We hand sorted through the beans, removing defected ones (cracked, debris, double beans formed together, bark) 

We carefully heated the beans, first with steam and then with dry heat.  By bringing the oven temperature up and down, we enhanced the flavors of the cacao and loosened the shells.

Using a rolling pin with the roasted cacao beans rolled out onto a sheet tray, we finely crushed the beans in preparation for the winnowing process.

Dividing the nibs from the shells by using air flow. 

First using a hair dryer on cool to separate the nibs and shells. We further refine this process through the machine used in class that separates shells and nibs.

First place the nibs in a food processor and pulse until they break down and form a paste. Then gets put into the grinding machine. After adding all of the paste into the grinder, we then switched in-between pouring the melted cocoa butter and sugar in to prevent it from locking up. 

We then let the beans continuously grind for 72 hours to break down the granules of the residual beans, form a smooth mass, and release any volatile compounds.  The size of the particles was measured using a grindometer, until they were small enough to be unnoticed.

Before the chocolate is ready to become a bar, it must be tempered first. The method of tempering we did was the tabling method to ensure the product achieves a shiny, smooth and hard snap chocolate bar.

Once tempered, we deposited 65 grams of the tempered chocolate into bar molds which had been decorated with gold leaf. We then tap it slightly on the table to release any air bubbles and level out the chocolate within the mold. Then we allowed it to sit in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. It was then carefully bagged the chocolate bars still in the molds and reserved until the wrappers were ready, to prevent damage.

To prevent any moisture, light and/or oxygen from getting in contact with the chocolate, each tablet bar was wrapped/ packaged with representation of the Dominican Republic. Our goal is to retain the desired flavor and texture of the chocolate when it has the chance to reach potential consumers.