Alum Chocolatier Returns to Science

Confectioner Sarah (Levy) Imberman ’99 returned to Parker to provide students with a chocolate-filled lesson.

Students in Gigi Mathews’ Chemistry of Cooking class have been learning the science behind what makes chocolate so special and delicious. They learned about the relationship of fats to the melting point of chocolate and the connection to its triglycerides. The more contact carbon chains of triglycerides have within a sample of chocolate, the higher its melting point.

Mathews likens cocoa butter molecules to Lincoln Log building blocks in that there are many ways to put them together, but some configurations are more stable than others. Bringing chocolate to the proper working temperature while making sure the crystalline structure within the cocoa butter is stable results in a more “tempered” chocolate.

In their presentation, visiting chef Imberman from Sarah’s Foods collaborated with Chief Operating Officer Alexa Sindelar to demonstrate the process of tempering chocolate. Tempered chocolate exhibits a shiny, glossy surface; has a creamy mouthfeel; breaks with a satisfying snap; melts less easily on your fingers; and sets up beautifully for dipped and chocolate-covered treats.

Imberman displayed the multi-step tempering process each student group would replicate as part of that day’s lab. This process entailed melting a specific amount of high-quality cacao pistoles to 122–131 degrees Fahrenheit, transferring a portion of this mixture to a holding vessel, adding more cacao pistoles to the melted chocolate, stirring them until they fully dissolved and the mixtures reached 82–84 degrees Fahrenheit, reintegrating the reserved portion of melted chocolate into the primary bowl until the mixture reached 88–90 degrees Fahrenheit and adding 1% of the total chocolate weight of Mycryo™ Cocoa Butter. Imberman pointed out that the Mycryo was the secret ingredient, which started a chain reaction resulting in perfect molecular crystallization, also known as tempered chocolate.

As students worked in groups to follow the instructions for tempering their own chocolate, Imberman and Sindelar went from station to station, offering advice and assistance. Digital thermometers, hot plates and towels were on hand to ensure students could reach the correct temperatures at each step of the process, and they took turns stirring and taking measurements of their mixtures.

With their tempered chocolate ready, students then used spatulas and Imberman’s time-tested “dunk, pump, tap and slide” technique to coat marshmallows, graham crackers and strawberries. Some added Parker’s logo to their treats via transfer paper with tinted cocoa—like an edible temporary tattoo.

Parker thanks Imberman and Sindelar for sharing their time and talents with students. More about their work is available here.

Enjoy photos from this chocolate-filled lab here.