Chocolate making, an Easter tradition
Like candy makers across the country, London, Ontario's Habitual Chocolate has been ramping up production for the all-important Easter weekend chocolate sales. Here's how they do it.
Daniel Cortes tempers the chocolate before pouring it into trays to create the final chocolate bars. Habitual Chocolate was started by David Cook after learning how to roast cocoa beans when he was on coffee buying trips for his other business. The company buys direct from producers in Central and South America. In business for two years the company produces items for retail and for commercial use. The knowledge Cook learned from roasting and blending coffee beans is easily transferred to the chocolate business where the beans are roasted in a similar fashion. Workers prepare the cocoa beans both by hand and through automation.Mark Spowart for The Globe and Mail
Luis Rivas of Habitual Chocolate holds raw cocoa beans from El Salvador.Mark Spowart for The Globe and Mail
Mark Spowart
Mark Spowart
Trays of cocoa beans from Nicaragua wait to be crushed after roastedMark Spowart for The Globe and Mail
Daniel Cortes tempers the chocolate by raising and lowering the temperature to produce stable crystal structures that will result in firm chocolate with a slight sheen in that will keep for months at a cool room temperature.Mark Spowart for The Globe and Mail
Mark Spowart
Daniel Cortes scraps away the extra chocolate after pouring it into mold trays.Mark Spowart for The Globe and Mail
Mark Spowart
David Cook, owner of Habitual Chocolate, places a plate of specialty chocolate bars into his display case.Mark Spowart for The Globe and Mail
The finished product ready for purchase at Habitual Chocolate in London. Ont.Mark Spowart for The Globe and Mail