Oh My Goodness!
Revelled in the Confections
of Michigan Chocolatiers
By Julie Ford
f
www.michiganhomeandlifestyle.com
78
rom the gooey white seeds of the cacao pod to the sophisticated creamy centers of
chocolate-dipped confections, Michigan chocolatiers are creating rich and beautiful
chocolates using both the secret recipes of their legacy and avant-garde flavor combinations to satisfy the most discriminating palate.
While it’s not likely that savoring one delightful piece of chocolate can solve one’s
angst, it most certainly helps, and the world can thank the Olmec Indians, Mayans,
Aztecs, explorers (both celebrated and notorious), and Europeans for figuring out
just what to do with the odd-looking colorful pods growing on small evergreen trees
in deep tropical forests just 20 degrees north or south of the equator. Chocolatemaking is complex and it begins when the bitter white cacao beans are removed from the pod, fermented, dried, cleaned, roasted and shelled. What
is left after this process are “nibs” and the world consumes more than 3
million tons of this “food from the gods” that Michigan chocolatiers delight in using.
When Nancy Biehn, chief executive chocolatier for Sweet
Gem Confections in Ann Arbor, visited a fine chocolate store in
Oviedo, Spain, she hadn’t experienced anything in the U.S. remotely like it except for Godiva. “It felt like it had been there for
years and years,” explains Biehn who traveled to Spain to teach
conversational English. “It looked like a jewelry shop with hundreds of chocolate choices that were beautiful on the outside with
whipped and delicious centers.” Biehn says the chocolates were
also very expensive and laughs as she recalls how much of her
earnings she spent in the store.
For Biehn, who grew up on a farm, loves local fruits and
vegetables and using the best quality of ingredients in food, doing something creative had always been a dream – she just didn’t
know she would be creative with chocolate. Sixteen years later, her
Ann Arbor-based artisan chocolate business is thriving and her creativity is endless.
“What’s most important to me is that they should taste even better
than they look,” says Biehn whose very first chocolates were raspberry truffles. “I am close to small, local farms, where the fruits are picked by my hands
or the hands of my staff and each chocolate passes through three sets of hands.”
79
Winter 2013
Photo:Sanders
Early photo of dipping creams
Like pate de fruits, caramel is another confection that can be difficult to make and for Linda Skwarcan, general manager and chocolatier
of Veni’s Sweet Shop in Niles, it had ruinous beginnings. “I cooked my
first batch to the consistency of hard candy,” says Skwarcan adding in
hindsight she probably could have saved it and sold it as hard candy.
“You drop caramel into cold water to feel its consistency and listen to
the sound it makes. I can’t imagine how anyone can make caramel in
the kitchen – it’s hard!” After attending a caramel clinic, chocolate boot
camp, and numerous continuing education classes, Skwarcan is producing the same delicious caramels, chocolates,
and other confectionery delights that Veni’s has
been known for since 1938.
“I never dreamt I’d make chocolate,” says
Skwarcan who purchased the former Marazita
family-owned chocolate shop in 2008. In 2004,
head chocolatier Albert Marazita died and the
remaining family members sold the long-standing confectionery to Skwarcan after she volunteered to help with the Easter rush. Within a
few weeks, she owned the beloved Veni’s Sweet
Shop where she and her husband had been customers for years.
Pecan and cashew turtles, old-fashioned
cooked creams, cherry cordials, and a vast selection of sugar free chocolates co-mingle with
every imaginable traditional chocolate in beautifully preserved wood and glass display cases.
“We look for quality ingredients and rich taste
in the chocolate we use,” says Skwarcan, adding
she changed the blend but hasn’t changed much because she likes what
she is producing. Skwarcan notes she and her staff also have the capability of producing large quantities of customized chocolates from cor-
Photo: Veni’s Sweet Shop
Handmade chocolates the Veni’s way
Biehn’s love of fruit is expressed in her pate de fruits – intensely
flavored chewy candies made from fruit puree and coated in sugar. They
also happened to be the most difficult candy she initially tried to make
and with the help of a French confectioner, she
now has her technique well-defined. Biehn
uses the freshest fruits of the season including
golden and red raspberries, pears with ginger,
blueberries, and even paw-paws. She notes that
while the ingredients – water, fruit puree, apple
juice, apple pectin, and sugar are basic-- controlling the water levels and temperature is tricky.
In addition to her pate de fruits are many
flavors and designs of chocolate truffles. Partnering with Organic Tea Company, Biehn
creates truffles with creamy ganache centers
infused with fair trade organic tea. Earl Grey
– a blend of organic Chinese and organic Indian teas with a hint of bergamot, Lapsang
Souchong – a smokey organic tea from the Fujian province of China, and others that change
with the seasons are infused into creamy ganache and hand-dripped or piped into milk or
dark chocolate exteriors. Salted caramels are
another expertise of Biehn who uses artisan smoked salt with a hint
of fired Chardonnay oak wine barrel gently sprinkled atop each handmade chocolate dipped caramel.
www.michiganhomeandlifestyle.com
80
porate logos to weddings. “We’re always trying new things and branching
out as long as customers like it,” says Skwarcan noting salted caramels
and chocolate-dipped candied orange peel currently top the list of customer favorites, and with head chocolatier Sandy Bennitt, butterscotch
meltaways and other “delightful surprises” are planned for the holidays.
Long-standing traditional chocolatiers like Veni’s Sweet Shop, Caruso Candy Kitchen in Dowagiac, Sayklly’s Confectionery in Escanaba
and Detroit-area confectionery icon Sanders are just a handful of the
more than 50 chocolatiers around the state producing the sweet treats
Michiganders just can’t get enough of.
Since 1875, with just a few years as bumpy as its famous cake, Sanders has been the go-to place for smooth rectangular boxes containing
milk and dark chocolates filled with centers that instantly take one’s taste
buds back to a simpler time. Frederick Sanders Schmidt, with a desire
to learn the art of confection-making, brought his skills to downtown
Detroit after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed his first confectionery business. From his nineteenth century “pavilion of sweets” on
Woodward Avenue to the refreshing return of the Sanders store in several suburban-Detroit cities, Sanders chocolates are back. In 2002, Morley
Candy Makers, Inc. purchased the Sanders brand including the original
recipes and creates both new collections and the traditional chocolates
Detroiters grew up with.
“Like a mom would have, Sanders recipes are in a little box,” says
Tiffany Van Hemm, director of public relations for Sanders headquartered in Clinton Township. Although the box left Michigan for a short
while to a private firm, it came back to Morley where today, the old recipes are still referenced in making original Sanders candies. “We have only
made slight changes to the original products,” says Van Hemm. “There
has been no change to flavor whatsoever.” Van Hemm explains a typical
change, “We took out an unnatural preservative in the milk chocolate hot
fudge topping from the 1920s and put in a natural preservative.”
Van Hemm notes besides the chocolate used in producing confections, much of Sanders ingredients and even the packaging are sourced in
Michigan. “We are using simple, good ingredients and focusing on much
better quality,” says Van Hemm. “If you are going to indulge, indulge
with better ingredients.” On the horizon are fruit and granola chocolate
clusters and fruit dips in caramel, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. “In
our stores, you will find things you can’t find anywhere else, like beautiful custom-made, hand-stamped wood boxes,” notes Van Hemm. “On
Valentine’s Day, people line up out the door for hand-dipped chocolate
covered strawberries made that day.” Van Hemm also adds there will be a
new collection of confections in little Chinese take-out-style treat boxes
- a more reasonable gift-giving size.
From traditional chocolates that bring back childhood memories,
to micro-batches of chocolate-dipped ganache in extraordinary flavors,
Michigan’s chocolatiers are in the business of making confections that
celebrate life’s ups and assuage life’s downs, one bite at a time.q
Late 1800s photo of The Pavilion of Sweets on
Woodward Avenue in Detroit
Photo opposite inset: Sweet Gem Confections
Elegant fruit gems - Pate de Fruits crafted with
Michigan’s finest seasonal fruits.
More Information
Sanders Candy: www.sanderscandy.com
Sanders Confectionary by Greg Tasker (Arcadia Publishing)
Sweet Gem Confections: www.annarborchocolate.com
Veni’s Sweet Shop: www.venissweetshop.com
World Cocoa Foundation: www.worldcocoafoundation.org
81
Winter 2013
Recipe courtesy of www.simplyrecipes.com
Variations
Chocolate Fondue Recipe
Ingredients:
12 ounces of dark chocolate
(chips or roughly chopped if from a block)
8 ounces of heavy cream
A pinch of salt
Dippables such as strawberries, banana pieces cut into
1-inch chunks, dried appricots, candied ginger, apple pieces
• Add a tablespoon or two of Bailey’s Irish Cream to the chocolate.
Other liquors such as Grand Marnier, Amaretto, or Kirsch are equally
yummy.
• Add a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and ancho chili pepper for a nice
mexican chocolate.
• The contents of a vanilla pod or some vanilla extract are always a
decadent touch to chocolate.
Preparation:
1. Warm the cream over moderate heat until tiny bubbles show and: the
mixture begins to lightly and slowly boil. Add the chocolate and whisk
until smooth and full incorporated.
• A good pinch of espresso powder can do wonders!
• Orange zest or grapefruit zest is a nice nice way to create a slightly
fruity chocolate.
2. Immediately transfer to a fondue pot heated at low or with a low flame,
or serve straight from the pot.
• A few tablespoons of Torani flavoring syrups (the kind used for coffee
or Italian sodas) can add a nice dimension of flavor as well.
3. Arrange the dippables on a platter or plates around the chocolate pot.
Use a fondue fork, bamboo skewer, seafood fork, or salad fork to dip the
fruit pieces and other dippables into the hot melted cream chocolate
mixture. Eat immediately.
• White chocolate is always a nice change, and spiked with a little liquor
or citrus zest becomes heavenly.
If the fondue begins to feel a little stiff, add a tablespoon of heavy cream
and stir. It will help it go a little longer. Eventually, it will cook down
though and you may need to start a new pot.
www.michiganhomeandlifestyle.com
• Steeping the cream for an hour beforehand and while heating it can
add a nice subtle flavor, lemongrass for white chocolate or a bag of
Earl Grey tea for dark chocolate are particularly stylish and contemporary.
82