Got a sweet tooth? Then check out the Chocolate Appreciation Workshop at 15 On Orange

by Karisa

So I recently popped into my favourite neighbourhood hotel, 15 On Orange, for a little visit.

Now you know whenever I do so it involves something that’s really fun, but really bad for your diet… Think that all you can eat Sunday buffet or the sorbet & ice cream workshop…  This time was certainly no different.  I was there to test drive their new Chocolate Appreciation workshop. (I know, what a tough life)

Being a solid chocoholic myself, learning how to make & decorate my own chocolates definitely sounded very cool.

During the workshop Savour pastry chef, Retha Thorpe, taught us how to temper chocolate, mould chocolate, create various chocolate fillings and also how to use a chocolate spray gun (for those very serious about decorating).  Because Easter’s coming up soon, our session was Easter inspired and we got to make our very own Easter egg masterpieces, but more about that later.

We were also treated to a Valrhona Chocolate tasting & info session – for those who haven’t heard of this brand, it’s probably because it’s marketed towards the pastry chef industry.  Chefs all over the world use this high quality chocolate to create amazing desserts and sweet treats, and for those of you out there who’s also avid home pastry chefs, you’ll be happy to know that you can buy Valrhona products from Yuppiechef over here.

Our workshop toolkit…

Valrhona chocolate info session…

And Valrhona tasting… Mmmmm…

So as I mentioned above, our task for the day was to create our own Easter eggs:

Getting down to business…  of course chocolate moulds take a while to set, so luckily they pulled one of those TV cooking show moves where they go  “oh don’t stress, over here we have an already prepared one” which meant we could simply proceed to the fun part of decorating them.

My chocolate-partner-in-crime, Cayleigh, went for the sophisticated look:

Nice, very nice…  girl’s clearly got some skills

While I went for more for the “oh look a rainbow pooped on my egg” look:

Clearly I love colour very very much…

But hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder right?  Plus it still tasted good, so there.

Now if you’re a chocoholic too, and you’d like to book your own Chocolate Appreciation workshop, you just need to take note of the following:

  • Cost is R495 per person.
  • minimum of 10 people is required (maximum 15 per session).
  • Duration – 2 hours
  • Focus – Moulded chocolates & truffles – we only did the Easter egg thing as a special theme, you’ll be learning how to make other fabulous things.
  • Booking is essential – Contact them on 021 469 8000 or email: reservations@15onorangehotel.com

Get all your friends together, or convince your boss you need this as a team building outing.  Everybody needs a bit of a sugar high in their live, it’s good for the soul. 😉

xxx

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