Chocolate Art!

Chocolate is one of my favourite subjects! I have read stories based on and I definitely like tasting it!

From its humble origins, chocolate has developed considerably since it first appeared in its solid form in Europe. The creation of the first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry. In 1847 he discovered that he could make a moldable chocolate paste by adding melted cacao butter back into Dutch cocoa. By 1868, the Cadbury company was born ! Rodolphe Lindt invented a conching machine in 1879 which was able to produce chocolate with a velvety texture and superior taste. This, and other advances allowed for the mass production of smooth, creamy milk chocolate on factory assembly lines.

“Anthropologists have found evidence that chocolate was produced by pre-Olmec cultures living in present-day Mexico as early as 1900 B.C. The ancient Mesoamericans who first cultivated cacao plants found in the tropical rainforests of Central America fermented, roasted and ground the cacao beans into a paste that they mixed with water, vanilla, honey, chilli peppers and other spices to brew a frothy chocolate drink.”’ https://www.history.com/news/the-sweet-history-of-chocolate

Today, not only can chocolate be drunk, eaten and cooked with, it can be manipulated to create works of art or unusual treats from simple dominoes and Lego bricks to replicas of everyday items, objects of natural beauty and whole buildings or monuments, mannequins, sculptures of the famous, chocolate dresses, chocolate furniture, planets in fact whatever the mind can imagine.

If you’d like to indulge in a little chocolate without the sugar and the calories take a few minutes to watch how these amazing creations are made eg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uggbd2Di5W4

If this has inspired you , you might like to look at this video of 30 creative chocolate hacks for chocoholics!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwKfmPq0Ips

There are plenty of other compilations or specific tutorials on YouTube too

Heather Joy Puskarisch is an interdisciplinary artist created a full size self portrait from 400lbs of white chocolate. Entitled 'Heautoscopic Jaunt'

(For more of her work see https://www.heatherjoypuskarich.com/)