About the Chocolate Doctor
Kerry Beal has never forgotten the wonder of candy making with her mother and grandmother at the kitchen table. They were her first teachers. She has since studied with some of the finest chocolatiers in the world as you will learn but what brings her the most satisfaction is seeing that same wonder on the faces of her students.
The two young girls who year after year ask for the same birthday present - a class with Kerry, the young man who needed a foot-stool when he took his first class and became a very competent chocolatier before being lured into other pursuits as a teenager and the classical musician who turned her hobby into a well-respected chocolate business, these are just some of the people Kerry has taught.
She has taken her equipment and knowledge as far as Silver City, New Mexico where a couple of her students went on to win a regional chocolate competition and one of those won a statewide competition.
A class with Kerry Beal has proven a novel idea for bridal showers, birthday parties, team-building endeavours and even fundraising for a private girls school's chosen charity.
Every year since its inception Kerry Beal has been part of the Luxury Chocolate Show show in Toronto. Her classes are full almost as soon as the show opens and many of the attendees say they only come for Kerry's sessions.
She has taught classes at Sheridan and Mohawk Community Colleges, Longos Loft, Fortinos Community Rooms and the LCBO in southern Ontario.
She also tutors a class on Quality Assurance and Keeping Limits for Ecole Chocolat and in April 2015 led a master class to Valhrona in France.
A list of all the chocolate courses Kerry has taken and the Chocolatiers who have been her mentors would take up many pages but here are some highlights.
At the French Pastry School in Chicago she studied with Jean-Pierre Wybauw of Barry Callebaut. Wybauw is the author of a number of highly respected texts on the art and science of chocolate. With his guidance Kerry firmed up her understanding of chocolate tempering and of ways to improve the shelf-life of molded chocolates.
By invitation Kerry attended a class in Belgium taught by the well-known pastry chef and chocolatier, Stephan Aerts. Aerts is a master of chocolate decorating techniques and showpiece production. Classes in multi-layer fillings and airbrush techniques rounded out the curriculum.
Under Chef Peter Greweling, author and award-winning instructor at the Culinary Institute of America and Mark Heim of Hershey fame, Kerry added to her knowledge of the creation of delicious and shelf-stable fillings for bonbons and other confections. She has put this knowledge to work creating her own recipes and troubleshooting for other chocolatiers.
In 2015 Kerry travelled to Las Vegas to study with Jean-Marie Auboine and the 2013 Chocolatier of the Year, Melissa Coppel. There she refined her knowledge and technique of panning which is the method used to produce such things as chocolate-covered raisins, almonds and other small treats.
With these qualifications and others acquired along the way Kerry serves as a consultant for a number of chocolate businesses. She also consults for the culinary program at Niagara College where her knowledge of equipment and processes has proved invaluable.
Her years of experience consulting with small to medium sized chocolate businesses Kerry recognized the need for an easy, economical and consistent way to temper chocolate. So in 2015 she introduced to the market EZtemper. This product creates an ideal form of cocoa butter which when introduced in small amounts to appropriately melted and heated chocolate mass almost instantly tempers it. Click here for more information.
The two young girls who year after year ask for the same birthday present - a class with Kerry, the young man who needed a foot-stool when he took his first class and became a very competent chocolatier before being lured into other pursuits as a teenager and the classical musician who turned her hobby into a well-respected chocolate business, these are just some of the people Kerry has taught.
She has taken her equipment and knowledge as far as Silver City, New Mexico where a couple of her students went on to win a regional chocolate competition and one of those won a statewide competition.
A class with Kerry Beal has proven a novel idea for bridal showers, birthday parties, team-building endeavours and even fundraising for a private girls school's chosen charity.
Every year since its inception Kerry Beal has been part of the Luxury Chocolate Show show in Toronto. Her classes are full almost as soon as the show opens and many of the attendees say they only come for Kerry's sessions.
She has taught classes at Sheridan and Mohawk Community Colleges, Longos Loft, Fortinos Community Rooms and the LCBO in southern Ontario.
She also tutors a class on Quality Assurance and Keeping Limits for Ecole Chocolat and in April 2015 led a master class to Valhrona in France.
A list of all the chocolate courses Kerry has taken and the Chocolatiers who have been her mentors would take up many pages but here are some highlights.
At the French Pastry School in Chicago she studied with Jean-Pierre Wybauw of Barry Callebaut. Wybauw is the author of a number of highly respected texts on the art and science of chocolate. With his guidance Kerry firmed up her understanding of chocolate tempering and of ways to improve the shelf-life of molded chocolates.
By invitation Kerry attended a class in Belgium taught by the well-known pastry chef and chocolatier, Stephan Aerts. Aerts is a master of chocolate decorating techniques and showpiece production. Classes in multi-layer fillings and airbrush techniques rounded out the curriculum.
Under Chef Peter Greweling, author and award-winning instructor at the Culinary Institute of America and Mark Heim of Hershey fame, Kerry added to her knowledge of the creation of delicious and shelf-stable fillings for bonbons and other confections. She has put this knowledge to work creating her own recipes and troubleshooting for other chocolatiers.
In 2015 Kerry travelled to Las Vegas to study with Jean-Marie Auboine and the 2013 Chocolatier of the Year, Melissa Coppel. There she refined her knowledge and technique of panning which is the method used to produce such things as chocolate-covered raisins, almonds and other small treats.
With these qualifications and others acquired along the way Kerry serves as a consultant for a number of chocolate businesses. She also consults for the culinary program at Niagara College where her knowledge of equipment and processes has proved invaluable.
Her years of experience consulting with small to medium sized chocolate businesses Kerry recognized the need for an easy, economical and consistent way to temper chocolate. So in 2015 she introduced to the market EZtemper. This product creates an ideal form of cocoa butter which when introduced in small amounts to appropriately melted and heated chocolate mass almost instantly tempers it. Click here for more information.