People find out we make chocolate and they say: that must be the best job in the world.
It is a good job. We would not trade it. But the version of it that exists in most people's imaginations — a serene kitchen, beautiful things emerging effortlessly, a great deal of eating — is not quite the version we live in.
Here is what a day at Cavasa actually looks like.
Before the Chocolate
The day starts before the chocolate does.
The kitchen temperature is checked first. In Ambur, particularly in summer, the ambient temperature outside can be 38–40°C by mid-morning. The kitchen needs to be significantly cooler than that for chocolate to behave correctly — for tempering to work, for ganache to set at the right rate, for finished products to hold their shape while they're being packed. If the cooling isn't right, nothing else will be either.
Then: inventory. What needs to be made today? What was ordered yesterday that needs to go out? What ingredients need to be checked, weighed, prepared? A chocolatier's day is shaped by orders and by the shelf life of what's already been made. Fresh ganache has a window. Truffles have a window. The schedule is built around those windows.
Then: mise en place. Every ingredient that will be used today is weighed and set out before the first batch begins. This is not optional. In chocolate work, the moment when you need to add something is often the moment when you cannot stop to find it. Preparation is not a nicety — it is a technical requirement.
Tempering
The first major task of most days is tempering — bringing chocolate to the precise temperature sequence that produces Form V cocoa butter crystals, which give chocolate its gloss, snap, and clean melt.
We temper by hand. This means melting the chocolate completely, cooling it on a marble slab while working it with a palette knife and scraper, and then bringing it back to working temperature. The process takes twenty to thirty minutes per batch, depending on the quantity and the ambient conditions. It requires constant attention — the chocolate is tested regularly by spreading a small amount on the marble and checking how it sets.
A batch that is over-tempered is too thick to work with. A batch that is under-tempered will bloom within days. The margin between the two is a few degrees and a few minutes. This is why tempering is the skill that takes longest to develop and the one that most clearly separates experienced chocolatiers from beginners.
On a typical day, we might temper two or three batches — different chocolates for different products, each requiring its own temperature sequence.
Making Ganache
Ganache — the emulsion of chocolate and cream that forms the filling of our Ganache de Luxe, our truffles, and our filled pieces — is made separately from the tempering process and requires its own attention.
The cream is heated to the right temperature — hot enough to melt the chocolate and begin the emulsification, not so hot that it scorches or separates. The chocolate is added and the mixture is worked — stirred, sometimes blended — until it comes together into a smooth, glossy emulsion. Flavourings are added at the right moment: some before the cream is heated (to infuse), some after the ganache has formed (to preserve volatile aromatics).
The ganache is then poured into frames or moulds and left to set at a controlled temperature. Setting too quickly produces a grainy texture. Setting too slowly can affect the final consistency. The timing is managed by the kitchen temperature and, when necessary, by brief periods in a cooling cabinet.
A ganache that has split — where the fat has separated from the liquid — can sometimes be rescued. Sometimes it cannot. When it cannot, the batch is discarded and started again. This is not a pleasant moment, but it is the right decision.
Panning
On days when we're making dragées — our Cashew Matcha Dragées, Coffee Sesame Dragées, Pecan Dragées, and others — a significant portion of the day is spent at the panning drum.
Panning is the process of building up a chocolate shell around a nut or fruit centre through repeated application of tempered chocolate in a rotating drum. Each layer is applied, allowed to set, and then the next layer is added. A finished dragée might have thirty to fifty layers. The process takes several hours of active attention, spread across the day.
The drum temperature matters. The chocolate temperature matters. The speed of rotation matters. Too fast and the chocolate doesn't adhere evenly. Too slow and it pools. The chocolatier tends the drum the way a cook tends a slow braise — not constantly intervening, but never fully leaving it alone.
Moulding and Enrobing
Bars are made by pouring tempered chocolate into moulds, tapping out air bubbles, adding inclusions (almonds, caramel pieces, spice blends), and leaving them to set. The mould is then un-moulded — a satisfying moment when the chocolate releases cleanly and the finished bar is revealed.
Enrobing — coating a ganache or truffle centre in a layer of tempered chocolate — is done by hand at Cavasa. Each piece is dipped, drained, and set on a lined tray. The coating must be thin enough to melt quickly and reveal the filling, thick enough to protect it. The technique takes practice to make consistent.
Hand-enrobed pieces are never perfectly uniform. This is not a flaw. It is evidence of the process.
Packing and Dispatch
The afternoon is often given over to packing — the least glamorous and most important part of the day.
Every piece is inspected before it goes into a box. Bloom, cracks, uneven coating, inclusions that have shifted — anything that doesn't meet the standard is set aside. The pieces that pass are arranged in the box with attention to how they'll look when the lid is opened, because the opening of a Cavasa box is part of the experience.
In summer, insulated packaging is added. Gel packs are prepared. Dispatch timing is checked against the courier schedule. An order that misses the morning collection might sit in a warm facility overnight — which is a risk we manage by planning, not by hoping.
The boxes are sealed, labelled, and handed over. And then the kitchen is cleaned — thoroughly, because chocolate finds its way into every surface and every corner, and a clean kitchen is the starting point for tomorrow's work.
The Eating
Yes, there is eating. Every batch is tasted — not as a pleasure (though it is one) but as a quality check. Does this taste right? Is the balance correct? Is the texture what it should be?
After a full day of tasting, the palate becomes less reliable. This is why we taste early in the day when possible, and why we take notes rather than relying on memory. A ganache that tasted right at 9am might taste different at 4pm — not because it has changed, but because we have.
The eating is real. It is also work. Both things are true.
The result of all of this is in our Cavasa Chocolates collection — made in Ambur, Tamil Nadu, one careful day at a time. 🍫
