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Core Art Standards: VA1, VA2, VA5

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Sculpting Chocolate Showpieces

Celebrity chef Amaury Guichon talks about creating massive works of art with chocolate

Oct / Nov 2024
Interview by Karen Grimaldos

Images by Alexa Ray Tabert. Courtesy of Chef Amaury Guichon.

Amaury Guichon showed us how to create a chocolate piñata. He attached more than 1,500 chocolate bows by hand.

Scholastic Art: What is your job? 

Amaury Guichon: I’m a chocolatier, a pastry chef, and the owner of a pastry school in Las Vegas: the Pastry Academy by Amaury Guichon (ah-moh-RHE gee-SHON).

Images by Alexa Ray Tabert. Courtesy of Chef Amaury Guichon.

Guichon uses dark and milk chocolate, above, to create sculptures like this edible pink flamingo floatie!

SA: Are your sculptures entirely made of chocolate? What kind do you use?

AG: Yes! Everything I craft is 100 percent edible! The structures of my pieces are made of dark chocolate because it contains more cocoa butter than milk chocolate. A higher percentage of cocoa butter makes dark chocolate sturdier, so it’s ideal for creating the structural elements. Once assembled, I cover the sculptures with milk chocolate, which is softer and easier to carve.

SA: What’s your process?

AG: I begin with sketches. Then I create a scale drawing that is proportional to the dimensions of what I will sculpt. I make the structural pieces, which have to set overnight before I can assemble them. Then I use chocolatier tools, wood-carving tools, and clay-sculpting tools for shaping and adding fine details. To add color, I airbrush the surface with cocoa butter tinted with edible pigments. To finish, I polish the sculptures with a clean, slightly wet sponge.

Images by Alexa Ray Tabert. Courtesy of Chef Amaury Guichon.

The piñata was particularly challenging to achieve because it was suspended and extremely fragile.

SA: What are some of the challenges of working with chocolate?

AG: Chocolate is a difficult medium to work with. Temperature is a very important factor, because cold air makes chocolate harden and warm air softens it. You have to monitor the temperature of your tools and even your hands. The room temperature should always be set between 68° and 70° F.

SA: What kind of training have you received?

AG: I started my career with an apprenticeship at L’école Hôtelière de Thonon-les-Bains, a culinary school in France, when I was 14 years old. I learned the basics about chocolate during my apprenticeship, but the art of turning chocolate into gigantic showpieces is something I developed on my own. When making chocolate showpieces became part of my job in Las Vegas, I loved it so much that I began making them in my personal time at night and on weekends in order to perfect my craft. This took years to master.

Images by Alexa Ray Tabert. Courtesy of Chef Amaury Guichon.

Guichon does a taste test!

SA: What advice do you have for students who are interested in becoming chocolatiers?

AG: Making a living as a chocolatier is very demanding. You’re on your feet for 10-12 hours a day. It also takes enormous sacrifice to be successful and make a living. From the age of 14 until recently, I worked on every holiday and missed time with my family. But if there is one thing in life I have never considered quitting, it’s my job.

How To Become A CHOCOLATIER

GETTING STARTED:
  • Experiment and play to develop your chocolate-making skills.
  • Enroll in culinary school and study pastry and baking arts.
  • Get specialized training in chocolate through an apprenticeship or chocolate school.

 

EDUCATION:

  • Most chocolatiers have an associate degree in pastry and baking arts.

 

SALARY:

  • Chocolatiers can earn $34,000 to $47,000 or more, depending on experience and location.

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