Chocolatier uses old technique for new creations
Stubbe, 40, said today there aren’t many people who pipe chocolate, but that in Germany it was a “big part” of his training.
“There was a real focus about it in my apprenticeship,” he said. “There were even tests you had to do where you had to present a certain cake garnish to put a border around a cake in a certain manner.”
When he took his apprenticeship as a pastry chef in Germany, Stubbe decided to specialize in chocolate. In the early 1990s, at age 18, he arrived in Canada and has been “stuck” on chocolate piping ever since.
Sally Hildebrandt, 39, says using a template is good if you want “precision for decorative works,” but she prefers a less restrictive technique.
Hildebrandt is a professor at George Brown College, teaching courses for the professional chocolatier certificate. She teaches students proper methods, procedures and the fundamentals of chocolate.
“I’m very freehand and like doing different artistic motifs in my work if I can,” she said. “I personally, don’t like to be chained down to templates. I like to use creativity.”