Today was so much fun! I did something I never thought I'd have a chance to do...I made chocolate candy! How cool is that? What made it even more fun, was the fact that Brandon was allowed to participate as well. I'd signed up for an adult chocolate workshop with the gals from
Kleine Brogel, but a couple of them had to bail at the last minute. That left a free spot, and they let Brandon join us.
Our chocolate workshop was through
Het Chocolade Atelier in
Kinrooi. We were met at the door by our lovely instructor and chocolate maker extraordinaire, Bart. Trust me, you'll never meet a nicer or more patient guy. He started out our class by explaining the process of making chocolate, from it's start in the cocoa plant to the chocolate bars in the final product. It was very interesting. Then we got down to the fun part...making the candy!
That's right. Those are huge vats of melted milk and dark chocolate. There was another one on the other side with white chocolate in it. This place was candy heaven.
Don't you just want to dive into this vat? Brandon wanted to stick his head under here and open his mouth wide. I told him it would probably be frowned upon. That's just a guess, of course.
We filled molds with milk and dark chocolate, and then dumped them back out again to leave room for the yummy fillings that Bart had prepared.
I had a lot of fun piping in the creamy
chocolate and hazelnut fillings. After the chocolates were filled, then they were covered in chocolate again to seal the backs of them.
The hardest part of the class was not licking your fingers! Trust me, it was VERY tempting. If you give in to temptation, then you have to go to the sink in back for scrubbing and disinfecting. After the second time to the sink, you kind of learn your lesson.
The workshop lasted a couple of hours, and it was tons of fun. At the end, we got to put on white gloves (because no one wants fingerprints on their lovely chocolate) and load up our boxes to take them home. The best thing about this kind of workshop is that no matter how talented you are (or are not) when it comes to making and decorating your chocolate, the end result is the same. It's Delicious! Well, I take that back. It tastes just a
little bit better, knowing that you made it yourself! I think I'll be a
chocolatier when I grow up. I'm just saying.
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... 
