Sweet success
Author of two cookbooks, founder and director of a chocolate culinary school, and the ambassador for Callebaut, Kitchenaid and Bulla Family Dairy. Kirsten Tibballs, one of Austalia’s most celebrated chocolatiers, shares with Victoria Lim on what keeps her
Imagine getting woken up by a whiff of delicious chocolate cakes on a bright fall morning, and then heading down to the kitchen to find your child buried among a stack of cakes. To Kirsten Tibballs’ parents, this was a common sight in their household – where their 13-year-old daughter had set up a home cake-making business selling novelty, birthday and wedding cakes to extended family and friends.
Tibballs’ enterprise and talent for chocolate-making started when she was 15 years old. She undertook a chef’s apprenticeship at Post Office in Queensland, before becoming a trainee at Schrader’s Patisserie in Mornington. By 20, she was honing her skills at the upscale Sheraton Towers Hotel Melbourne as a commis pastry chef. With encouragement from her colleagues, she entered the National Australian Baking Scholarship Award in 1997 and won the chance to travel to Brussels and Paris to work with international pastry bigwigs, including a stint at Wittamer in Brussels.
Before founding Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School in 2002, Tibballs was the corporate pastry chef in F. Myer Imports, demonstrating and promoting Callebaut chocolate. And in 2004, she represented Australia at the World Pastry Team Championships in Las Vegas, where they crowned her creation as the Best Handmade Chocolates. In addition, Tibballs is also active in judging – she was a judge at the World Chocolate Masters 2015 in Paris, The Patisserie Grand Prix 2015 in Japan, and The World Chocolate Masters National 2016 selections in London.
The Australian ambassador for Callebaut, Kitchenaid and Bulla Family Dairy, the busy 45-year-old also finds time to appear in shows like Masterchef Australia. She has authored two selfpublished cookbooks: Chocolate to Savour and Chocolate. There’s no telling what Australia’s Queen of Chocolate is up to next.
As a leading chocolatier and Callebaut’s ambassador, what are your thoughts on Ruby chocolate (the fourth flavour of chocolate, created 80 years since white chocolate’s conception)? Plus, what is its potential as an ingredient?
Ruby chocolate has a very distinctive berry flavour with subtle yoghurt tones. It pairs perfectly with vanilla and cream as these are the flavours I would usually combine with berries. It’s smooth and fruity.
I’m creating something very special for the launch of Callebaut Ruby chocolate, which will be launched in the U.K. on 3 May. It is a strawberry compote with crème fraiche ganache, it highlights the berry flavours of Ruby chocolate beautifully – I love it!
What is your fondest memory of chocolate?
My mum used to make chocolates when I was growing up and I loved all her creations, because of the love and effort she put into making them for our family. If I had to choose a favourite, it would be her caramel filled chocolate – it’s so delicious and the flavours are beautiful.
I love the reward of creating something that people can’t believe is chocolate. When hours of work go into a showstopper or a chocolate product that looks so lifelike, it’s exhilarating to see how awestruck and amazed people are by the fact that it’s chocolate.
Since opening the Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School in 2002, 16 years have passed. What has changed since then?
There wasn’t a strong chocolate industry in Australia before Savour opened. Many chocolate shops that have opened since then have sent their staff to Savour to train, so it’s inspiring to know that we have contributed to the growth of the industry in Australia.
At that time, Savour was the only place in Australia where you could learn a new skill or craft without going overseas. There were no social media platforms around either, so people had to physically come into the school to learn. Even today, I’m proud to say that 20 percent of our students come from around the globe to train at Savour.
Share with us a few tips or kitchen hacks to bake the perfect chocolate cake.
I bake my chocolate cakes at 170˚C and always use good quality chocolate and cocoa powder – it really makes all the difference. And when a recipe requires butter, opt for unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt you add. The last tip: melt chocolate in a plastic bowl instead of a glass bowl; glass retains heat and will untemper your chocolate.
Out of the many desserts you have created, which was the most challenging?
One of the most challenging recipes I have created was the ‘Trio of Fruits’ for the Masterchef Australia finale! They were individual petit gâteaux disguised as a mandarin, apple and pear, made of a chocolate shell filled with layers such as jelly and ganache. It was also difficult to develop a concept that was both interesting and challenging for the finalists.
I wanted the trio to taste exactly like the fruits they replicated. Then I could complement each fruit with different flavours, such as pairing caramel with the apple. It was really exciting to combine the contrasting flavours such as vanilla, caramel and calvados in the apple. Most importantly, however, I wanted the fruits to look like real fruit.
What was the most interesting incident when you competed at the World Pastry Team Championship?
At the World Pastry Team Championship, I created a showpiece with a chocolate ring that measured about 30cm and sat on top of the product. The chocolate ring broke off the showpiece and spun like a wheel, bouncing through the audience of about 800 people; the crowd then parted ways and the wheel just kept going. Thankfully, I made spares!
What’s next for Kirsten Tibballs?
I am in the final stages of filming my TV show, Queen of Chocolate. Viewers can expect lots of quick and easy tips to creating amazing chocolate desserts and other different creations in their own kitchen. The show will also give them lots of shortcuts and handy hints from start to finish. I’m not sure when it will air in Australia, but it has already been sold to several networks – so watch this space.