AreaCacao Docs

The Filling formulator wizard, one scene at a time, until the recipe saves itself.

Goal

Generate a technically validated filling recipe. When you create it, it saves itself to My recipes: since generating uses credits, the recipe is kept no matter what.

Before you start

Have an active account and at least 12 AI credits in your balance.
Decide which family you want (ganache, soft caramel, pâte de fruit, praline & gianduja or truffle), which flavors and what weight you need.

The formulator works by scenes: each screen answers a single question and takes you to the next, with Back and Next buttons at the bottom. Summary chips (Type, Flavors, Amount) build up above the scene with what you've already chosen; click any of them to go back to that scene. There's no intermediate "calculate" button and no saving step at the end.

Scenes

Scene 1 — What filling do you want to create?

You'll see a grid of five family cards. Each card shows the name, a short description, the number of available types and an illustration that animates when you hover over it.

Ganache — creamy emulsion of couverture, dairy and flavor.
Caramel — its type is Soft caramel, cooked to 118 °C for a flowing center: the useful format for bonbon fillings.
Pâte de fruit — its type is Pâte de fruit: a gel of fruit purée, sugar and a touch of acidity.
Praline & gianduja — its type is Creamy praline: a continuous, anhydrous fat system (no free water) with a very low aw.
Truffle — its type is also called Truffle: a cream-and-couverture emulsion firmer than a ganache, designed to be hand-rolled and coated.

Today each family has a single type: when you click the card, the wizard selects it and jumps straight to the next scene (no need to click "Next"). If a family had several types, chips would appear under Pick the specific type.

At the bottom there's a shortcut, Start with the classic: it sets the classic setup (ganache · one flavor · 1 kg) and takes you straight to the flavors scene, or to the review if you had already picked a primary flavor.

Scene 1 only shows the five active families: Ganache, Caramel, Pâte de fruit, Praline & gianduja and Truffle. Families still in development (Crunchy fillings, Foams, Creams and Traditional pastes) are hidden: they don't appear in the grid and can't be selected or generated. That's why there's no error flow for choosing them.

Scene 2 — How many flavors will your filling have?

Here you choose the structure of the flavor profile, from four options:

One flavor — a single flavor that defines the filling.
Two flavors — a primary plus a secondary that lifts it.
One flavor + accent — a primary finished with a final note.
Two flavors + accent — primary, secondary and accent.

Below the cards, a What role does each flavor play? panel (expanded) explains the three roles: the primary sets the character; the secondary modulates or lifts the primary and usually makes up 1% to 6% of the weight; the accent is a finishing note (salt, spice, flower) dosed in grams. If you later switch to a structure with fewer slots and some flavors you'd already picked would be left out, the wizard asks you to confirm (You're about to remove flavors you already picked) before dropping them: Yes, continue or Keep my selection.

Scene 3 — Choose your flavors

You'll only see the roles in the structure you chose:

Your primary flavor (required) — what the customer recognizes first.
Your secondary flavor (if your structure includes it) — modulates or lifts the primary.
Your accent (if your structure includes it) — a finishing note (flaky salt, vanilla, a spice) dosed in grams.
Additional notes (optional) — qualitative guidance (intensity, context, allusions), up to 200 characters with a counter. For example "Boost acidity" or "alcohol-free".

Each picker opens a search box with the grid of flavor families. Type to filter or click a family to see its options; once you pick a flavor, the field closes and shows a chip with a Change link and an X to remove it. If the flavor has records in Ingredients, Form in Ingredients appears under the chip: by default Let the engine choose, or you can pin a specific record (fresh, purée, freeze-dried…) and the engine uses it as is.

A flavor already chosen in another role stays visible but disabled, marked Already chosen in another role: it can't be repeated. If your structure didn't include an accent, you can add it right here with Add an accent (and remove it with Remove the accent) without going back to the previous scene.

Some types hide flavors that don't suit their technique: pâte de fruit doesn't show the Dairy & cheeses family, and creamy praline only accepts fruit and other water-based flavors in dry form. In those cases the This family doesn't suit your filling panel appears.

To understand when to use each level, read Flavors: primary, secondary and accent.

Scene 4 — How much filling do you need?

Set the weight and, if you want, some constraints.

Total weight — pick one of the presets (500 g, 1 kg, 2 kg, 5 kg) or click Other to type a value. The accepted range is 50 to 5,000 g and the default is 1 kg.
Advanced constraints (optional) — collapsed by default; expand them by clicking the title. Leave them untouched and the master decides.
- Diet — four toggle buttons: Vegan, Gluten-free, Lactose-free and No refined sugar.
- Min cocoa % (optional) — minimum cocoa percentage; for example, 60.
- Max water % (optional) — maximum water percentage.

Scene 5 — Review your recipe

You'll see a summary of everything you chose. Each row has a pencil that takes you back to the matching scene to adjust it.

Click Create my recipe. Under the button, a subtext shows the cost and your balance ("Uses 12 credits · Balance: N"). Clicking it reserves the credits and the recipe starts being prepared on the server.

During generation

The We're creating your recipe screen moves through four phases: Preparing your [type], Choosing the ingredients, Balancing the formula and One final check from the master. Meanwhile, notes from the workshop rotate on screen.

You can close the window: the recipe keeps being prepared on the server and waits for you in the formulator. When you come back (within the next 24 hours), the app looks for recipes in the making and shows you the generation in progress ("You're back in time: your recipe is still being prepared."), the result ("You're back — and your recipe is ready") or the notice that it couldn't be completed, with your credits returned.

If you change your mind, click Cancel this recipe: we return your credits and you'll see the You cancelled the generation screen.

If one of your flavors isn't in the curated recipe book, the engine fine-tunes the recipe automatically without asking you to confirm: you'll only see a note on the loading screen saying it's an experimental flavor.

Expected result and auto-save

When it finishes, you'll see Your recipe is ready and the recipe is already saved to My recipes. There's no "Save recipe" button or naming modal: since generation uses credits, the app saves it by itself. The result screen is split into two columns:

Recipe header — the proposed name, followed by {type} · {weight} · {N} ingredients. Right below it, the storage guideline, the same for every family: "Storage: at room temperature, between 16 and 18 °C".
Physicochemical balance — a bar chart comparing each macro against the chef's optimal range (see Physicochemical balance). For soft caramel, it is followed by the fixed bicarbonate and lecithin doses and the sugar block split, for reference (see Soft caramels).
Estimated water activity — the recipe's guideline aw range, with the guidance shelf-life reference from the course table. For caramel and pâte de fruit it asks for the final °Brix or weight after cooking (see Estimated water activity).
Estimated pH — when the recipe includes one, the value with the type's reference and the note "Indicative: it does not count toward the score. Measure the pH of the finished product."
Recipe score — the 0–100 number, with the "N in range · N out of N" detail (green for 90 or more, amber for 80 or more, red below 80). A new recipe is only delivered with all its parameters within range, so you'll normally see 100. See Validation score.
Ingredients table — ingredient, weight and percentage.
Master chocolatier notes — the master's comments on the recipe. They don't include shelf-life or storage periods: the only period is the reference on the aw card.

Below the action buttons, a charge confirmation such as "−12 credits · remaining balance: N" appears. At the bottom of the screen there's a fixed disclaimer: "The estimated properties (water activity, pH, shelf life) are guideline calculations, not lab measurements. Real shelf life depends on hygiene, raw materials, process, enrobing and how the pieces are kept. Validate the formula with your own tests; for sale, with aw/pH measurement."

Three action buttons:

View recipe — opens the (already saved) recipe at /validation and refreshes your list.
Adjust — goes back to the review scene, with your choices, so you can change them and create again.
Create another recipe — restarts the wizard from the first scene.

If the proposed name matches one you already have in your account, AreaCacao adds an automatic differentiator so it doesn't overwrite your previous recipe. We explain it in Create a recipe → Duplicate names.

If the combination isn't available

If the engine can't get a recipe with all its parameters within the type's range, instead of the result you'll see the We haven't mastered that combination yet screen, suggesting a more classic flavor (vanilla, coffee, hazelnut) or a different filling type, and a Try another combination button that takes you back to the review with your choices. Your credits are returned automatically. Common fixes in Troubleshooting.

If generation fails

If something goes wrong on the server, you'll see the We couldn't finish your recipe screen, with the notice "Your credits have been returned: this recipe cost you nothing." and two buttons: Try again (relaunches the recipe with the same choices) and Back to review.

Variants

Primary flavor only. With the "One flavor" structure you don't need a secondary, an accent or notes.
Start with the classic. The scene 1 shortcut drops you into the flavors scene with family, structure and weight set to the defaults.
Default constraints. If you don't open the constraints section, the engine decides based on the chosen family and type.

Generate a filling