A few weeks ago MDY and I braved the wind and cold for a special evening at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place. The event was the launch of Lindt’s Creation Blocks – you may already be familiar with the Creation Dessertpralines but now they have turned four of the delicious flavours into blocks: Sumptuous Dark Orange, Heavenly Crème Brûlée, Divine Hazelnut and Velvety Vanilla Almond. Dangerously, they come in a rather manageable 100g size, easily devoured in one sitting (as pointed out by Master Chocolatier Thomas Schnetzler!).
The night was highly informative – Master Chocolatier Thomas Schnetzler explained the chocolate making process, with all of us curiously touching, poking, looking at and tasting the ‘chocolate’ at different stages of production (cocoa butter really doesn’t taste as nice as it sounds). He also let us in on a few secrets of the Lindt chocolate making process, what makes them different and what gives Lindt chocolate its signature silky texture. Did you know that the Lindt Chocolate headquarters in Lake Zurich, Switzerland have been in the same building ever since 1899?! Also found out that on average, Australians consume around 7kg of chocolate a year, while the Swiss (of course) consume a whopping 12kg a year.
After a tasting of each of the four new flavours, we all crowded around to see a demonstration of how to make the Velvety Vanilla Almond chocolate block. Milk chocolate is poured into the moulds first, followed by the vanilla almond mixture, then topped with another layer of milk chocolate to make the base. Then freeze it for a bit, and voila! You have delicious chocolatey goodness.
After the demonstration we were given free reign of the store – including unlimited samples from the milk and dark chocolate fountain…way too dangerous! I managed to pull myself away to grab a goodie bag, only to go home to enjoy more exquisite chocolate.
Lindt Chocolate Cafe – Martin Place
53 Martin Place
Sydney 2000
http://www.lindt.com.au/swf/eng/cafe/
talk&spoon attended as a guest of Lindt Chocolate cafe, with thanks to The Trish Nicol Agency.
