For the love of chocolate
Mother and daughter sell treats at Goshen Market
February 12, 2009 - 4:34 PM
By JILL MOON
The Telegraph
EDWARDSVILLE - Chocolatiers Jan Rock and Jamie Horstmann's confections could change any girl's best friend from diamonds to chocolate.
The mother-daughter team began making chocolate treats on a whim, but since then, it has turned into a cottage industry with their J and J Chocolate Chalet and selling their delicacies at Edwardsville's Goshen Market from mid-May through mid-October. The duo sells from Rock's Edwardsville home and was quite busy prior to Valentine's Day weekend, especially with white chocolate heart suckers.
"My mom made fudge, and that didn't work for me, so I decided to do fine, delicate chocolate," said Rock, the mother of Horstmann and the candy creator of the partnership. "I had a lot of entertaining to do for women and wondered what I could put on a tray and walk around with. Jamie said, ‘Let's do chocolate.'"
Almost exactly one year later, as of Feb. 26, J and J Chocolate Chalet has grown into a bona fide business.
Rock moved to Edwardsville 25 years ago to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville but recently lived in Rolla, Mo., for nearly two years until moving back to Edwardsville in 2007 with her husband, Randy Rock, retired dean of students at SIUE. The Rocks moved to Rolla after Randy Rock retired to help a two-year college there, Jan Rock said. Entertaining became a big part of Jan Rock's interaction with her husband's colleagues.
When the Rocks moved back, they bought a new home, and when Jan Rock replaced a worn, green counter with extended Italian granite, she decided she could start making chocolate. Chocolate love is displayed all over Rock's kitchen. A wall plaque declares the four food groups as milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles.
A renowned pianist and piano teacher for more than 30 years, Rock began giving her homemade treats to her students when they had a successful lesson. But then her students' parents wanted to try her chocolate. The business grew by word of mouth, she said.
At the same time, Rock's daughter wanted to do something at Goshen Market.
"There is such a cool vibe there with local farmers and craftsmen," said Horstmann, of Highland, who creates the packaging for their special chocolates and oversees the business end.
Rock, a Dove distributor, uses chef-quality, no preservative or wax Dove chocolate that she orders online. Rock melts and pours a variety of chocolate into tiny molds to create delightful bonbons. Eight small bonbons equal one 2-ounce solid chocolate bar.
"If you get one piece a day, you're not going to be scavenging to take care of your craving," said Rock, a self-professed "chocoholic."
Indeed, the flavor of J and J Chocolate Chalet's bonbons is rich and smooth, whether it is milk, dark or flavored chocolate. Rock and Horstmann also make delectable chocolate mousse and chocolate butter.
"(The butter) was a mistake," Rock said. "I kept mixing it, and it turned into butter. I was getting ready to throw it away, and Jamie said, ‘Wait.'"
The entrepreneurs proceeded to spread the ‘mistake' on bread to discover it was gourmet butter.
Rock also creates white doves with callebeaut, a French chocolate, and beyond puffy, chocolate-covered marshmallows. She purchases the marshmallows from Whole Foods in St. Louis; they are unlike standard marshmallows used for S'mores.
"There is a lot of chocolate in stores that doesn't melt in your mouth as soon as ours," Horstmann explained. "Ours has no wax holding it together."
Rock and Horstmann also came up with mixing milk and dark chocolate together. Their current flavor selections include: plain, Bavarian cream cheesecake, white chocolate cheesecake, hazelnut, orange, mint, raspberry cheesecake, double-dipped chocolate cookies, chocolate suckers, peanut butter cups and recently added rum bonbons.
The two women are naturally talented and creative. Horstmann placed in the top five of the Miss Madison County Pageant in July 2006, becoming a contestant in the Miss Illinois USA of November the same year. Horstmann graduated in 2004 from SIUE with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She moved to Highland when she got married last September to Matt Horstmann, a BMW technician.
Rock became a pianist, like her mother was before her.
"When they could not have my mom, they got me," said Rock, who has a bachelor's degree in speech communication education and music and a bachelor's degree in English. She also is a member of the Music Teachers National Association.
Please visit www.jandjchocolatechalet.com, e-mail jan@jandjchocolatechalet.com or call (618) 307-9099 to place an order or for information.