Home Sweet Home

Oct 08, 2014

A visit to the home-based shop/studio of local chocolatier, Ludwig Ratzinger, feels a bit like winning one of Willy Wonka's golden tickets. An experienced chocolatier, Ludwig recently set up his studio in the new straw bale home he designed and helped to build near Maberly. The studio is located in the basement of the home, where Ludwig works full time and on average produces from half to three-quaters of a tonne of chocolate per year.

When I visited his studio early last week a brand new semi-automatic tempering machine, which Ludwig purchased thanks to a grant from the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation, was in full operation. Its fly wheel was spinning up a fresh, warm, velvety batch of sweet-smelling chocolate and pouring it from a spout, where Ludwig was filling a series of intricate, feather-shaped bar molds.

Made from “single origin noble grade cocoa beans” from South America, Ludwig’s bars are premium quality and are not your average chocolate bar. The process involves first creating batches of chocolate from raw blocks and pellets, which Ludwig imports from a Swiss company that offers South American cocoa farmers 50% more than other Fair Trade rates. Ludwig explained that as a result of the way the pods are harvested the raw beans are a higher grade than those used by commercial chocolate producers. “Each pod is first picked and left to sit in its pulp, where it ferments for a day and then is sun dried, which gives the cocoa its unique high quality flavour.” The pods are then bagged and shipped directly to Switzerland (sans middle man), where they are refined and then purchased by a host of premiere chocolatiers, of which Ludwig is one.

In his studio Ludwig mixes these imported raw batches in his special tempering machine, sometimes adding flavors of lime or mint. He explained that the tempering process allows the chocolate to go through the necessary crystallization process, which gives the chocolates their ideal colour, texture and density, and their bright, crisp-sounding “snap” when a piece is broken off the bar.

Once crystallization has occurred, the temperature of the mix is then raised to 32 degrees Celsius and the liquid chocolate is poured into a series of decorative plastic molds and left to cool. Prior to cooling, additional ingredients can be added; Ludwig incorporates high quality sea salt, caramelized cocoa nibs or barberries to create interesting and unusual flavors.

Later the individual bars are removed from the molds and packaged as either single or double bar offerings. Packaging is another area where Ludwig excels and he designed some of his own packaging. “I figured, since I am producing a premium product why not also make an effort to package it right?” The smaller sized 40 gram bars ($4.50-$5.50) are wrapped more simply, and the 100 gram double bars ($13-$15) are wrapped in silver/gold metal foil and encased in an aesthetically pleasing heavy paper pull sleeve and come with an explanation of the ingredients, the production process and suggested wine pairings.

A fourth generation pastry chef who hails from Bavaria, Germany, Ludwig came to chocolate making in 2006 after a successful eight-year stint as pastry chef at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa. “I decided to focus at home on chocolate making because it is a simpler, more immediate undertaking that requires less space and less equipment, and I have a lot more control over the production process.”

Ludwig has future plans for his chocolate products and is hoping to talk to a local brewery about making beer truffles. Ludwig sells his premium chocolate bars at Foodsmiths in Perth, Peches et Poivre in Almonte, Mrs. McGarrigles in Merrickville, Read's Book Shop in Carleton Place and at Seed to Sausage's brand new store in Ottawa at 729 Gladstone Ave. Local chocolate lovers can find Ludwig and his sweet offerings this Thanksgiving weekend on October 11, 12 &13 at the Perth Autumn Studio Tour. He will be a guest at studio # 7, the Brent Kirkham Studio located at 2486 Christie Lake Road and will be there each day from 10am-5pm.