The Wonderful World of Chocolate

As Easter approaches chocolatier Bryan Townson will be creating hundreds of hand-crafted, intricately decorated eggs. Photography: Kirsten Platt

When chefs Bryan and Eve Townson married, they made their own petit fours creating miniature shoes and chefs’ hats as favours for their guests. It was a move that led them into the wonderful world of chocolate.

“It started off as a weekend hobby, but it has taken off and I now make for hotels and restaurants throughout the North West, as well as taking private commissions,” explains Bryan who, in the run up to Easter will make hundreds of hand-crafted eggs and bunnies, all intricately decorated to make them visually stunning – as well as being mouth-wateringly delicious!

Endeavouring to keep many of his designs exclusive to specific hotels and restaurants, Bryan has worked with the Beaume family at the renowned Cartford Inn and their delicatessen TOTI for many years. This year is no exception – he will be making their exclusive TOTI signature eggs along with a huge prize egg that will be decorated with a rainbow of stripes.

The chocolate-making process begins by tempering the very best quality Belgian Callebaut chocolate, as Bryan explains: “The tempering process heats the chocolate to a certain temperature. It’s an essential process that gives a beautiful sheen to it.”

White, milk, dark and ruby chocolate are all tempered differently. Once the moulds have been meticulously cleaned and polished, Bryan might spray different coloured cocoa butter on the inside then a fine layer of chocolate, leaving it to dry. More chocolate is then added and the end result is a beautifully glossy, speckled egg.

Being ultimately creative is what lies behind Bryan’s success. He is currently working on a ‘Death by Chocolate’ project creating an egg with a skull inside. Using a silicone mould, the resulting skull is sprayed with white chocolate and is partially encased in a chocolate egg so that it is visible inside.

“I love developing ideas and the designs can get quite technical. I am also a perfectionist so it’s got to be just right,” says Bryan, who is also working on a chocolate bee-hive with intricately decorated hand-painted bees on the outside.

Another idea he has recently developed is creating exclusive chocolate bars for the famous chefs of Lancashire.

“The chefs create their own favourite combination of ingredients. One chef has specified hazelnuts and salted caramel pearls in milk chocolate,” says Bryan, who features a caricature of the chef on each wrapper.

With Easter on the horizon, it is anticipated that Bryan and his wife Eve, who appeared on BBC’s Great British Menu, will make around 600 eggs this year.

“What we do is very visual so I use Instagram and Facebook to show people what we are creating. I also look at what other chocolatiers around the world are doing.”

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