A master chocolatier is honouring her local roots with a mouth-watering treat inspired by her childhood in rural Manitoba.
Rachel McKinley grew up in Stonewall and is now based in Vancouver, where she’s enjoying a sweet career with Purdys Chocolatier.
McKinley, a Stonewall Collegiate graduate, earned an undergraduate degree in science from the University of Manitoba. She applied for medical school and started making chocolate for fun while she waited to hear if she was accepted.
After three years of applications and waitlists, McKinley decided to change directions and focus entirely on chocolate. She took online courses and did internships with chocolatiers across North America.
Over time, the budding entrepreneur ran her own small business in Manitoba called Prairie Girl Chocolates and another in Vancouver called Cocoa Nymph, while also teaching at a chocolate school.
For the past eight years, she’s been working for Purdys Chocolatier based in the company’s factory kitchen in Vancouver.
One of her mouth-watering chocolate creations called “Saskatoon Berry” stems from her fond memories of Manitoba.
“The saskatoon berry chocolate starts with a mould, which is sprayed with a coating of light purple-coloured cocoa butter — cocoa butter is the fat that gives chocolate its structure. Then it is a dark chocolate shell and filled with white chocolate mixed with a concentrated saskatoon juice,” McKinley explained.
“I grew up in Manitoba and my grandparents were all Mennonites. As early European settlers, my ancestors learned to use saskatoons, and one of my favourite dishes growing up was saskatoon ‘verenika’ — perogies — that my paternal grandmother would make. This chocolate was inspired by my grandma and her cooking.”
Purdys Chocolatier sells the saskatoon berry chocolate seasonally, and it remains popular year over year. It’s currently available for purchase at all Purdys shops across Canada.
“We have sold this chocolate every summer for a few years now,” McKinley said, “and people love it and wait for it to come back.”
For McKinley, making chocolate has offered an enjoyable career path.
“It’s the perfect blend of science, art and sociability. It makes people happy, and that brings me so much joy,” she said.
“We are always working on new things in our factory kitchen. I’m really proud of our new vegan caramel, which allows folks who can’t eat dairy to still enjoy caramel chocolates.”
Although the West Coast is now home for McKinley, she remains connected to her Manitoba roots.
“I love hearing from folks from back home when our chocolates make them happy,” she said. “Say hi through our social channels.”
