Sara Roller was looking for a hobby when she purchased the makings of a chocolate business from her son’s friend from Ontario, Canada. She had retired six years ago, and was looking for something to help pass the time. Her new business, Buchanan Chocolates, Inc., sells truffles made with premium Belgium chocolate to local companies as a unique way of giving appreciation to clients and potential customers, and to help promote products and services.
“It’s just a fun thing to do,” said Sara. “Sales aren’t really my forte, but if it’s a product you feel really good about, it helps your confidence.”
Growing up, Sara’s father told her sugar and white flour would kill her, “so of course that’s what you want, something you can’t have,” she said. Her son, Todd Schwartz, shared his love of high quality chocolates with her and she became a big fan.
“Canadians are pretty picky about their sweets,” said Sara. “The kind of chocolate I used to eat, I would not consume now. It’s very difficult for me to even work with milk chocolate at this point.”
Her husband, Terry Cabe, participated in a program at Ecolechocolat in British Columbia, where he learned advanced techniques used in producing Belgium truffles. He brought the knowledge back to their home near Snohomish and began work on transforming their garage into a chocolate factory for two.
“We did a thorough cleaning of the chocolate room floor and etched it with acid prior to applying a clear sealant,” said Roller. “Walls, electrical, hot water heater, air conditioner, sinks and lighting were added and our garage doors were replaced. It’s really handy because it’s right where we live and there is no cash outlay for rented or purchased space required.”
She said they will eventually have to move to a bigger, more commercial location as their business grows, she said.
As industries adjust to the changing economic climate, Roller sees more companies switching to lower quality ingredients in their products, such as high fructose corn syrup and fake vanilla flavoring.
She and her husband strive to use local natural ingredients in their chocolates, including dark Belgium chocolate purchased from a distributor in Auburn. The business produces about 600-800 chocolates per production run, depending on the season, with the capacity to produce more to keep up with demand.
Chocolate is delivered in 11-pound bars wrapped similar to those you’d find in a grocery store, or in a flat chip form known as callets. When an order comes in, Cabe said he breaks up about three of the bars into small shavings using what looks like a big butter knife. A large tempering machine imported from Europe helps melt the chocolate.
“Temperature control is crucial,” said Cabe. “If you’ve ever left a chocolate bar on the dashboard of your car, it melts and when it hardens again, you’ll notice it looks all chalky looking. This means it has lost its temper and the crystals that produce its dark sheen.”
Powdered cocoa butter is mixed into the chocolate as it’s melting. After it’s re-tempered, the chocolate is seeded with more shavings. He tests the chocolate by scraping some onto a smooth sterile surface and letting it sit for five minutes, after which it gets a matt color.
“Then I break it, and if it snaps well, then I know the chocolate is tempered,” he said. “If it isn’t and you set it in the molds, you won’t be able to get it out.”
Using a spout built into the machine, Cabe fills a set of molds heated using a tool similar to a hair dryer. A small vibrating table attached to the machine shakes the molds to remove any bubbles, which helps give the finished shells their smooth appearance. After cooling, the shells are filled with a ganache of heavy cream, butter and flavor ingredients. Cabe covers the mold with more chocolate to create a bottom on the truffle, pouring two layers to ensure it’s sealed.
Their truffles are available in nine varieties, including rum, loganberry, French vanilla, espresso (Roller’s favorite), raspberry, double chocolate, and amaretto. Their newest recipe is made with natural peppermint oil purchased from a market in Lynnwood and wrapped in golden foil to prevent the strong scent from overpowering the other truffles it’s packaged with.
Premium chocolates typically have a shelf life of around 30 days, said Cabe, depending on the level of care taken when they are produced and stored. A small booklet included with each box of Buchanan Chocolates offers instructions customers can use to help ensure their treats are fresh when eaten.
“It depends on the quality control,” he said. “When we make the ganache, the first thing we do is re-pasteurize the heavy cream.”
To prepare their espresso chocolates, ground-up espresso is added to heavy cream while boiling. The process infuses the flavor into the cream, said Cabe.
Roller and Cabe said they find opportunities to experiment with their products as businesses bring them new ideas. They have filled custom orders for weddings and other special events, and have had their chocolates packaged with other referral gifts already prepared by their clients.
“We recently worked with a couple realtors who wanted to put on a customer appreciation night,” said Roller, “and because they were going to furnish wine at the event, they asked if we would make a chocolate that would go well with the particular wine they served. We made both blueberry and orange zest truffles, something unique that we hadn’t done before.”
Their creation was so successful; Buchanan is now working with wine experts to package specially created truffles to complement wines. Customized labeling will assist buyers in making the wine/chocolate pairing easy.
Roller hopes they can make improvements to their company Web site and continue building the business until it can support someone working fulltime.
“I’d really like to build it up and hand it over to someone with a lot more energy,” she said.
For more information, visit www.buchananchocolate.com or call 425-377-8327.
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