Beth Kirsch Chocolatier
My goal when making artisan chocolates is to create confections that look beautiful, taste extraordinary, and offer a moment of pure bliss when you experience them. I use high-quality French chocolate and fresh ingredients such as home-roasted espresso beans, mint leaves, Madagascar vanilla beans, roasted nuts, wine, liqueurs, jasmine tea leaves, and homemade fruit purées. I make them in small batches, all by hand. I don’t use preservatives ever and rarely add sugar unless it’s essential (when making caramel, for example).
Many chocolatiers start out as pastry chefs; I came to chocolate after spending much of my professional life producing children’s media, including the PBS literacy series Between the Lions (for which I earned 3 Emmy Awards). I’ve discovered that making television and making chocolates have much in common—both require imagination, inspiration, creativity, attention to detail, artistry, and a desire to share your creations with an appreciative audience.
My chocolates have won more than a dozen awards—including 6 International Chocolate Awards (Americas competition), 3 international awards from the London-based Academy of Chocolate, and a Truffle Artistry award from the International Chocolate Salon. My Pomegranate and my Single Malt Whisky bonbons both won coveted Gold awards; Ginger 3 Ways, Cappuccino, Fig-in-a-Box, Maple Liqueur, and Lemon Pepper Bars all earned Silver. ¡Mexican Fiesta!, Limesicle, Spiced Honey Orange, and Crème de Cassis bonbons have also won awards. As a newcomer to the world of chocolate, I am thrilled to be honored by three prestigious organizations that focus on recognizing fine chocolates from around the world.
I eat chocolate just about every day…it never fails to make me feel happy. As Winnie-the-Pooh once said about balloons, nobody can be uncheered by chocolate.
Beth’s Chocolate has been featured twice in the Food section of The Boston Globe. You can read the 1st story and see my recipe for Cashew Cranberry Bark here. You can read the story about my tea-inspired chocolates here. I have also been featured in Edible Boston and other publications.
Becoming a Master Chocolatier
My passion for making chocolates began with an Eiffel Tower mold I bought in Paris. Although I filled it with high-quality melted chocolate, the broken pieces I struggled to whack out of the mold tasted grainy and barely edible. Big disappointment!! That prompted me to take a chocolate-making class, where I enjoyed three wonderful hours making truffles and molded chocolates, having no idea at the time where this would lead.
I spent several years making chocolates on my own, then worked for three months as an intern at EH Chocolatier (now closed). After that, I earned a Professional Chocolatier certificate, with honors, through the Ecole Chocolat Professional School of Chocolate Arts. In 2016, I trained in France as a Master Chocolatier at the Valrhona École du Grand Chocolat in Tain-l’Hermitage. In 2021, I trained with chef Luis Amado, an internationally renowned chocolatier who has won 22 gold medals and many other culinary awards for his unique creations.
How to Store Chocolates
My handcrafted chocolates taste best the sooner you eat them. The bonbons should be enjoyed right away, or at least within a few weeks. Chocolate bark and the Ultra Thin Crunch will last for several months—if you can resist eating them for that long. Store the chocolates at room temperature in an airtight container.
Chocolates in the refrigerator pick up moisture as well as odors from other foods. They’re more likely to develop chocolate “bloom”—white spots or streaks. Although you can still eat them, the texture and taste won’t be nearly as good. Chocolates definitely don’t like the freezer or being left in a car when it’s hot or very cold outside.
About the Chocolate
I tasted dozens of chocolates from all over the world to decide which ones I wanted to use in my confections. I was surprised to discover how remarkably different various chocolates taste, even when comparing all 70% dark chocolates. The types of cacao beans used, where they’re grown, how they’re processed and manufactured, and other ingredients (such as vanilla) all affect the flavor, color, and texture of each brand.
Valrhona, made in France, is my hands-down favorite. Valrhona makes many different kinds of dark and milk chocolates, each with a unique, complex flavor and a perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture. I prefer dark chocolates with a strong, rich cocoa taste and milk chocolates that are smooth and creamy without being overly sweet. Recently, I have begun working with single origin Madagascar and Wild Bolivian chocolates made by Felchlin in Switzerland, which is also widely recognized for producing some of the world’s finest chocolates. I choose which varieties of these chocolates I use after determining which ones work best with other flavors. What pairs well with coffee, for example, may overpower a subtle hint of jasmine.
Although white chocolate isn’t technically chocolate (it’s made with cocoa butter, sugar, and milk), I searched for one with an appealing flavor that wasn’t too sweet. My current favorite is an organic white chocolate from Valrhona. I use this white chocolate to make Limesicle bonbons and the cinnamon ganache layer in my Cappuccino bonbons, and for Zesty Lime and Lemon Pepper Squares.
For information about Valrhona’s commitment to Fair Trade practices and sustainability, visit their website.
Shipping Chocolates
Since I make the chocolates in small batches, it may take up to a week to fulfill your order. If you need an order to arrive by a specific date, let me know. I ship chocolates by USPS Priority Mail or UPS, which generally takes 2–5 days. A $12 flat rate shipping fee is automatically added to each order. For large orders that cost significantly more than $12 to ship, I will contact you to let you know the actual shipping cost based on the quantity and destination.
When the temperature is above 70°F, I don’t ship chocolates. I don’t want you to end up with a puddle of melted chocolate, and shipping overnight with ice packs is too expensive.
Refund Policy
I want you to be happy with my chocolates! Since I don’t add any preservatives, they have a short shelf life and will taste best the sooner you eat them. Please let me know if they are defective in some way so we can determine the refund due. However, I can’t guarantee the condition of shipped chocolates. Although I pack the chocolates to protect them from damage, I don’t have any control over shipping delays, rough handling, weather conditions, how long the package sits at your doorstep, or lost/stolen packages.
For More Information
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