Chocolate confection from The Chocolate Workshop. PHOTO: Supplied

"I’m a chocolatier not a chocolate maker. There’s a big difference. A chocolate maker can be likened to a music composer - a chocolatier to a musician.”

Chocolatier and maker of delicate, confectionery creations, Tanja Schwindt, is proud of her work, so much so she has named her company The Chocolate Workshop.

Chocolate has always been on her mind, she said. She trained for three years with a Master Pastry Chef at the MARITIM Parkhotel in her hometown of Mannheim, Germany and spent 15 years developing her skills in Europe.

She had visited New Zealand a couple of times "just for a holiday” but was enticed to move here by a former colleague who emigrated and worked in Wanaka. "I didn’t pick Wanaka. Wanaka picked me.”

Settling in small town Wanaka in 2005 meant adapting to part-time hospitality work; from the Purple Cow backpackers, to the internet cafe, then a stint at Tuatara Pizza and finally full-time employment as the food service manager at Elmslie House. The work paid the bills but she found it stifling. "You had to follow menus designed by dieticians… it wasn’t very creative.”

"I never dreamt of owning my own business but I guess the New Zealand ‘can-do’ attitude rubbed off. If I was still in Germany I wouldn’t have done it. New Zealand encourages you to do things.”

"I love working for myself. It’s a challenge. I’ve always had a secure income which I don’t have anymore,” she said. "But I have no regrets at all. It can be bloody hard but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Tanja making chocolate cups. PHOTO: Wanaka App.

She juggled her new business, established in 2012, with part time work for two years before a business opportunity allowed her to quit Elmslie House.

"The owner of Wanaka Chocolate invited me to buy her out,” Tanja said. Production of the well-established chocolate bars meant she had a regular source of income to balance the creative lines of confectionery.

She admits to being a purist when it comes to chocolate and prefers European chocolate - "it’s creamier”.

"My chocolate has only cacao and cacao butter - none of this palm oil stuff. Some big producers put vegetable oils into their chocolate to cut the costs because cacao butter is so expensive. But I think you should get the best available product for your money.”

"Chocolate confectionary though is made with other ingredients, like cream, alcohol and tea, and usually confection has a soft centre surrounded by chocolate, like a truffle.”

She uses the highest quality chocolate (couverture), from all over the world, enriched with locally sourced, fresh New Zealand ingredients, including Central Otago walnuts and hazelnuts and pinot noir, Wanaka ales, local herbs, spices and fruits.

Local beers and wines are her favourite - "I love to play with booze, quite frankly - it’s just a different flavour when combined with chocolate.”

She said she likes to "challenge her palate” by trying different combinations. For example, she created a box of Japanese inspired chocolates for a festival which included flavours like apple wasabi, sake (sourced from Queenstown - NZ’s only sake producer) and yuzu (a fragrant Japanese citrus fruit).

"Yuzu and chocolate is mmmm - one of my favourite combinations.”

Lavender infused chocolate confectionary might be her next artistic challenge but, like anything new, it takes time to perfect the balance of ingredients and flavours, she said.

Her handmade chocolates aren’t all weird and wonderful flavours. Even though those inspire her the most, she also makes standards like delicate peanut butter cups and soft salted caramels.

Alone, she produces by hand around two tonnes of chocolate each year but her goal this year is to have another chocolatier regularly working with her so she can step back and be more creative.

Christmas is her most demanding market - "I have no life between October and December” - but Mother’s Day also keeps her busy.

Tanja’s handmade confectionery and chocolate bars can be purchased from local gift shops and speciality food stores, such as the Mediterranean Market and Florence’s, and at Cardrona skifield.

Soon, however, when her website is completed, her products will also be available to order online. "I came up with the idea of producing a monthly chocolate box that people can order by subscription; each month would have a theme like Easter or autumn, and they would be delivered by electric bike!”

Being a fan of leaving the car at home and biking/walking where possible, she dreams of "a cargo electric bike with insulated containers,” she said, "and I’ll pay some young kid, wanting a fundraising opportunity, to make the deliveries.”

She has other dreams too - like regularly paddle boarding (her latest passion), and teaching the art of the chocolatier, perhaps starting with Wanaka’s annual Autumn art school - which will all have to wait until she finds the time.

To sign up to the Chocolate Workshop newsletter touch on the link at the bottom of her website (click MORE below).