This artisan chocolate-maker in Windsor spends four days making one 'bonbon'

Artisan chocolate-maker Stephen Beaumont describes the "bonbons" he makes as "little pieces of edible art." 

From a triple-layered Saskatoon berry cheesecake to British Columbia's Nanaimo bar, Beaumont has created a selection of fine chocolates that pay tribute to some regions across Canada. Locally, he's part of a small community creating made-in-Windsor chocolate. 

And this season alone, he's cranked out roughly 2,500 small treats, one of which takes four days to create. 

Initially, Beaumont was only making 32 chocolates at a time, mostly sharing them with family and friends.

But the labour has been worth it for the growth his business Chok. has seen in the last year. 

"I started making them for fun," Beaumont said. 

"During the pandemic, it became something I enjoyed doing and people seemed to enjoy eating them and actually buying them in the end."

Chok. doesn't have a bricks and mortar location, but it runs out of the kitchen at The Cheese Bar in Tecumseh. 

WATCH: Beaumont talks about the chocolate-making process

Artisan chocolate maker in Windsor describes the process

3 years ago

Duration 1:59

As Stephen Beaumont eases into retirement, he's picked up a new hobby and turned it into a business. He spoke with CBC about the four-day process it takes to make one chocolate.

Working in the hospitality business across the world, Beaumont told CBC News that he's always been around food, specifically chocolate and pastries.

'Not my ordinary student:' A chocolate friendship

In early 2020, Beaumont enrolled in a three-day intensive chocolate making program under Michigan chocolatier Luis Amado. 

Despite being the only one who signed on to take the program, it still went ahead. 

"Normally I have to have a minimum of five students in my class, in his case there was two cancellations so I spent three days one-on-one with him and we became good friends," Amado told CBC News. 

"There was chemistry between him and I because you know we're both immigrants."

Beaumont came to Canada from the United Kingdom and Amado left Mexico for the United States. 

Amado said his initial thought was, "this is not my ordinary student, this guy knows what he's talking about," when Beaumont talked about using a wine cooler to store chocolate. 

And from then on, Amado and Beaumont have continued to be good friends, despite the border keeping them apart. 

Now, it's been all about experimenting on his own, particularly with the design and taste. 

While Beaumont takes pride in the art, he said he focuses on the flavour first and then works "backwards." 

"Even though the design is the first part of the actual process, it's not the first thing that I think of when I'm creating a bonbon in my mind," he said, adding that the taste is paramount and often depends on seasonal produce or items. 

Though he's gotten a lot of practice from all the orders this year, Beaumont said there are still some that don't make it. 

"I like to think there are fewer casualties now than there were when I started,"he said. 

"But certainly there are some casualties and when that happens, I eat them! Or my wife eats them, or we give them away."