Published at 11:06, Thursday, 05 April 2012

WHEN Carol Mohan moved to Cumbria from Hartlepool, she wasn’t happy to ‘just’ retire – and a passion for chocolate has led her to setting up her own business making artisan chocolate.

TASTY TREATS: Carol Mohan, who owns Polka Dot Pantry which specialises in delicious chocolates made the Belgian way

I spoke to her about the tricky business of chocolate making...

“Firstly I melt the couvature and then begin the ‘tempering’ process – this means working the chocolate at specific temperatures and then repeating the process at a lower temperature. It is crucial to get this right, so if the phone goes or the doorbell is calling I just have to ignore it and carry on with the preparation!”

You might sometimes see chocolate that has a white look or bloom – this is perfectly all right to eat but it doesn’t look very nice. The bloom is caused by not tempering the chocolate correctly.

Carol makes three types of ‘gastrobark’ – a white chocolate with coconut and cranberries, a dark chocolate with orange, ginger and toasted almonds, and a milk chocolate with caramelised cashew nuts and finished with fleur de sel (finishing with salt makes a surprising but delicious taste).

The finished chocolate bark is available in stylish bags and would make a lovely present or wedding favour. It is a great addition to the many and varied Cumbrian foodie products. I had to ask her how she managed not to eat all this delicious chocolate – “well,” she said, “I have to taste the chocolate at very stages during the process and have learnt to exercise some willpower!”

For more details of stockists, contact Carol on 01900 828740 or visit www.polkadotpantry.co.uk

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk