Belgian chocolate workshop

As a big fan of chocolate, I’m definitely born in the right country. Since childhood, chocolate played an important role in my life as I went hunting for Easter eggs, received chocolate figurines from ‘Sinterklaas’ or enjoyed some delicious pralines on special occasions. My first business plan even revolved around chocolate as I prepared and sold my hand-made chocolate spread on the local market as a 12 year old. Despite my experience with chocolate (mostly on the receiving end), I’ve never made my own pralines, so when I learned about the chocolate workshop in Brussels, I was definitely intrigued and felt obliged to sign up in order to fulfill my duty as a proper Belgian citizen.

We were welcomed by a friendly guy who gave us a quick introduction into Belgian chocolate and explained the three chocolate products we would make today: pralines, ‘mendiants’ and hot chocolate. Cacao-infused heaven. There were about 20 participants, so we split up in small groups of 2 or 3 people and gathered around one of the chocolate temperers (a device to keep the liquid chocolate at the right temperature).

Pralines

We started with the confection of pralines, which would take up most of our time. We tempered our chocolate, filled the mold with a first layer of chocolate, stuffed it with ganache (filling) and let the chocolate set in the freezer. Once the chocolate and ganache were solid enough, we covered it with a final layer of chocolate, thereby putting the last hand to our DIY pralines.

All in all, it’s not that complicated to make, so if you remember the recipe, you can repeat the process at home and have delicious pralines all year long!

Mendiants

During the second part of the chocolate workshop we proceeded to making ‘mendiants’. What’s that, you ask? It literally translates as ‘beggar’, but is actually a chocolate disk studded with dried fruits and nuts. Although traditionally they come in a round shape, our instructor challenged us to get creative and confection various shapes (which is definitely more difficult!)

Hot chocolate

After gathering so much culinary knowledge already, it was time to round up the workshop with an easy all-round recipe. After mixing milk and chocolate, we enjoyed a delicious hot chocolate, which felt super heartwarming on a rainy day like this.

Who should participate in a chocolate workshop?

The only requirement to take part in this workshop is that you enjoy chocolate (but who doesn’t, right?) Apart from that, it’s a great activity for tourists, chocolate-loving locals, families with kids (who should be older than 12), teambuilding groups, hen parties… You name it.

Note that the workshops are given in English.

How to book?

After picking a day and a time-slot, you can book using Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

Practical information

• The workshops take place in Rue des Foulons 30, 1000 Brussels
• During this workshop you’ll learn how to make pralines, mendiants and hot chocolate
• After the workshop you get to take home a box containing more than 30 hand-crafted chocolates.
• More information on the chocolate workshop website
• The price for a 2,5-hour chocolate workshop is 35 EUR per person

Comments

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