If you like chocolate, a wonderful thing to do, for yourself, for someone else or, maybe all together, is a chocolate course. Lots of places now run them, where you learn all about chocolate, how to temper it and then usually make various incarnations of the stuff.
I went with my two bambine to Melt just off Westbourne Grove in London, up the road from where I grew up, to attend one of its chocolate courses. It was meant to last three hours but, four and a half hours later, we were all still there, laughing and learning.
First we learned to temper chocolate, mixing it with praline and feuilletine, then spreading it out on the marble worktop before putting it into a chunky bar mould. Everyone’s bar set except for mine (ahem), but that’s OK because Paul, the excellent and fabulous chocolatier, donated me his. Then we made ganache and piped it into bonbons before, later, rolling them by hand in melted chocolate, which was a super messy experience (it was so good not to have to worry about clearing up after ourselves). Finally, we made mini bars of chocolate with various inclusions from slivers of nuts to cornflower petals. When they were set, we wrapped them in waxed paper and fancy sleeves.
In between all this we learned about the provenance of chocolate and lay in the tipi in the back yard and did a wonderful chocolate tasting. Everything you make you get to take home. (The bonbons were a huge favourite.) This is such fun and would make a great present for that person who’s really hard to buy for. Lots of other places also offer workshops so Google for nearer to you.
Prices at Melt start at £55 (meltchocolates.com)
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