Making Chocolates at Het Chocolate Atelier

It's always chocolate time in Belgium, but I felt inspired by Valentine's Day approaching fast, and decided to schedule another chocolate making workshop for me and my friends at KB. If you want to learn how to make chocolate, look no further than Bart at Het Chocolate Atelier. Not only is he very knowledgeable on the subject, he's also a lot of fun.

The first thing you do in this class, is learn some interesting information about the history of chocolate. Then you get to the really important part...The tasting! He lets you have samples of all the chocolate and fillings that you'll be using later in the class. This is an important step, because you'll be very tempted to sneak a bite later on. Bart knows that sampling in the beginning will help you stay strong and behave during the candy making process. There are a lot of steps to making a delicious praline, and Bart patiently demonstrates each one. The first step is filling the chocolate mold with rich milk chocolate. (I bet you are wishing your computer had smell-o-vision right now. Yes, the shop smells amazing!)

After filling the mold with melted chocolate, he scrapes off all of the excess, shakes out the air bubbles, and lets it sit for just a minute. This lets a thin layer of chocolate harden in the mold. The next step is turning the mold over and letting all but the thin chocolate shell drip back out again. Now you have your candy shell. On to the next step...the fillings! We filled our chocolate shells with mocha, peanut butter, and creamy chocolate. YUM! Some fillings can be spread inside the shells...While other types have to be piped in. See? There's a lot more to this candy making process that you though, isn't there? Now do you see why you just have to take a class?Finally, the fillings are added and a layer of chocolate is added to the back of the candy to seal it in. We made some dipped chocolate candies as well, but I'll save those pictures for another day. No sense in making you drool more than you already are. One of the best parts of the process is decorating our creations. What we lacked in talent, we made up for in enthusiasm. Aren't they gorgeous? OK, I admit that Bart's pralines look maybe just a little bit prettier than ours, but in our defense, we're new at this stuff. He's been doing this for a few years. I'm sure I just need a couple of more classes... Maybe after I finish eating my chocolate...

Don't forget to say hi to Bart's puppy on your way out. He's sure to meet you at the gate with his bright blue ball, and would really appreciate you throwing it for him. And again. And again. And just one more time...