the inclusioncrafter's bestie
should we call it barkcraft? plus, a toffee buttercrunch bark-crafting video from the Next Batch vault, and pdf downloads
It is officially the time of the chocolate-crafting year when much ado really does need to give way to our too-much-to do list, so this post is short & sweet. I promise I’m not trying to send everyone into a craft-frenzy, but for those makers whose livelihood is built on the crafting + selling equation, the next four months truly can be the most wonderful time of the year (yes I’m already humming holiday tunes), or they can leave us fried to a crisp.
Let’s avoid the burnout, shall we?
A few to-do’s that need the asap treatment.
If you are new to making chocolate, know that tempering gremlins adore the holidays and especially like to appear in last-minute tempering sessions. Take this coming week to nail down your technique, or learn how to temper with seed (it’s not just a handy backup plan, it’s the best go-to for inclusioncrafting).
Look at your product/bar line-up (or make one if you haven’t yet) and create a plan for sourcing ingredients, getting enough beans roasted/winnowed, and allocate w grind schematic to help create small batch efficiency. Slow + small does not mean going ‘round our thumb to reach our elbow, as my granny would say. I use a basic spreadsheet to list my bars, their inclusions (if any), bar names, packaging, and # t make, which I adjust +/- as needed, with a “grinder plan" that I highlight in green as I progress.
Do a run-through of any new inclusion bars, from prepwork to final tempering. Yes, it seems like a time-drain, but more than once I’ve been set up to temper, started, and then had to scurry toward a new direction/finagle an inclusion, etc. A little time now means less stress later.
Consider a few products that aren’t bars or require your most costly and/or time-consuming packaging. Map’s wrappers were letterpressed, and despite extensive time planning in advance, the numbers never lined up with (a) what I ordered or (b) how many bars I actually produced or (c) demand, which often meant I could and wanted to make more bars, but had no packaging on hand.
Next month we dive into packaging, but for today, my advice is never underestimate the power of barks during the next few months. They don’t require the same wrappers as our bars, can often utilize clear, see-through sleeves that create desire through visuals, make great hostess gifts (ie., custom orders for parties and celebrations often ask for something smaller than a bar or less expensive then bars), and can be easy or as more involved as we desire.
Bark rules it truly does! And yes there are a few guidelines, namely the rules are the same that apply to inclusioncrafting good practices:
bread/cake/ baked style crumbs, anything that would go stale if left out on your counter, must be stirred INTO the batch, not sprinkled on the outside.
Nuts on the outside have more leeway with bark, because of packaging (no fat bleed-through if using cellophane or glassine sleeves, no lumpy bumpy issues)
candy bits and sugar work (toffee etc) will get sticky/tacky, and should be re-thought or stirred into the batch.
As a rule of thumb, shorter enjoy-by dates should be used for any bars/barks with inclusions on the outside.
Way back in the early days of the Next Batch (I started teaching chocolate making at my biz Map Chocolate in 2017, but opened the virtual/online doors of the Next Batch in late 2020), Natalie of Xoconat and I co-taught a November online “Badass Barks and Toffees” class. Nat is THE b.a of both, and it was a joy to watch her work. Excuse the bad light (remember back in 2020 when livestreaming was so new no one had good lighting?) and I hope you enjoy. Buttercrunch toffee pdf download is below the video.
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or thoughts! As always, thank you for being here!
Happy almost-September, and happy crafting,
Mackenzie
You are so incredibility generous to share this replay with us. I am loving hanging out with you two legends, even as a replay. xoxo