Decorated with boldly colored splashes and swirls of cocoa butter, Christopher Elbow’s chocolates resemble miniature abstract expressionist paintings.

These are not snarf-a-Snickers-while-listening-to-voice-mail-and-letting-out-the-dog-type chocolates. These are chocolates that approach the spiritual for the chocophile — confections that should be so reverentially savored that the memory rivals the actual experience.

Elbow, a ’96 UNL graduate in restaurant and business administration, recalls that in one of his first food science classes, he did an experiment about how differing temperatures affect the tempering of chocolate.

Unbeknownst to him at the time, it was his entree into making Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolates in Kansas City, and how sweet it is for him and his loyal customers.

Elbow has developed a national reputation for his exquisite handmade chocolates. While their striking visual appearance piques people’s interest, the high quality and unusual flavors — 21 flavors in all — are what makes him one of the best-known up-and-coming artisanal chocolatiers in the country.

While Elbow’s chocolates are certainly artful, artisanal does not refer to artistry but rather to any food that is handmade in a traditional manner in small batches using the best possible ingredients. Elbow marries a variety of high quality chocolate, including chocolate from the rare Venezuelan criollos beans, with unique ganache fillings such as 23-karat gold champagne, passion fruit, rosemary caramel, saffron, single malt scotch, fresh ginger and Vietnamese cinnamon.

An indication of Elbow’s success is the number of honors he’s received, including awards at the Next Generation Chocolatier national competition. He was awarded Best of Show in 2004 and Best Flavor for his Earl Grey ganache in 2006. His chocolates have been featured in “O,” Oprah Winfrey’s magazine, Food and Wine, and Fine Cooking. Many Web blog entries praise his confectionary skills.

Eric Case, Guittard Chocolate Co. northeast sales manager and one of the Next Generation Chocolatier judges, said of Elbow: “I think he does some really unique and innovative flavor combinations. … He’s really pushing the envelope of where chocolate is going.”

Although Elbow’s chocolates are handmade, a great deal of chemistry is involved. Adding science to the art of chocolate is something that his UNL education helped him hone. “My degree is food chemistry-related and that has given me a great foundation,” he said.

When developing a product, it’s important to be able to understand and assess what went wrong. Many food service and restaurant and hospitality courses of study do not provide that emphasis on food chemistry, Elbow said.

Elbow’s unpretentious Midwestern sensibility stems from growing up in Liberty, Mo. He came to UNL to swim with coach Keith Morris, who was his high school swimming coach.

Even as a child he knew he wanted to be a chef but he also wanted a degree. After graduating from UNL, he headed Shiraz restaurant in Kansas City, helped Emeril Lagasse open Delmonico Steakhouse at the Venetian in Las Vegas, and helped French Chef Jean Joho open the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Paris. After returning to Kansas City, he again worked at Shiraz before becoming a pastry chef at the American Restaurant.

During his stint as pastry chef, he began experimenting with making chocolates.

“It was like a total epiphany. I realized that this is what I want to do,” he said.

While creating chocolate nectar of the gods might seem richly fulfilling, it’s not without some tradeoffs.

There is, for starters, a business investment that includes a $28,000 French-made tempering and enrobing machine.

Because his chocolates are preservative-free, they only have a shelf life of three weeks, in contrast with commercially made chocolates, which can be in stores as long as a year or more.

And while Elbow enjoys the creative, artistic and architectural aspects of his work, it is also very repetitive, detail-oriented and tedious to make “perfect” chocolates.

Elbow dreams of a time when he can spend more time on research and development and less on the day-to-day operation of his business. During the busiest candy seasons, Elbow has as many seven people working with him. Even with the help, though, he often works 16 to 18 hours a day to keep up with demand.

“You really have to enjoy it,” he said.

And Elbow does.

“I enjoy creating something that brings great satisfaction and joy to other people. It’s nice when you hear people say things like, ‘These are the most amazing chocolates I’ve ever seen.’”

Courtesy: Nebraska Alumni Association