Chocolate-Coated Girls’ Night Out

Tonight we had a “girls’ night out” at Artisan Chocolates. My friend Beth organized the evening, and we had a group of 10 women for a private class. Most of us met for dinner first, but next time I would save room for more chocolate.

Artisan Chocolates is a small store run by 2 people who also led our class. We sampled some of their chocolates while we learned the basics of chocolate-making, and tasted chips of white, milk and different dark chocolate to appreciate the differences Then we got to work.

To make pretty designs on the chocolates, we painted acrylic sheets with colored cocoa butter and let those set to make transfers. We each ran 24 chocolates through an enrobing machine (insert I Love Lucy clip here) and then applied our transfers. Cool!

We also made the fanciest bark I’ve ever seen, spreading tempered chocolate on pre-made transfers, and then sprinkling on awesome toppings like dried cherries and fleur-de-sel.

Our final project was a gourmet variation on rice crispie treats. They had crisped rice cereal that they had coated with a light coating of homemade caramel. We selected mix-ins (dried cranberries and dried banana bits or candied ginger and almond slivers), and then mixed it all with chocolate. We dropped globs onto parchment paper and let them cool and set. As we learned, that happens quickly with properly tempered chocolate.

Not only did we have a good time and get to sample fine chocolates while we were there, but we all went home with goody bags filled with our creations. The guy warned us that they would only last 2-3 weeks, but I don’t think that will be a problem.