The Science of Chocolate

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The Science of Chocolate

In this session, you’ll learn all about the science behind the tempering process and see how it’s done from the ladies behind Cocoa Asante. Then each person will get a scoop of tempered chocolate to decorate with dried fruit or edible flowers. Once your chocolate has become solidified, you can break it apart and package it to take home!

There will also be a fun demonstration on how the team at Cocoa Asante makes holographic chocolate.

This class is part of Adult Summer School, taking place from July 12-16, 2021. Sign up below for a day of activities or a full week pass. Check out the full schedule for Adult Summer School here.

About the teachers:

A New York transplant to Chattanooga, Natasha Guerrero worked in Accounting and Finance while studying Urban Design and Architecture at NYU. She always knew that Pastry was her passion but felt it was important to be versatile in different fields that could help her wherever she went. After spending a day in the Pastry kitchen of a restaurant in New York City, she decided that she was going to devote her life to baking and become a Pastry Chef. This led her to study at the International Culinary Center in New York City where she fell in love and learned the art of patisserie and more specifically, chocolate.

Through a mutual friend and Pastry Chef in Chattanooga, she was connected to Ella Livingston, owner of Cocoa Asante, who was looking for a head chocolatier and partner. The connection and passion that Natasha and Ella shared for chocolate led her to move to Chattanooga and start a new career where they can showcase and share their love for chocolate with everyone else.

Ella Livingston was born in Ghana, West Africa into a family of educators, health practitioners, engineers, and cocoa farmers. She immigrated to the United States when she was about three years old with her family. After graduating high school, Ella went on to obtain a bachelor of science in Mathematics and a minor in Japan Studies from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. While at Spelman, she spent her junior year studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan. It was there that she realized the reputation Ghana had as a country that grew some of the best cocoa beans. It was also there that she got the opportunity to try a special type of chocolate called Nama chocolate, which uses fresh cream to create a decadent treat. Her experience in Japan inspired her to want to start her own chocolate company.

She began Cocoa Asante in 2018 and in January of 2021 her business partner, Natasha Guerrero, joined the company as co-owner and head chocolatier. Their goal is to have an upscale bean to bar shop that sources cacao beans directly from Ella’s family’s farm. The shop will allow customers to tour the facility so they can see how chocolate is made and learn more about the inequities that exist in the industry and what Cocoa Asante is doing to make a difference.