Ile de Chocolat

General information

With a strong upbringing in a traditional and very artistic German family, I developed a passion for making fine foods from a very young age.

Throughout my earlier professional career, that saw me practice as chef, pastry chef and operating my own restaurant, I always experimented with desserts and chocolate treats that were hard to find in South Africa.
In the early part of 2004, I embarked on studying the art of chocolate confectionery applying traditional Swiss techniques, whilst practicing night after night at my tiny home studio.

In June 2006, after receiving the Valedictorian Award for the best student from the International School for Chocolate Arts, I embarked on a very ambitious project and entered into a contract to establish a European styled chocolate confectionery deli within the confines of a mass retail store. My first store was opened in Cape Town late 2006. This was followed by five more stores around the country by 2008.

With the birth of my twin boys in early 2008, I decided to exit the retail world and focus on being there for my kids. As life would have it, I have to thank my kids for asking several times over why I stopped making chocolate, after all kids want to go to school and say “my mom makes the best chocolate in the world”.

CRAFTING CHOCOLATE ONCE AGAIN

So with the kids nagging and my desire to return to making fine chocolate, I have setup a new studio, where I once again make by hand, my signature range of preservative free, artisan chocolates using only the finest ingredients and applying age old traditional Swiss techniques.