Chocolate: it's good for you! But is it an aphrodisiac?
Studies have shown that chocolate does indeed contain antioxidants that may help prevent heart disease and cancer.
Chocolate also contains tryptophan, which has been shown to increase serotonin in the brain--and that sweetens the mood.
When it comes to being an aphrodisiac, however, research has yet to show hard evidence of a connection between chocolate and love.
Don't tell that to Cherri Emery. Emery is passionate about chocolate and won't go through a day without a nibble. She is also a chocolatier who takes chocolate-making to an art. Her best ingredient is the love she adds to
Cherri's Chocol'art.
"It was just about two and a half years ago that my cousin was making my brother Jay's favorite candy--chocolate-covered cherries--and she called me to come over for a lesson," Emery says. "One lesson and I was hooked!"
After being in the art business since 1972, Cherri switched careers, moving from art gallery director to chocolatier. The economy was slouching at about that time, and she momentarily pondered retirement from the fine art business.
"Retire? Ha!" she shakes her head, laughing at the thought. Her husband mans the gallery, now located at 151 South Rose, in the Comerica Building in downtown Kalamazoo, while Cherri has devoted herself to making gourmet chocolates.
The candies can be found at the gallery, but most of Emery's sales are at local farmers markets. Her favorite during the winter season--and that includes the Saturday prior to Valentine's Day--is at
Kalamazoo Foods Market, where she sells from her spot in the southwest corner.
"Salted caramels are always one of my best sellers," Emery says. "And you'd be surprised how many people go for the habanero caramel." But it's chocolate that makes everyone's heart sing and palate hum.
"After that one lesson from my cousin," Emery says, "I began to experiment." With tongs, she hands a chocolate to a customer to taste. "There's such a difference in the quality of chocolate. I use Belgian chocolate, highest grade--72 percent cocoa in the dark chocolate. I melt it,
temper and seed it. The trick is to get the temperature just right. You want it shiny and glossy. If chocolate is tempered correctly, it should snap when you bite into it."
Cherri's chocolates and truffles are hand-dipped, molded and filled one at a time. Customers all have their favorites, and the list of hand-dipped truffles and chocolates with or without ganache (a whipped frosting or filling made with semisweet chocolate and cream) is long. Some are infused with flavors such as jasmine tea or raspberry and rose water. Ingredients can include macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, toasted coconut or fruits such as apricots, mangoes and cranberries. A touch of tipsy may come from Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Chambord or rum added to raisin. Chocolate can vary from milk chocolate to white, dark or bittersweet. A full list can be found on the Cherri's Chocol'art
website.
Boxes come in varied sizes, already arranged or ready to fill with your favorites. Or slip a tiny golden box into your beloved's pocket--containing one chocolate heart. "Giving flowers and chocolate never gets old," Emery says.
She is always looking for something new to try. A conversation with another vendor at a farmers market led to a new collaboration with Johnny Java's, producing four different flavors of salted caramels infused with coffee. "Then we put a beautiful coffee bean on top, so that every bite is a combination of sweet and salty with the crunch of a bean."
The chocolate is prepared almost entirely by Emery herself, although she often gathers family and friends on a Friday evening to help prepare for weekend sales. Seated around the table may be her husband, a daughter, a couple of friends, wrapping each and every caramel in little pieces of parchment paper or placing chocolates and truffles in trays and boxes.
"If it wasn't so much fun, it would be horrible," she laughs. But it is fun, and Emery doesn't mind the long hours, most of them at the end of the week. "It's maybe 60 hours a week," she says. "I work constantly, and I'm always thinking about new ideas. So many ideas, can't try them all, but I do plan to expand."
Two stores in downtown Kalamazoo have expressed an interest in carrying Cherri's Chocol'art in the spring and online sales are picking up.
"I have sent orders all over the country, even Hawaii," Emery says. "I've even gotten orders from a woman in France who has a friend in Kalamazoo that told her about Cherri's Chocol'art. I would love to go international, but I love being a part of downtown Kalamazoo, too. There's no place like it."
Cherri's biggest sales happen around Valentine's Day, closely followed by Easter. Her largest selection can be found at
Kalamazoo Foods Market, but she sells her candies at farmers markets at the Borgess Medical Center and at the Bank Street Farmers Market, also at special events such as the Latvian Bazaar and the European Christmas Bazaar at the Kalamazoo Latvian Hall.
When evening comes and she has a moment to relax, the chocolatier settles in at home and has a single chocolate. "My favorite is the chili mango truffle, dark chocolate ganache with bits of chili mango dipped in dark chocolate. I love its fruitiness with that little bit of heat."
Zinta Aistars is a freelance writer from Portage and editor of the literary ezine The Smoking Poet.
Photos by Erik Holladay
Cherri Emery is owner and chocolate artisan for Cherri’s Chocol’art.
Lady Bugs with dark chocolate ganache filling, lower plate. Dipped dark chocolate ganache with a cocoa butter transfer on top.
Coffee Lovers salted caramels in dark chocolate.
A piece of Cherri’s clay artwork is surrounded by her Red Rose dark chocolate raspberry filled with a touch of rose water.
Handmade Salted Caramels.
A selection of truffles and chocolates by Cherri Emery under glass.