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When I work with chocolate, I feel like a passion just take over me.
The connection I have with chocolate feels really ancient like it goes back lifetimes.
I love everything about chocolate,
making it working with it and especially the reaction I get from people when they try my chocolate.
My name is Julianna Desmond and I am a chocolate artist.
I became inspired to work with chocolate after seven trips that I had taken to Mexico.
During my travels I had a lot of ideas for art that I wanted to create.
I do hand-building, mostly sculptures because I was traveling so much, I didn’t have the opportunity to create.
When I came back to Tucson and was a little more grounded,
I got the idea why not make molds that our food safe and I can pour chocolate in them.
So first we’re gonna start with making a mold,with a thermo-forming machine.
This is typically used by dentists for making dental implants.
I use it for making chocolate molds,turn the heat on,and this top part will heat up.
It’s gonna get pretty loud once I turn it on the vacuum.
And that’s a mold.
Originally I was doing the chocolate art as a business.
And I realized that it wasn’t bringing me as much joy.
I was losing my passion and enthusiasm for it as an art.
It became repetitive and realized that I had to shift my perspective.
I allowed myself to dream up a plan to take the art of chocolate making to Mexico,
Because that’s where cacao originated
but the people there don’t have access to equipment to the practices of fine chocolate making.
Those were all developed in Europe and never made it back to the land where cacao originated.
So now that it’s cooled,take the tray out of there and pop the design out and there’s your mold.
This here is a silicone mold that I made of some cactus.
And this is the thermo-formed mold that we just made.
Now I’m going to pour the chocolate into the molds.
Now put it in the fridge.
Besides learning techniques for chocolate making,
I also learned about many unjust practices in the cacao industry.
I planned a trip to Tabasco Mexico where most of the cacao grown in Mexico comes from,
and I reached out to a co-op that helps farmers process their beans, dry and ferment them.
I took with me a thermal forming machine that I donated to them.
So they could create their own culturally inspired custom molds.
They gave me a tour of their co-op and that’s when I realized I could make a difference.
And I taught a two-day workshop so they could learn how to make truffles themselves.
The class that I taught was mostly women and they were all very excited and enthusiastic
about learning new methods of processing their cacao and new recipes to make with it.
Because typically in that region of Mexico what they make is a beverage and
they were very excited to learn how to make more than just beverages.
My favorite chocolate is a truffle because it has cream and butter.
As far as tempering and chocolate art goes,dark chocolate is the easiest to work with.
Now I only make chocolate occasionally for friends and family
and I take orders on my website seasonally and for the holidays.
I keep in contact with the ladies
and they’ve told me that the melanger has revolutionized the way that they make chocolate.
Seeing their reaction brought so much fulfillment and
I felt like it was my calling as an artist that it gave me a lot of satisfaction.
My hope is to empower the women with work opportunities that
preserve their culture and they can pass on to their future generations.
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