Master Program Update

Ecole Chocolat Note: This module is included for your information only. These Master programs are totally optional. We would never sell or pressure you to attend. They are simply another learning experience available to you in the future as Ecole Chocolat graduates.

Ecole Chocolat Master Programs were developed as the next step forward for students and graduates who want to advance their skills with hands-on experience in using volume production equipment and techniques.

Students and graduates can take any of the Master Programs or Tours at any time. Some students take the programs when they are in an Ecole Chocolat Program – as that is the time they have allocated for their studies before starting their business. Others wait two or three years before taking at program.

At Ecole Chocolat, we'll continue to offer the programs as long as there is interest from our students and graduates. We try to keep the costs of the programs as low as possible as we know that most people are on a limited budget. Each program can only take a limited number of students and usually fill quickly. You'll want to plan well in advance.

Business Plan for Chocolatiers Program

The Business Plan for Chocolatiers Program is an intensive, part-time program in developing a business plan delivered 100% online over a one-month period. During the program, students focus each week on a different section of the plan: management, marketing, operations and finance. Whether you're just starting out or need to re-engineer your current business, this program will keep you focused and on track to completion of a realistic business plan.

Registration Fee:

$195.00 US/CAD (Canadian residents – plus GST by Province)*

Click here to go to the Ecole Chocolat page for the date of the next available program session.

Master Chocolatier Program: Quality Assurance & Keeping Limits for Chocolatiers

The Quality Assurance & Keeping Limits for Chocolatiers program is all about science – the science of producing a quality product, handling and storing it properly and knowing its keeping limits.

When I set out to write this program, I knew I wasn't a food scientist and needed the help of those who are. I was delighted when Dr. William Dantzer PhD agreed to contribute lectures to the curriculum. He lives in Belgium and had all that great chocolate to inspire him.

What differentiates this program from other food quality assurance books, programs and classes? We concentrate solely on chocolate and the centers (fillings) we chocolatiers put inside the bonbons and confections.

What we found as we started researching for the curriculum is that while there is lots of general food science information, there's not much that is specific to chocolate and nothing on the centers we enrobe in chocolate. Confirming my findings started me down this road three years ago. We had to determine just what is important for a chocolate maker to know, and after much research, we've had a very educational experience and now offer the same experience to you.

Master Chocolatier Program: Chocolate Making from the Bean for Chocolatiers

The two-month 100% online Chocolate Making from the Bean for Chocolatiers program is about manufacturing your own chocolate from dried cocoa beans. The curriculum covers the whole process from sourcing beans, cleaning, winnowing, roasting, refining, conching and tempering to produce bulk chocolate from which you create your final products.

When I set out to write this program, I realized that I didn't have direct experience with manufacturing chocolate. So what I did was visit and talk to a lot of chocolate manufacturers over the past three years in preparation for this program. I also started from the premise of "if I were going to open a chocolate manufacturing plant, what would I need to know." So the program is the result of that work and I think you will find it very helpful – especially if you've been considering making your own chocolate but didn't know where to start or how much financial/human resources would be needed.

There's a lot of interest in making your own chocolate from the bean, now that a few small manufacturers have started in the U.S. I firmly believe, however, that not all chocolatiers need to make their own bulk chocolate from the bean. As I've said before, that's a little like a restuaranteur deciding he needs to own a slaughterhouse or winery to provide his own meat and wine for his recipes. It's not practical nor financially viable for most of us, as chocolate manufacturing involves a whole new set of skills, issues and equipment. But if you are interested, I think this program will help you to understand what is happening out there, know what is required from an operations perspective and make an intelligent decision one way or another.

Chocolate Making from the Bean for Chocolatiers is an eight-week program. There are two grading modes in the program to enable us to grade your participation and understanding of the key issues.

Graduating from the program

Even though I know you may just be starting the program, I'd like to take a moment to talk about graduating from the program.

Access to the Curriculum

You'll have access to the Curriculum for a two-week grace period after the final assignment due date. Any Tutorial Videos with Rachel will be available to you in the Graduate Centre. You'll want to print any lectures you want to keep on file. You can print a Lecture or Resource pageusing either Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox by:

After Program Homework - Understanding the Future of Fine Chocolate

At the end of the program we would like you to buy a copy of our book Raising the Bar - The Future of Fine Chocolate. We want you to have a global understanding of the future of chocolate but didn't want you to take time out of your study of the program curriculum in order to read that.

We self published the book and have kept the cost of the book very low to just cover our hard costs. Our goal is to educate the public, as well as our students, that not all chocolate is the same. To reach consumers we promoting the book ourselves but we also have to rank highly on Amazon search so consumers will find us when they search for chocolate books.

That can only happen if the sales of the book in Amazon are steady. So instead of including the ebook in the program and raising our program price to cover that cost - we want to drive student sales to Amazon where you can decide on either the print edition or ebook. 

Please plan to buy the book after the program ends and enjoy reading about the future at your leisure.

Research Assignment 7: Sourcing Your Chocolate, Ingredients and Packaging

Business Assignment 6: Creating a Production Plan

Learning Objective: Understand what is included in this module

Creating your plan of action

Picture three types of confectionary-grade chocolate – white, milk and dark – pumping through 500 feet of pipes, cascading into 25 hand-crafted glass vessels. In actuality, the chocolate travels 27 feet in its liquid state, maintained at 95°F. The 25 glass vessels from which the chocolate flows are each unique and handmade in Montreal. Welcome to Jean-Philippe Patisserie in the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas!

Who is Jean-Philippe Maury and why would anyone give him a venue like this? He is Bellagio's resident pastry, chocolate and candy genius, winner of the World Pastry Championship, and recipient of the title Meilleur Ouvrier De France, an award for being the best in France in a special craft.

It's easy to understand why he won these awards when you see his heartbreakingly beautiful pastries, each one a work of art, sitting in rows in the pastry shop's glass case.

Technique Assignment 5: Recipe Development: Part 2

Research Assignment 4: Recipe Development: Part 1

Learning Objective: Understand what is included in this module

Chocolate bonbon technique and production

"My Ideas come from within. Its rare I get an idea from tasting something, but rather from conversations, emotions, reading, meeting. I write my ideas down in diagram form first, then recipes . I have what I call a scenario of taste - I imagine this in a sequence as you bite into the cake - what happens first, what happens second, what may provide a surprise in the middle. And because only taste matters, I avoid embelishments that bring no contributions to the flavors, nor add anything to the combinations." Pierre Herme as told to Food Arts Magazine

This module introduces you to the making of chocolates or bonbons (as the European's call them). Your goal is to become proficient in working with chocolate (including chocolate enrobing, dipping, decorating and molding) in order to produce a consistent product each and every time.

You'll understand all the flavors and formulations that go into producing a flavorful center for your chocolates. This not only includes chocolate truffle centers but also caramel, fruit, fondant and nut recipes among others.