Home of: Sara Bauer

Sara Bauer runs a business many entrepreneurs would dream of. She sells a product that everyone desires.

Bauer is a chocolatier, making and selling chocolate truffles for a living.

Bauer, an Arlee resident, has been selling her chocolate creations for about a year, but has been making chocolate-based desserts for most of her life. She made the foray into truffles about 10 years ago.

“I was in college and I didn’t have a lot of money, and I had a lot of Christmas presents to give,” Bauer said of her introduction to the art of truffle making.

Today, Bauer sells her chocolate out of a few stores in the community, as well as at the Missoula and Polson farmers’ markets.

In addition to the treats decadence, Bauer said she enjoys making truffles because of the health benefits of cacao.

“Chocolate can lower blood pressure and elevate mood. Some studies have even shown it can help in weight loss,” Bauer said.

One of Bauer’s favorite things about chocolate is how creative she can get with the baking process. She said that making chocolate can be like making a piece of art.

“Chocolate can be very beautiful, especially when it is melted and you add in the cream,” Bauer said.

Bauer starts her truffle making process with 10-pound blocks of chocolate. She then chops the block — one block makes about 400 truffles — before heating whipping cream and pouring the cream over the chocolate to melt it. She then stirs the mixture, chills it so it hardens, then chops up more chocolate and tempers it.

Tempering is an intricate process of heating and cooling chocolate, causing it to crystallize. Tempering also makes the chocolate more appealing and adds a better texture when bitten into.

Bauer took a class at a community college to learn how to temper chocolate.

“Tempering takes the most skill and is the messiest,” Bauer said.

Bauer isn’t new to jobs that get her hands dirty. She worked for four years as a geologist and soil engineer after college. She has also been building a house on and off with her boyfriend for five years.

She decided to move into that house permanently two years ago. She chose Montana because of the beautiful landscape, open spaces and friendly people.

Bauer’s truffles can be purchased at The Biscuit restaurant in Arlee. Chocolate and truffles can also be purchased at www.chocolatestruffles.etsy.com.