About 15 years ago, my ex-wife, Miki, and I embarked upon a memorable adventure: Miki’s Chocolates.
Soon after arriving in the UK in 2007, Miki developed a fascination for British cakes, puddings, and other sweet treats, so my mother and I clubbed together to get Miki a day’s course with a chocolatier in Buxton for her birthday. She was told (quite rightly) by the chocolatier that she had a natural talent for making confectionery.
Miki at work in her pink kitchen.
After a few delicious experiments and getting plenty of support and advice from family and friends, Miki’s Chocolates made their debut at the 2009 Matlock Christmas Fair in Derbyshire. The first items on offer were:
- milk chocolate mice filled with caramel
- white chocolate mice filled with strawberry ganache
- milk and white chocolate heart-shaped slabs with freeze-dried raspberries and other delicious bits
- rocky road
Milk chocolate mouse filled with caramel.
Despite the cold and the dripping wet tent and thanks to our helpers, we got through the experience and had enough fun to keep trying.
We decided to give Miki’s Chocolates a distinctly Japanese theme and came up with quite a few interesting product ideas, the highlight of which was undoubtedly Miki’s chocolate sushi: blackcurrant pâté de fruits on dessicated coconut and white chocolate “rice” on a dark chocolate base. Sensational, but pâté de fruits has a regrettably short shelf life.
I had made the moulds for our mice and hearts by using clay to make the original shapes and food-grade latex to make the moulds themselves. I did some research and ended up buying a home vacuum-forming kit which allowed me to use my mother’s oven and vacuum cleaner–thanks, Mum!–to make plastic moulds. These moulds were much more hard-wearing than latex ones and gave the chocolates a glossier finish.
Miki's chocolate sushi.
Our flagship product was our Fuji-chan collection: two each of six types of chocolate truffle.
- Hatsukoi: Lemon ganache in white chocolate
- Fuji-chan: Rose fondant in dark and white chocolate
- Akaimi: Raspberry ganache in white chocolate
- Yozakura: Cherry ganache in dark chocolate
- Younashi: Pear ganache in milk chocolate
- Hitoyasumi: Coffee ganache in dark chocolate
Fuji-chan collection outer sleeve.
We created chocolate bars inspired by Japanese sashiko embroidery and used the tessellating patterns to break free from the chocolate industry’s rectangular conventions. In addition to milk, dark, and white chocolate made using organic Fairtrade chocolate with such pure flavour and smooth texture, we tried blending milk and dark chocolate to achieve a creamy but incredibly rich dark-milk blend. This was our original idea. I have seen and tried imitations by others since. Ours was better.
Our chocolate bars.
Confectionery items, such as our spicy stem ginger in dark chocolate, were popular, especially with ladies of a certain age who like something warming to nibble on.
Stem ginger in dark chocolate.
We produced chocolates for kids inspired by the cool masks used in Japanese Noh theatre and folk festivals.
Kamen chocolates.
Making chocolate truffles using moulds is difficult enough, but making them entirely by hand takes genuine skill. Miki, however, was able to encase fondant in an ultra-thin layer of chocolate and then decorate these truffles beautifully. A thinner layer of chocolate meant that these truffles not only had superb “mouthfeel” but also the rich chocolate did not overpower the delicate flower and maccha flavours that Miki used in the fondants.
Hand-dipped truffle selection.
Miki made some brilliant birthday cakes for our nephews and nieces and friends. She demonstrated mind-boggling resourcefulness in executing her designs. The cakes took hours of care and patience and sometimes involved very late finishes. However, the reactions of the recipients made the hard work and lack of sleep worthwhile.
Miki putting the finishing touches to a cake.
Miki and I even provided catering for those wanting to sample Japanese cuisine.
Sample place setting.
We spent many Saturdays minding our stall at farmer’s markets and other events in the East Midlands, desperately trying to protect our merchandise and ourselves from the elements. It was fun to meet customers–we even had some regulars–and the other stallholders were good company when business was slack. We also received orders for our products from independent shops around the country.
We decided to try participating in an event in London, so we signed up for a pitch at the Chocolate Fair in 2011: an annual event held at the South Bank Centre. Many of the other chocolatiers were big names–I think it’s fair to say that we were both a bit awestruck–but they were very complimentary about the quality of our chocolates and the originality of their designs.
Miki and customers at the Chocolate Fair.
The experience of the Chocolate Fair led us to realize that if we wanted to do Miki’s Chocolates full time, we would need to relocate to London. We explored the possibility seriously for several months, but it would have involved a lot of hard work, long periods apart from each other, and living away from our friends in both Derbyshire and Japan. In the end, we decided to put the tempering machine away and return to Japan to see what fate had in store for us there.
So much love and hard work went into Miki’s delightful creations, and those of us who got to sample them know that we were incredibly lucky to do so!
– Matthew (真秀, Mashū)