Chocolate Tales
Name: Chocolate Tales
Cuisine: Chocolate making and decorating workshops
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to try one of Chocolate Tales' workshops. I have a very sweet tooth so I was excited to attend my first chocolate making class. Chocolate Tales offer many different kinds of workshops (classic chocolate making, truffle making, decorating with chocolate, and tempering class) at various locations in the GTA. I attended the 90 minutes "Classic Chocolate Making Workshop" that took place at the St. Lawrence Market (93 Front Street East, Toronto, ON, M5E 1C3). This specific class allows you to make several chocolate molds, and truffles. As I entered the kitchen, I was handed a delicious cup of Belgian hot chocolate to drink prior to the workshop. The hot chocolate tasted really rich and it was fitting for the chilly weather.
Our chocolate connoisseur for the afternoon was David Levy (Chocolate Dave); who is both the owner and one of the teachers at Chocolate Tales. He began the workshop by introducing the history of chocolate and gave some tips on how to make your own chocolate. Throughout the presentation; small plates of "Origin Chocolate" was making their rounds around the class, and we got to taste test them.
After the taste testing; it was time to create and decorate some chocolates. Since Halloween is quickly approaching; everyone was given a Halloween themed chocolate mold. We were also provided with various items that can be used to decorate the chocolates; white chocolate, creamy milk chocolate, coconut shavings and cocoa powder.
So to start, I was given a cup of milk chocolate to fill my Halloween themed chocolate molds. Afterwards, I was free to use any of the provided items that are listed above to decorate my chocolate pieces.
The next activity was making our own truffles, which are traditionally made with chocolate ganache. Everyone was given their own ganache block to play around with and we had the choices of rolling them into balls or use the provided metal shape cutters. To decorate the truffles, we had a few options from coating it with milk chocolate, drizzle designs using white chocolate, or topped it off with either coconut shaving or cocoa powder.
Chocolate Tip: It is best to coat the ganache balls in the milk chocolate first before decorating it so that the shaving would stick after it cools.
The final activity of the day was decorating our own lava cake.
Honestly, the cake had a nice chocolaty aroma and I just wanted to take a
bite out of it. However, I couldn't as there was still raw eggs
in the batter. We were instructed by David to decorate the lava cake to
our personal liking, and then they will cook it for us in the oven.
I decided to topped my lava cake with some coconut shaving and swirled some milk chocolate onto it.
Everyone at the workshop is now waiting for their truffles to cool down and the lava cakes to cook.
At the end of the workshop, we were given packaging to take our decadent chocolate creations home. Everyone then went to the front of the class to get their cooled truffles and cooked lava cakes.
My chocolate truffles have finally cooled down. It looked quite messy but it was delicious nonetheless!!
The chocolates are neatly wrapped up.
It was an enjoyable afternoon and needless to say ... all of the chocolate was devoured by the next day. Chocolate Tales is a fun activity to do with friends, family members, significant others etc ... Additionally, it is also suitable for all ages and the company also offers private parties.
They are currently offering a 45% discount on all of their workshops, so don't forget to check out their website for more information.
Thank you to Cocoa Kelly for the invitation, I had a great time.
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Disclaimer: The food provided in this post was complimentary. However, all of the opinions expressed in this review are of my own.
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