Meet Steve Hills, chocolate makerImage: Carrol Baker
How did you get started in the chocolate-making business?
My very first job out of school was at CSIRO, where I worked in the office. Now, many years later, I’ve come full circle, working in another science role – the science of crafting chocolate.
I retired 10 years ago along with my wife, Dorothy. But then we got a little bit bored. We bought a small chocolate-making business in another town, put everything on a truck and came out to Maleny.
We didn’t just want to dabble; we have put our heart and soul into the business. Even now I still get a thrill coming to work. It’s hard not to love a job where you can eat chocolate every day.
Developing new flavours involves both science and creativityImage: Carrol Baker
How are new chocolate flavours developed?
Dorothy is a Cordon Bleu cook; she can think up some fantastic flavour combinations. She will say, “Steve, let’s try this!” Of course, our staff love all the taste testing. Rocky road with raspberries, pistachios and chocolate is a hands-down favourite with kids!
What is the most fun thing about your job?
The people who come in and are amazed watching the chocolate constantly streaming out of the machines into huge vats below. It’s a mystery to many people how it’s made. Sometimes when I’m making samples for people to try, I’ll let a few kids come behind the scenes and watch. Their faces light up, they are so excited.
A bloom caused by sugar crystalsImage: ©iStock.com/nbehmans
What is sugar bloom and why does it happen?
If you put chocolate in a fridge to keep it cool, sometimes it changes colour, this is called sugar bloom. It’s like bringing a cold can of drink out into the warm air, the water vapour condenses on it. What happens with chocolate, is the sugar crystals are drawn to the surface of the chocolate. It might look funny but it’s still good to eat.
What does tempering chocolate mean?
The chocolate is heated in a vat to a very high heat – 50 degrees – which makes all the crystals inside it break down. Then it’s rapidly cooled to 29 or 30 degrees [to create a better crystal structure]. That’s largely what the tempering process is. It makes the chocolate smooth, glossy, and easy to work with.
White, milk and dark chocolate each have slightly different ingredientsImage: ©iStock.com/AND-ONE
What’s the difference between white, milk and dark chocolate?
Dark is the ‘natural’ form of chocolate [containing cocoa solids and cocoa butter]. Milk chocolate has milk powder added to it. But white chocolate is quite different. It has no cocoa solids in it, unlike milk and dark chocolate. It’s just cocoa butter, milk powder and sugar.
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