Around the time husband was asking what I wanted for Christmas, I happened to stumble upon a Groupon for this course (usually $88, on sale for $45)! I immediately sent the link to Travis with instruction to buy! buy! buy! and called Ann to see if she wanted to join me. Of course the answer was yes (what's better than a 2.5 hour chocolate class?), and we purchased tickets to the January 11th class.
As we were trying to figure out what this class might be like, the only thing running through our heads was the I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode...you know the one, right? If not, here's a clip.
As we were trying to figure out what this class might be like, the only thing running through our heads was the I Love Lucy chocolate factory episode...you know the one, right? If not, here's a clip.
While there wasn't a conveyor belt bringing us a never-ending line of chocolates, it was an AWESOME time.
We got into Boston so early that we decided to have an early lunch at b.good. I've seen several of these around Boston, but haven't made it inside before. All of their food is made fresh and the ingredients come from local farmers, which is awesome. It was definitely NOT your normal fast food restaurant - everyone was nice and relaxed, it was CLEAN, and the food was great!
I got a grilled chicken sandwich with mushrooms, onions, BBQ sauce and cheese on a wheat bun with sweet potato fries. It was delicious - especially the fries. We thought about sending "Frank", who apparently grew the potatoes for the fries, a thank you note. M-m-mmmm...
Once we were sufficiently full and less likely to eat all the chocolate before it was shaped into truffles, we walked down the street to Elephant & Castle, where the class was taking place. The inside was beautiful with dark wood, stained glass, old-timey beams in the ceilings in one section. We decided we'll have to make another trip to actually eat there another time.
The class took place downstairs in a private room. When we came in, we were given laytex gloves, a little course packet, and a cup of the best hot chocolate I have EVER had (recipe coming soon)!
The instructor for the day was Dorian McCarron, a chocolatiere and past winner of Food Network's Sweet Genius! Dorian was hilarious and passionate about chocolate and had lots of information to bestow on us about where it comes from, how it's made, what "trash chocolate" is, and how to work with it.
We started by looking at the different forms of chocolate (above). From left to right they were 1) coco beans, 2) coco oil (which we all spread on our hands), 3) coco nibs (which can lower your cholesterol and increase your seratonin), 4) milk chocolate chips, and 5) dark chocolate chips.
After some more information and a demo on tempering chocolate and making a great ganache, it was time to start making some truffles of our own. (Fun fact - did you know the literal french translation of ganache is "imbecile"? Probably means it was invented by accident by a kitchen worker who got called a ganache for his mistake.)
Dorian had made three types of truffles for us to use - Caramel, Milk Chocolate, and Raspberry. We were each given a tray with a cut of each chocolate to work with and the recipes so we can make them on our own later (I'll post these in another blog next time we make truffles).
Then we got to rolling and garnishing our truffles! There were several toppings for us to use - coco powder, powdered sugar, coco nibs, coconut, and toffee bits, or we could dip them in churning chocolate for a hard outer layer. I ended up doing about half and half so I could bring home a good variety of treats.
Here are a few shots of the finished products!
Overall, the session lasted about three hours and was FANTASTIC. If you're in the Boston area, I'd 100% recommend checking out the Boston Chocolate School. In addition to these Truffle Classes, they also offer Chocolate Walking Tours, cupcake tours, and other tasting events, so if you're just visiting Boston, this would even be a delicious way to see part of the city!
Fun day!
We got into Boston so early that we decided to have an early lunch at b.good. I've seen several of these around Boston, but haven't made it inside before. All of their food is made fresh and the ingredients come from local farmers, which is awesome. It was definitely NOT your normal fast food restaurant - everyone was nice and relaxed, it was CLEAN, and the food was great!
Once we were sufficiently full and less likely to eat all the chocolate before it was shaped into truffles, we walked down the street to Elephant & Castle, where the class was taking place. The inside was beautiful with dark wood, stained glass, old-timey beams in the ceilings in one section. We decided we'll have to make another trip to actually eat there another time.
The class took place downstairs in a private room. When we came in, we were given laytex gloves, a little course packet, and a cup of the best hot chocolate I have EVER had (recipe coming soon)!
The instructor for the day was Dorian McCarron, a chocolatiere and past winner of Food Network's Sweet Genius! Dorian was hilarious and passionate about chocolate and had lots of information to bestow on us about where it comes from, how it's made, what "trash chocolate" is, and how to work with it.
We started by looking at the different forms of chocolate (above). From left to right they were 1) coco beans, 2) coco oil (which we all spread on our hands), 3) coco nibs (which can lower your cholesterol and increase your seratonin), 4) milk chocolate chips, and 5) dark chocolate chips.
After some more information and a demo on tempering chocolate and making a great ganache, it was time to start making some truffles of our own. (Fun fact - did you know the literal french translation of ganache is "imbecile"? Probably means it was invented by accident by a kitchen worker who got called a ganache for his mistake.)
Dorian had made three types of truffles for us to use - Caramel, Milk Chocolate, and Raspberry. We were each given a tray with a cut of each chocolate to work with and the recipes so we can make them on our own later (I'll post these in another blog next time we make truffles).
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| Ann - so excited about the chocolate! |
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| Catch the photo-bomb? The helper was hilarious! |
Then we got to rolling and garnishing our truffles! There were several toppings for us to use - coco powder, powdered sugar, coco nibs, coconut, and toffee bits, or we could dip them in churning chocolate for a hard outer layer. I ended up doing about half and half so I could bring home a good variety of treats.
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| Rolled truffles waiting for toppings! |
Here are a few shots of the finished products!
Overall, the session lasted about three hours and was FANTASTIC. If you're in the Boston area, I'd 100% recommend checking out the Boston Chocolate School. In addition to these Truffle Classes, they also offer Chocolate Walking Tours, cupcake tours, and other tasting events, so if you're just visiting Boston, this would even be a delicious way to see part of the city!
Fun day!
We went to a truffle making class just down the road from here at ChocoLees. We had to chop chocolate and help make the ganache for the next class, and used the ganache made by the previous class to roll and dip and decorate. So fun, and chocolatey hands to lick off later. (OK that was frowned upon.)
ReplyDeleteSo fun! I'm totally looking for more cooking/chocolate classes now.
DeleteThat hot chocolate was so good, and your truffles look beautiful! Even though I had a different instructor, I think I've met Dorian at a different Boston Chocolate School event -- a wine and chocolate pairing, I think. Such a fun class! Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDelete