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over six thousand macaroons for the 2012 Good Food and Wine Festival in Johannesburg, and that became the start of everything else that was to come. Her experience with those macaroons taught her that commercial gastronomes can be both tremendously rewarding and technically taxing. There was much more to learn and conquer beyond food. Eating experience, marketing, business and finance were just a few. The great part about all of it, however, was that she wanted it. Through further experimentation, dreaming, and several ventures along the road, she quickly arrived back at what was her ultimate favourite and her tastebud’s friend: chocolate. She drastically enlarged her experimentation, her equipment, and social media platform engagement. When she visited Europe with her husband, she surprised even herself by the amount of chocolate-making paraphernalia she ended up bringing home. Stephanie’s love for impressionist watercolours and oil painting melted into the inspirational mix of her chocolate design. She endeavours to make her chocolates look as if they could be riotous snippets from an oil painting, enjoying the creation “splash-effects” and colour contrasts. Using the inspiration from artists like Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock, her chocolate art has taken on a unique watercolour aspect. Stephanie, in response to the question of necessity in the chocolate-making industry, said, “Not all aspects of life require the best tools; passion, talent and practice are definitely needed, but in chocolate making good equipment certainly enhances the product and improves the process. Artesian chocolate by its nature is time-consuming because of the care taken, so to do it at a professional level proper equipment is a must.” It is possible to make quality chocolate by hand, and in fact, many well-made chocolate products are, but it is simply impossible to do such a thing on a large scale. Having equipment such as temperature control and well-made moulds are essential. People underestimate the effects of a good mould; it’s the secret to making an appealing and shiny bonbon. Stephanie’s theme for her chocolate is elementally beautiful. Quite simply, it is bright and colourful. Her most popular chocolates include this theme, although she also enjoys experimenting with dark shades for a more elegant feel. Matching colours and fillings with the occasion is something which Stephanie finds quite a bit of pleasure in. All of this, however, the purpose and the passion, would not have been possible without the inspiration Stephanie had in her life, like seeds planted to grow a desire into a dream and a dream into a mature reality. Her mantra, “Don’t let small minds convince you that your dreams are too big.” stands as a constant reminder to her, to keep on growing. Stephanie wants to grow her dream even further, to extend towards producing and supplying luxury chocolates to high-end hotels. When Stephanie looks at her daughter, she sees her daughter’s future dreams and aspirations, and that in turn inspires her to dream bigger, and reach further, to show her daughter, and consequently the world, that there is no dream too far to reach when passion is in control. For this, she also thanks her mother, for an amazing work ethic, and a push for Stephanie to always go the extra mile. Her mum’s insight is always inspiring to her. Family plays a large role, and Stephanie has taken an amazing piece of that and put it into her work. Her quality comes from her passion, and her push comes from her dream. If you ask me, you cannot find a great combination like that very easily.
EDITÉUR PLUS / THE TENTH ISSUE