Everybody loves chocolate, it’s a fact (please, if the three people in the world who do not love chocolate could refrain from writing in, that would be appreciated). The only thing that can make the creamy, melty brown stuff even better is Amaury Guichon. #WorldChocolateDayThe French and Swiss pastry chef has the world oohing and aahing over his intricate chocolate and pastry creations. If you think you’ve seen it all, check out his chocolate gramophone.
"When you love your job so much... " Amaury Guichon captioned this pic on Instagram. Source: Instagram / Amaury Guichon
It’s made entirely from chocolate – even the stand. The detail is exquisite and Guichon’s followers are justifiably gushing:
“You are a magician ... I have no words,” says Kerrie Walters.
“How is this even POSSIBLE???!” says Nick Ryan.
“This is beautiful madness!!” says Jin Joo.
Beautiful madness
But wait, there’s more. Guichon generously uploads video tutorials to show us all how to forge his creations. This is the video for his glossy caramel clocks:
Like all of Guichon's tutorials, it’s filmed at warp speed, so good luck with that. The finished creation should look just like this:
#nailedit
Guichon’s Instagram feed is full of these marvellous creations, mostly made from chocolate. Growing up in the Haute-Savoie region in France, neighbouring Switzerland, it's possible chocolate runs through his veins. He left school at 14 to pursue a more manual, creative career and spent two years studying cooking in Thonon-les-Bains, France, Amaury.
The pull of pastry was strong and he went on to do an awarded two-year pastry apprenticeship in Geneva, after which he was snapped up by prestigious Maison Lenôtre in Paris. Presumably for pulling off dishes like this:
Third best - really?
Guichon later went on to place third in a French cooking show .
Third? How? What exactly were the winner and runner-up of the competition pulling off to beat this guy?
After his TV bronze podium moment, Amaury moved to the US to join the team at Jean-Philippe Patisserie, a high-end pastry company with boutiques at the Bellagio and Aria hotels in Las Vegas where he worked for almost four years. It was there that he perfected his techniques and started sharing them with goggle-eyed social media fans.
Since 2016, Amaury has used social media to market his own business teaching pastry techniques to professionals from all over the world. He's taught in Russia, Mexico, Ukraine, Sardinia, Paris, Bangkok and Malaysia, and plans to come to Singapore, Italy, Mexico, Greece, Beijing and beyond.
Get ready to drool, Melbourne
He'll be hosting a cooking class for The Savour School in . Presumably at a slower pace than one of his Instagram video tutorials.
Keep up, people, keep up.