THE CHOCOLATE BAMBOO

The chocolate bamboo is an idea which came up two years ago when i was working at the Fairmont Dubai.  My pastry chef at that time helped me build this showpiece the first time.  After that there have been plenty of modifications to its original form.  The bamboos are completely made from Cocoa Barry white Chocolate.  The most challenging part is making the bamboos by itself, bamboos are supposed to be hollow so if we just made a stick filled with chocolate it would not do justice to the real bamboos.  So we made all the chocolate bamboo's hollow in the center.  We then air brushed it with some edible colours to give it a more realistic look.  Finally we added some lady bugs, butterflies and dragon flies to bring it closer to Nature's creation.

CHOCOLATE HANDBAGS

Handbags are loved by the feminine race, and so is chocolate.  Creating a handbag from chocolate was one of the best ways to cater to the ever so demanding female population.  At the chocoalte gallery we make a variety of hand bags using different varieties of chocolate ranging from 38% milk chocolate to 70% Araguani.  Araguani is a type of bitter chocoalte marketed by the most famous French chocolate manufacturer Valrhona.  The Cocoa beans used in making Araguani are grown in Venezuela.  It boasts of a 70% cocoa content and is quiet bitter.  Working with chocolate with a higer cocoa to fat (cocoa butter) content is rather easy however this is just a personal observation.   

BLACK AND RED PRADA

Prada is a brand that need no introduction,  Just as the prada dominates the fashion world.  Chocolate Gallery is a leader in its own league.  At the chocolate gallery we do a number of customized show pieces according to our customers request.  The black and red prada is one of those customized pieces.  It was created as a turndown amenity for one of the prada sales agent who was touring our hotel.  The entire shoe is hand crafted from a block of Felchlin rondo 52%.  This chocoalte is particular easy to work compared to other dark chocolates with a higher cocoa content as it has a good balance of cocoa mass and cocoa butter.  The sole and other accessories of the shoe are made with a White chocolate modelling paste.  The    scarf adds more of a feminine touch to the piece.  The scarf has been created from a cocoa barry white satin modelling place similar to the one used for the accessories.  The shoe has been chocolate sprayed black to give it a leather effect

CIRCINATE

One of the most vibrant and eye catching show pieces i have every worked on.  What sets it apart from all my other work is the combination of the colours green brown and yellow in this piece.  My inspiration behind this piece was nature.  It took around two weeks to design a piece that would resemble nature and yet look very modern.  This piece is made from Cocoa Barry white satin as it is more resilient to humidity.  The dark root has been rolled out of a Felchlin Maracaibo 65% cocoa content chocolate. The maracaibo exhibits a unique blend of coffee and plums.  The traditional blending methods used to produce this chocolate unfolds the aroma of orange blossom and cinnamon which gives it its distinct flavour. The Maracaibo has been voted the best couverture in 2004 by the pastry academy in Ferrera Italy. The idea behind the piece was to portray an elegent flow of Nature through chocolate without too many corners and thus a circular shape was the best alternative.

The Golf Bag

THE GOLF BAG

Growing up in India sports is a very important part of our lives, during our school days we would play games for hours sometimes even missing classes for them. however Golf is a sport that is overshadowed by the presence of Cricket in India.  I feel Golf has a lot in common with chocolate.  Both Golf and Chocolate need a lot of patience to work with, one wrong shot and you could be stuck for hours.  The entire chocolate golf bag is made of cocoa barry satin blanc chocoalte.  The Golf clubs and other accessories are also crafted from the same chocoalte.  A dark plastic chocolate for the bag-strap  is the best addition as it adds a leather feel to it. 

The Falcon

THE FALCON

One of the great things about working for a hotel chain that has properties all over the world is the interaction with local cultures, the Falcon is a very popular bird is this part of the world so making one from chocolate was always on the cards.  This particular piece was ordered by a customer who wanted a falcon sitting on sand dunes. The sand dunes were probably the most challenging as a space needed to be left for the falcon to stand,  the entire piece was made from pure Coco barry satin white chocolate and airbrushed with details.  One of the highlights of this show piece was the Logo of the customer which we managed to airbrush in one of the sand dunes..!!!

The Jazz man

THE JAZZ MAN...!!!!

The idea for this chocolate showpiece struck me as i was surfing through the internet.  The showpiece displays an artist doing what he is best at.  The entire showpiece is made from different blocks of chocolate carved out and then put together.  Due to the enormous size of the sculpture and the minute details, carving it from one block was not an option.  To give it a more rustic look it has been sprayed with a thin coat of coco butter and chocolate.  One of the most difficult part of this pieces was to get the legs in perfect synchrony. The title was however given by my pastry chef..!!!