Life can be sweet, and recently a Vancouver Island University pastry arts student, who has designed the next signature chocolate, is finding out how good it can get.
Grace Poirier says she has always worked in a bakery, and this is just another step forward for her to follow her passion and future of owning a restaurant surrounding high-end desserts.
“Ever since I have been able to work it has been in a bakery,” she says. “I wanted to learn professional skills and be certified while owning my own bakery.”
Poirier attended Cacao Barry Industries in Paris, France, after she won a taste test challenge at VIU in December to design the next signature chocolate flavour. She says the process was very interesting and in-depth but is confident the final product will be one of a kind.
“VIU is sponsored by Cacao Berry’s Or Noir Lab, which is a very big chocolate producer in the world,” she says. “We tasted a lot of different chocolates from all over the world and narrowed it down to the chocolate we like.
“From there we make a mix of coco-mass and chocolate. We also add sugar, dairy, and flavour. It is then mixed, and we try it.”
She says the process was done six times before a final recipe was chosen.
Poirier says her chocolate should be released between October and December, but more realistically she forecasts it to be out in time for Christmas.
“Since the manufacturing process is all overseas it does take a while,” she says. “The production is all in France, but from what I heard October at the earliest and December at the latest.”
She expects the price point, when available in a chocolate bar format, will be set according to VIU’s price point, but it will also be available to pastry chefs for their use.
“VIU does distribute it as a chocolate bar, and I believe they are set between $6 to $7,” she says. “For pastry chefs that use it to temporarily make bonbons, you can buy it in a 1 kg bag for between $30 to $40.”
She says the recipe will be unique to the industry, and will include a mix between milk and dark chocolate.
