Local chocolatier Ginger Elizabeth shared the farm-to-storefront process of making chocolate Sunday as a part of Time Tested Books’ Living Library series, at Time Tested Books, co-sponsored by Midtown Monthly. “Chocolate is my life, and my mission is to educate the Sacramento region about chocolate,” Elizabeth said. And educate she did. According to Elizabeth, all the chocolate we consume comes from the cacao tree. The farmer grows the cacao tree, which has football-like cacao pod blossoms that grow from its trunk. Each pod yields about 40 beans, Elizabeth said. When it’s time to harvest the beans, they are fermented. Without this process of fermentation, the beans wouldn’t taste like

In the hot Sacramento summer, knowing how to make ice cream may come in handy when trying to cool off. Thankfully, that’s exactly what was on the agenda for Ginger Elizabeth Hahn’s summer class last Saturday. Thirty-five students gathered at Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates — Hahn’s boutique — which offers classes for $35 per person. The class was located at the 1818 L St. Lofts penthouse kitchen across the street. Hahn, a chocolatier, taught two sold-out classes that day. She first told the class of her training, which includes the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She has worked with world-renowned chocolatiers such as Jacques Torres and pastry chef En-Ming Hsu and had the chance

Chocolate lovers gathered for their sugar high Saturday morning for a course in cupcake creation hosted by Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates. The class was taught by owner and world-renowned chocolatier Ginger Elizabeth Hahn. Students meet in front of the L Street retail store and filed across the street to a penthouse kitchen classroom in the 1818 L Lofts. Getting a spot in the class was highly competitive. Within 24 hours of the class' announcement, Hahn said the 35 seats were filled. A second afternoon class was added to accommodate wait-listed students and was filled within hours. In the end, more than 60 people were turned away. "I couldn't wait to see if my friends wanted to take the cl