Food

Fabulous Chocolate ‘Fashionistas’ For Valentine’s Day

Lacy, ruffled-and-beaded chocolate mini-mannequins are crafted by Moran Etstein. Image by Courtesy of Drizzle

By Rabbi Debbie Prinz February 12, 2017

This Valentine’s Day you can have your doll and eat it too.

Beersheva-born Moran Etstein crafts lacy, ruffled-and-beaded chocolate mini-mannequins to delight fashion fiends and chocolate mavens everywhere. Her passion for chocolate and fashion mix in what she calls her doll-like Fashionistas. The chocolate mannequins are both edible and artful. Talking to me by phone, Moran talked about her business, called Drizzle, and delighted in how her senses melt together in her chocolate work.

Moran’s journey to fashion through chocolate started when she was a child in Israel. She snacked on Elite’s ubiquitous milk chocolate bar, commonly called Para, named for the cow on its label. When she came to New York about eight years ago, Moran started making confections at home while studying at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. A chocolate autodidact, she read a lot about chocolate online and in books. That, combined with feedback from friends, led her to combine her love of chocolate with her training in graphic arts to create the Fashionistas about two years ago.

The current line of Victorian outfits won a prize for innovation at the Big Chocolate Show in November 2016 in New York. Image by Courtesy of Drizzle

Her current line of Victorian outfits won a prize for innovation at the Big Chocolate Show in November 2016 in New York City. That line will soon be supplemented by new styles. Undoubtedly, they will be equally enticing.

In addition to the fashionistas, Etstein offers chocolate hats and lolly pops, and chocolate workshops for children and adults. She is currently offering a Valentine’s Day special: Order before February 14 and receive a 20% discount. (A discount code is available on the Drizzle site.)

Rabbi Prinz lectures about chocolate and Jews around the world. Her book, On the Chocolate Trail, is used in adult study, classroom settings, book clubs and chocolate tastings. She is developing a new project about women and chocolate.

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