Chocolatiers are culinary experts who are experienced working with chocolate and making it into candy or other delectable goods for chocolate lovers across the globe.
Chocolatiers are commonly confused with Chocolate makers who also work hands on with chocolate, but who are experienced in taking its raw material, including the cocoa bean, to roast, grind and melt chocolate into a palatable form.
This step is integral before it reaches Chocolatiers, who are responsible for preparing it into the many forms we see in the marketplace.
Individuals who want to become a Chocolatier will not only need creativity to create recipes for consumers, they must also have a full grasp of chocolate on a technical level because it can be very temperamental when it is being prepared for consumption.
Table of Contents
- Education Requirements to Become a Chocolatier
- Chocolatier Job Description
- Chocolatier Salary and Career Path
- Frequently Asked Questions
Education Requirements to Become a Chocolatier
Creating a variety of chocolate candies may seem like much fun, but in reality, a lot of work and skills are needed in order to perfect a recipe.
Individual must have a culinary background in order to become a Chocolatier.
During their culinary education, individuals will learn the technical aspects of cooking and baking with chocolate in addition to testing and learning basic recipes to make such things as mousse and truffles.
Some technical skills individuals will learn in order to become a Chocolatier include:
- What temperature to heat chocolate
- Molding
- Tempering
- Confections
- Candy production
- Recipe design
- Tempering
- Dipping
- Decorating
- Molding
Individuals will also learn the science behind chocolate including the chemistry needed to understand flavors and textures as well as confectionary recipes that use ganache, fondant and sugar syrup.
Individuals who want to become a Chocolatier will need to focus their time with many years of culinary education and experience in order to master this delicate food.
In addition to learning the technical aspects of chocolate, Chocolatiers will also need to grasp the creative and aesthetic side of creating recipes.
During their culinary careers, individuals will also learn how to create designs and decorations geared to appease the eyes and mouths of their consumers.
Chocolatiers will also need to practice aesthetics in order to create designs for a variety of holidays including Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Birthdays and many other special occasions.
Chocolatier Job Description
Chocolatiers are culinary experts who are experienced in taking the edible chocolate already created by chocolate makers, and creating it into a palatable consumer good that can take many forms.
A Chocolatier will begin their task of creating chocolate flavored edibles by selecting the recipe and the perfect type of chocolate.
Some basic forms of chocolate candies and edibles include the following list.
- Truffles
- Mousse
- Fudge
- Chocolate Bark
- Bar Chocolate
- Chocolate dipped fruit
In addition, Chocolatiers will make fillings for a variety of chocolate candies including: pralines, caramel or truffle.
As far as creating chocolate recipes to please the eye, Chocolatiers will need to be able to take direction from a variety of client suggestions in order to also focus on the aesthetic piece of chocolate making.
Chocolatiers will do so by creating designs for holidays and special occasions such as Christmas, birthdays and Halloween.
Chocolatier Salary and Career Path
In 2010, the average annual salary for Chocolatiers was approximately $24,000.
Exact wages will depend on several factors including level of experience, whether an individual is an employee or owns a culinary business, location and many other factors.
The job outlook for this profession is expected to increase by 12 percent through the year 2010 which is considered an average growth.
