As a birthday surprise two years ago, my Fiancé (then boyfriend) bought me two tickets to a chocolate making workshop through buyagift.com, and I only got round to actually booking it April last year (a whole 12 months after I was given them! :O Oopsie!!).
A short walk from my place of work, situated in North London, the venue is beautifully placed on the Regents Canal with large glass windows so you feel like you're on the canal itself!
The class began with a good old scrub of the hands (who wants germy chocolate- ew!), covering up with an apron and sitting down at a table with around 3-4 other couples and friends.
You could smell the melted chocolate already. I was salivating, like, uncontrollably.
On our tables were examples of the different stages of chocolate; from the cocoa bean to cocoa butter that's extracted as well as pieces of chocolate of different strengths. These were either super bitter and gross or creamy and yummy! There were also loads of marshmallows.. which I couldn't help but snack on!
Learning the history of the cocoa bean, the process and going through the different qualities you can find in the shops, we learnt what brands to stay away from if we only want to eat the highest quality.
The first bit of chocolate making we got to do involved three bowls of delicious liquid chocolate; milk, white and dark. Pure, rich, creamy chocolate with incredible flavour, melted into creamy goodness was put in front of my widening eyes.. dangerous.
Our task was to make a giant chocolate button.. out of whatever was on the table.
My Chocolate had everything ready; chocolate curls, flakes, sprinkles, nuts, coconut, marshmallows and the three chocolate flavours.. I was in heaven!
I initially did a nice design with dark and milk chocolate, but then I went a bit choco-mad and just kept layering it on. Topped off with white chocolate flakes, this was honestly the best button I have ever tasted .. not to toot my own horn or anything..
Next we got to make fudge and chocolate coated marshmallows using cutters and pattern transfers. We chose to coat them in dark chocolate as it has a higher melting point and drizzle milk on top for decoration.
Lastly we made truffles.. I literally had no idea how easy it was! You just need to mix it with double cream.. who knew! Piping these into little.. well.. they looked like little poos... we then dusted them in cocoa powder and rolled them into little balls. To finish, we coated them in drizzled milk and dark chocolate and pink chocolate curls. Before leaving, we began packing them in a golden gift box and plastic gift bags so we could take them home and gift to family and friends.. or just eat them ourselves later!
This workshop is perfect for all foodies and chocolate lovers alike. It combines knowledge and practice and lots and lots of chocolate consumption! You can even book it for team building events and hen parties! If you've not done something like this before, I definitely recommend it. If you're looking for a gift for a loved one, you can buy gift vouchers as my fiancé did. They're without a doubt going to enjoy it!
Have you been to a workshop like this? What would you put on your chocolate button?
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