Chocolate 101-401…Class of 2015

Our Condensed Chocolate 101-401 five day class ran this January with a full class of 10 eager chocolate fans…and what fun was had! Here is a little overview of what we did, the fun we had, and the products we created!

Day One…Introductions. People still a little shy at this stage (not all!) but by Day Five, some amazing friendships had formed. The entire morning session was spent talking through Tempering and Flavoring, the two pillars of artisan chocolate making. We then polished and prepped all the polycarbonate molds we would be using over the next 5 days. After lunch (yet another awesome lunch by Michelle – every lunch was just divine), it was mold work … colouring, skimming, casting.

Day Two: Ganache!  We introduced our flavouring ‘framework’ to show when and how to add flavours – including my personal favourite method, infusion. We launched into making ganaches, including Hazelnut & Coffee twin layered slab, Raspberry Framboise,Vanilla Bean, Coconut Malibu Bars, Ginger & Spice, and Gooey Caramel from scratch. A lot of learning, a lot of note taking, as we explored the various flavouring methods through the recipes.

Day Three: The first day students got to take some chocolate home – finished all the molds we piped the day before, learned how to spray coloured cocoa butter, and then made Passionfruit Caramel, Mint & Strawberry (we winged that one, it was supposed to be Raspberry but we wanted to make puree from scratch and we had lots of strawberries…), and Prune & Port spiced with cinnamon. Exhausting day, starting to feel the feet after three days standing, but by now, everyone knows each other, and the atmosphere is jovial. Mmm hmm! (inside joke sorry).

Day Four: Pralines from scratch! We double caramelised our hazelnuts, due to running out of gas on the cooker we use for the copper bowl method. Turned out OK though…and we made a few more recipes – Honey Praline (using Almond praline we made from scratch), Butterscotch Caramel Lollipops, Chewy Caramel, Marzipan (oops…this is my bogey recipe – I always seem to do a step wrong…turned out OK though). We also had a session where students worked in pairs to create their very own recipes, to allow them to put the flavouring framework to use, and to learn how to create recipes from scratch. Had some really cool recipe ideas come through – Orange and Cloves was sounding good!

Day Five: Started off making Fruit Jellies, then Marshmallow (egg free). After that, it was tempering up the tanks, sealing off the molds and then lots and lots of dipping and applying transfer sheets. We did some orange velvet spraying, which turned out awesome. Many people didn’t bring a large enough container, because the amount of chocolate to take home was almost ridiculous! A little sad to have to say goodbye to our new friends though!

In summary, the class was a lot of fun, and the students were great. Here is a little picture of the class…and 4 of the 18 chocolates made in class, from left to right…Caramel Cupcakes, Passionfruit Caramels, Strawberry & Mint, Prune & Port, and hiding in the right hand corner is the Honey Almonds. Note – this was one of FOUR benches of chocolate for students to take home!! A big thank you to the students for a great five days. Mmm hmm!