Whoever said ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ has clearly never indulged in a little chocolate before…

The best chocolate course ever!

If you walk into our campus kitchen on a night when we are hosting a chocolate making course, believe me when I tell you that all you can smell is chocolate, and it smells like heaven. There’s simply chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate everywhere, and as the course begins you can’t help but be consumed by the gorgeous aroma and taste of this delightfully sweet and bitter treat that so many crave.

To begin the course, our principal explains the origins of chocolate, the original finding being in South America (mainly in Mexico) where it was prepared as a drink. We then delve into the fascinating discussions of tempering chocolate, using different temperatures to prepare chocolate, as well as the differences between chocolate and white chocolate, or cocoa butter which isn’t even chocolate at all. From there, we move to the demo kitchen where we’re all shown how to use chocolate transfers and how to make filled chocolates. 

When the student becomes the teacher, its fun and games!

When we had to learn how to make the pastry bases for the bitter chocolate tarts, I was invited to lead the class on this little pastry exercise.  It seemed such an easy and natural task for me because I love pastry and I am very used to preparing pastry for various treats. I do have to mention that although it went really well, I was at times at a loss for words whilst making the pastry (concentration got the better of me) however my fellow students stepped in to show the course participants exactly what to do, so in the end, everyone’s tarts turned out well. What an awesome recipe to make, complete with Maldon sea salt sprinkled over them at the end. Strange to think how sometimes sweet and savoury ingredients complement each other so well.

The class also made chocolate mousse and guests helped to decorate some of the chocolates after they had set. To add a bit of fun to the evening, every person attending had a chocolate moustache at one point or another during the class which was quite appropriate with “Movember” just around the corner. Guests were also given some sweet treats to take away, and we suspect that they left us with a more of an intense addiction to chocolate than before they started the course.

Sometimes amidst the chocolate and the laughter and the pastry lessons and the wonderful guests – it’s great to pause and remind ourselves why being a Culinary Arts students at IHS is always the sweetest treat.