is

41:45 - working with modeling

41:46 - chocolate and so you can

41:49 - see some little animals and

41:50 - some things that we've

41:50 - made.

41:51 - This was a dinosaur class

41:52 - that we did this summer.

41:54 - We did a little unicorn

41:55 - class as well.

41:56 - And really my idea is to -

41:59 - number one - teach a little

42:00 - bit about chocolate.

42:01 - Where it comes from.

42:02 - But then again, allow the

42:04 - learning through, sort of,

42:06 - an experiential learning

42:07 - through having fun.

42:08 - Through enjoying yourself.

42:10 - These are made with

42:11 - modeling chocolate and

42:12 - we're going to demonstrate

42:12 - that here this afternoon.

42:15 - We also have classes where

42:17 - you can come in, and you

42:18 - saw a little earlier that

42:19 - we had dipped some fresh

42:20 - fruit.

42:21 - We have classes to not only

42:23 - just come and eat things in

42:24 - chocolate, but also while

42:26 - you're learning some

42:27 - techniques, to learn how to

42:28 - make something like this.

42:29 - I take it for granted that

42:30 - this is pretty simple and

42:32 - easy, but I really want to

42:33 - just, sort of, show you as

42:34 - well that it also can be

42:36 - fun, can be something that

42:37 - you can play around with at

42:38 - home, and that you can make

42:41 - anything you'd like.

42:42 - We have a class where you

42:44 - can come in and you can

42:45 - learn how to make edible

42:46 - flower arrangements.

42:47 - And so each of these is

42:48 - made with a different sort

42:50 - of item.

42:51 - These are sort of some

42:52 - gummy streamers made into a

42:54 - flower.

42:55 - We've got the edible art.

42:57 - So this was the paper that

42:58 - I was telling you about a

42:59 - little earlier where we

43:00 - just printed a pattern on

43:02 - it and then cut it into

43:02 - pieces and made it into a

43:04 - flower.

43:05 - Here's sort of one with

43:06 - some almonds, modeling

43:08 - chocolate, and some

43:10 - marshmallows.

43:11 - So kind of fun things.

43:13 - One of our more advanced

43:14 - classes is making an edible

43:17 - wineglass.

43:18 - And so this was a super fun

43:19 - class.

43:20 - And so I thought I would

43:21 - also try and show you how

43:22 - to make one of these.

43:24 - There's nothing better than

43:26 - enjoying a nice glass of

43:27 - wine - something local from

43:29 - Pennsylvania - and enjoying

43:31 - some Speckled Hen Chocolate

43:32 - with it as well.

43:33 - And we figure instead of

43:34 - having to do it the

43:35 - traditional way of eating

43:36 - chocolate out of a box, why

43:38 - not eat it right out of the

43:39 - glass.

43:41 - So one of the more fun

43:42 - features of having a

43:44 - classroom space that is

43:45 - sort of a kitchen in

43:46 - progress - something that

43:48 - you can come work with

43:48 - chocolate in - is the

43:50 - ability to have brides come

43:53 - to here and actually do a

43:55 - shower, or maybe come with

43:57 - their girlfriends and make

43:58 - some favors, or something

44:00 - kind of unique.

44:01 - So in this case, this is

44:02 - something that we did.

44:04 - It's covered a wine bottle

44:06 - in chocolate so that the

44:07 - bride and groom could take

44:08 - it with them.

44:09 - It decorated a cake table

44:11 - and then they could take it

44:12 - with them on the honeymoon

44:12 - and have their alcohol.

44:14 - The fun part about this is

44:15 - you can just take it, and

44:16 - twist -- you twist the top

44:17 - right off, you can then

44:19 - pour your bubbly, and then

44:21 - you can just continue to

44:22 - eat the chocolate off

44:23 - around the bottle.

44:25 - We also do some kind of

44:27 - cool things.

44:27 - We've done a class where

44:28 - you come in and you fill a

44:30 - cornucopia with all kinds

44:32 - of chocolates that you make

44:33 - here.

44:34 - So to not belabor the

44:35 - point, it's good to have

44:37 - fun and enjoy yourself

44:38 - while working with

44:39 - chocolate.

44:39 - And we like to be able to

44:41 - do that as much as is

44:42 - possible here too, in order

44:44 - to get you to have, sort

44:45 - of, a good time and just

44:46 - relax and enjoy.

44:48 - So you may be asking

44:49 - yourself why would I need

44:51 - to take a class?

44:52 - And I can tell you at all

44:54 - goes back to tempering

44:55 - chocolate.

44:55 - So one of the things that I

44:58 - used to do when I -- before

44:59 - I owned a chocolate shop,

45:00 - was just sort of play

45:01 - around with chocolate in my

45:02 - kitchen and I had never

45:03 - known that you needed to

45:05 - temper chocolate.

45:06 - And so -- I've said this

45:08 - word 100 times today

45:09 - tempering chocolate.

45:10 - But really this is the nuts

45:12 - and bolts about tempering

45:13 - chocolate.

45:13 - So when you have chocolate

45:15 - it should be nice and shiny

45:17 - and it should have a crunch

45:18 - to it when you break it.

45:20 - Sort of a snap.

45:21 - And so that snap indicates

45:24 - that the chocolate is in

45:25 - temper.

45:26 - You can see this is

45:26 - chocolate that is not in

45:28 - temper and it looks sort of

45:30 - like you might have left a

45:31 - candy bar in your car on a

45:35 - hot summer day.

45:36 - And what happens is when

45:37 - you try to crack it, it

45:39 - just crumbles.

45:42 - Now this can be salvaged.

45:45 - It is just a problem of it

45:46 - being not in temper.

45:48 - And again with cocoa butter

45:50 - - if it has cocoa butter in

45:51 - it - you must temper it.

45:53 - So I tell people how do you

45:54 - know if you need to take a

45:55 - class?

45:56 - If you're pretzels and your

45:57 - Oreos this Christmas end up

45:58 - looking like this, give me

45:59 - a call.

46:00 - We can help you out.

46:01 - But this is a chocolate

46:03 - machine and we have

46:04 - chocolate in here that is

46:05 - tempered and what you can

46:08 - do is we teach people that

46:09 - you can dip in here and you

46:11 - can use this to sort of

46:14 - create things.

46:15 - You can see how it's a

46:16 - little bit thicker.

46:17 - And so this viscosity kind

46:19 - of shows me - or tells me -

46:20 - number one that it is in

46:21 - temper.

46:22 - And number two, I know that

46:24 - I've been working with this

46:25 - machine long enough that I

46:27 - could stick my, sort of, a

46:28 - gloved hand in here and

46:29 - feel the temperature and

46:30 - know that it is in temper

46:32 - but I can also just tell

46:33 - right from the way it

46:34 - looks.

46:35 - So what we're going to do

46:36 - is we're gonna take some

46:37 - white chocolate and we're

46:39 - going to attempt to make

46:41 - these tulips.

46:43 - And this can be a really

46:44 - fun thing because not only

46:46 - does it sort of take you

46:46 - back to childhood days of

46:48 - working with modeling

46:49 - chocolate or Play-Doh, but

46:51 - also a little bit more

46:51 - creative in a bit of an

46:53 - elegant fashion.

46:55 - So what we plan to do is

46:58 - make the tulip head and

47:01 - that'll be first.

47:03 - So what we're going to do

47:04 - is just take simply

47:05 - something to mold this

47:07 - over.

47:07 - And in this case, I'm just

47:08 - going to use a spoon and

47:13 - we're gonna just dip the

47:13 - back end of a spoon right

47:15 - into the surface here.

47:19 - Dip the back end of a spoon

47:20 - right into this chocolate.

47:22 - So I know I need three in

47:23 - order to make the head of

47:27 - my tulip, but just simply

47:33 - as that, you'd never kind

47:34 - of -- think you know that

47:34 - you'd be able to just use a

47:36 - spoon.

47:37 - But what we're going to do

47:37 - is we're gonna let that

47:38 - solidify and move on to the

47:40 - next step which is gonna be

47:41 - making modeling chocolate.

47:43 - So modeling chocolate is

47:44 - just two ingredients.

47:45 - Very simple in this case.

47:47 - We're gonna use our white

47:48 - chocolate.

47:49 - We want to make sure that

47:50 - it's right around 91

47:51 - degrees and then we're

47:53 - going to use either corn

47:56 - syrup or a golden syrup.

47:58 - Something that is going to

48:00 - sort of change around the

48:02 - consistency of those cocoa

48:05 - butter crystals.

48:08 - All right.

48:09 - So what we'll do.

48:09 - You can kind of see that in

48:10 - there.

48:10 - And we'll give it a little

48:11 - stir.

48:13 - And you'll know that you're

48:14 - on the right track if it

48:16 - starts to look like mashed

48:17 - potatoes.

48:19 - So it starts to get thick

48:26 - and the opposite of creamy.

48:31 - Sort of really does like

48:31 - mashed potatoes.

48:34 - Now the secret to making

48:36 - this actually usable is to

48:40 - let it set.

48:41 - So what we're gonna do is

48:44 - we are and rests.

48:47 - Even in baking.

48:49 - I remember making pies of

48:50 - my grandma and she would

48:52 - say, 'Okay, now we gotta

48:52 - let the dough rest.'

48:54 - So we're gonna let this

48:54 - white chocolate rest.

49:09 - And we come back to it in

49:10 - about 15 minutes.

49:14 - In the meanwhile, I have

49:17 - some that we made a little

49:18 - earlier this morning and it

49:21 - looks just like Play-Doh.

49:23 - So I'm not selling this

49:24 - stuff.

49:24 - I'm just kind of making it

49:25 - for my own enjoyment.

49:27 - So that's part of the fun

49:28 - of also having this

49:29 - classroom space is no need

49:30 - for a hairnet as long as

49:32 - your hands are washed and

49:33 - you're not double dipping

49:35 - everything is wonderful and

49:37 - edible.

49:37 - So we're going to work this

49:41 - modeling chocolate and make

49:43 - it into a stem of our --

49:49 - stem of our tulip.

49:52 - So just like with Play-Doh,

49:56 - the taste of this is sort

49:58 - of unique.

49:59 - It tastes like a Tootsie

50:00 - Roll.

50:01 - And so, you know, if you're

50:02 - at home and you want to

50:03 - play with the kids or the

50:04 - grandkids and you're

50:05 - thinking, boy what can we

50:06 - do today?

50:07 - You need a little bit of

50:08 - corn syrup, just get on the

50:09 - Internet find yourself a

50:13 - recipe for modeling

50:14 - chocolate and you can make

50:16 - edible creations.

50:17 - And again, just in case you

50:18 - missed it, these are also,

50:19 - sort of, some of, little

50:20 - edible creations that we

50:21 - made.

50:21 - So totally kid-friendly.

50:24 - Kind of fun.

50:25 - Kind of a fun thing to do.

50:34 - I'm gonna get my spoons and

50:41 - release my chocolate right

50:50 - from the spoon.

50:54 - Just as simply as that.

50:56 - And every once in a while

50:57 - you'll have one that

50:57 - cracks.

50:58 - But that's the best part

51:00 - about nature is, if you

51:02 - look at a tulip, none of

51:04 - them are absolutely

51:05 - perfect.

51:06 - And so it makes this a lot

51:09 - more fun if you're not

51:11 - striving for perfection,

51:12 - but you're striving for

51:13 - something fun.

51:14 - So let's put a dollop of

51:18 - some white chocolate here.

51:21 - We're going to attempt to

51:23 - make sort of tulip head.

51:27 - And so we'll just take

51:28 - three of these, stick them

51:34 - right in the chocolate, and

51:41 - if your chocolate is at the

51:42 - right temperature, you will

51:44 - have no problem making them

51:47 - look like a tulip head.

51:49 - And so just, sort of,

51:50 - turning each of the pedals

51:51 - kind of into each other --

51:53 - some tulips are open a

51:54 - little more.

51:54 - Some closed a little more.

51:56 - So don't be too worried

51:57 - about that and we're gonna

51:58 - let this harden, or

51:59 - solidify, so that we can

52:01 - actually pick it up and

52:02 - work with it.

52:03 - I say that we'll move on to

52:05 - this step, where we have a

52:08 - tulip head.

52:11 - We have a tulip stem.

52:16 - And then we can actually

52:17 - make a leaf by pressing

52:20 - this.

52:32 - Cutting it.

52:36 - We'll add that right onto

52:37 - our stem and then use a

52:49 - piece of this modeling

52:50 - chocolate - just like a

52:51 - piece of bubble gum, where

52:52 - we sort of get it all

52:54 - loosened up,

52:57 - Fix it to the bottom of the

52:59 - tulip head and also to the

53:04 - stem and then sort of blend

53:07 - all three together.

53:17 - So there you have it.

53:19 - It is a tulip.

53:21 - So I have a few here and

53:28 - the best part about this is

53:31 - trying to add a little

53:31 - color to make it a little

53:32 - more realistic.

53:33 - So this is a luster dust

53:36 - used pretty frequently in

53:37 - cake making.

53:38 - Chocolate making.

53:40 - And I love to make these

53:41 - white chocolate because

53:43 - once you add this green

53:44 - luster, it does -- it

53:45 - really brings out a lot of

53:48 - the, sort of,

53:48 - characteristics of the

53:50 - chocolate.

53:51 - So you get to see any of

53:53 - the little bumps and

53:53 - grooves.

53:54 - Makes it look just like a

53:58 - stem and you add that and

54:05 - luster dust - comes in all

54:06 - different colors, different

54:08 - shines - I like to leave

54:13 - these as white chocolate,

54:15 - but you could also make the

54:17 - head of your tulip out of

54:19 - that Ruby chocolate that we

54:21 - were talking about.

54:22 - You could make it out of

54:26 - milk chocolate.

54:27 - Can make it out of dark

54:28 - chocolate.

54:28 - So anything that you wanted

54:29 - to make and you should

54:32 - always do it with a smile.

54:33 - Have fun and enjoy yourself

54:34 - as well.

54:35 - So that is one thing that

54:37 - we've made next to the

54:38 - tulips.

54:39 - Another is the chocolate

54:40 - wineglass.

54:41 - And that seems to be a

54:42 - very, very popular one.

54:43 - Like I said, I hadn't

54:45 - really understood the magic

54:46 - in the chocolate wine glass

54:48 - until we made one for class

54:50 - and it put a little wine in

54:52 - the glass and then took a

54:54 - sip and the wine glass

54:55 - actually melted slightly on

54:57 - my lips.

54:58 - So when I drank the wine

54:59 - and then licked my lips, it

55:00 - was -- it was an amazing

55:02 - experience.

55:03 - A great mix of chocolate

55:04 - and wine and highly

55:06 - recommended to try that.

55:08 - So what we're gonna do is

55:15 - put a dollop of chocolate

55:16 - on a piece of paper.

55:17 - And so I just pulled it

55:18 - right out of here.

55:19 - And I wanted to make it

55:20 - about the size of the base

55:21 - of my wine glass.

55:24 - So what we'll do is bring

55:25 - it over here, so we'll

55:31 - start with the dollop of

55:33 - chocolate.

55:33 - That's gonna be the base of

55:34 - the wine glass and then you

55:39 - could use a pretzel or

55:40 - piece of cookie.

55:41 - In this case, we're gonna

55:42 - use, sort of, one of these

55:44 - little chocolate fudge

55:46 - pirouettes and that's going

55:48 - to leave the stem of our

55:49 - glass.

55:50 - Then we'll take a balloon

55:53 - and dip it into tempered

55:54 - chocolate and then hang it

55:57 - here, so that it will meet

55:58 - up with the base of our --

56:01 - base of our wine glass.

56:31 - Just like that.

56:32 - So then what we'll do is

56:33 - we'll let that set and in

56:35 - about 5 or 6 minutes,

56:37 - things should be solid

56:38 - enough that we can remove

56:40 - the balloon and make a true

56:41 - wine glass.

56:42 - So I happen to have some

56:43 - over here.

56:45 - One that's already

56:46 - completed.

56:52 - So this is really neat

56:53 - looking.

56:54 - And then all you do is you

56:55 - simply just, sort of,

56:57 - slowly pop the balloon.

57:03 - You can also make, sort of,

57:04 - an ice cream, sort of, bowl

57:06 - like this as well.

57:07 - But this is maybe a little

57:08 - more fancy version.

57:11 - And then on to trying to

57:13 - make the top - I'm going to

57:14 - switch here - a little more

57:18 - smooth.

57:19 - So you can see that the top

57:21 - is not smooth, but we're

57:24 - about to make it so.

57:26 - So what we're gonna do is

57:27 - heat up, sort of, just a

57:29 - little metal pan.

57:31 - Use that as a flat surface

57:39 - and then use this just to

57:41 - slightly melt the edge to

57:52 - make this just perfect.

57:55 - So you saw on my shelf I

57:57 - actually have a margarita

57:58 - glass as well.

57:59 - So if you'd prefer to have

57:59 - a margarita glass, this

58:01 - would be the time that you

58:02 - would sort of dip this in

58:03 - some sugar.

58:05 - But if you want to leave it

58:06 - as a typical wine glass,

58:08 - there you have it.

58:09 - So now all I need is a

58:10 - little wine.

58:12 - So here we are at the end

58:14 - of our tour.

58:15 - And I hope if nothing else

58:16 - that you at least are

58:17 - inspired to play with some

58:19 - chocolate.

58:20 - Have fun enjoy learn create

58:24 - and have a great time.

58:25 - That's what it's all about.

58:26 - So I did want to let you

58:28 - know if you had any other

58:29 - questions, were interested

58:31 - in anything, or more

58:32 - information about the

58:33 - Speckled Hen, you could

58:34 - check us out online.

58:35 - We have a web site.

58:36 - Of course it's

58:37 - SpeckledHenChocolateCompany.com

58:40 - But more to the point of

58:42 - our creativity is our

58:44 - Facebook page.

58:45 - That's something that I can

58:47 - update as we're making

58:49 - chocolates.

58:49 - When we create something

58:50 - new.

58:51 - Check us out on Facebook.

58:52 - That's definitely where I

58:53 - have updates to our

58:55 - classes.

58:56 - Fun things that we've been

58:57 - creating.

58:59 - And we always try to put

59:00 - something new, unique, and

59:01 - different on there.

59:03 - So here I am signing off.

59:04 - I hope you enjoyed

59:05 - yourself.

59:06 - And please, if you ever

59:07 - have a question about

59:08 - chocolate, feel free to

59:09 - give me a call.