My dream job list at some stage of my life has read:
Personal shopper
Chocolatier
Taste tester
Can you see a common thread? The need to consume! So when I was offered a place at any of the Fisher & Paykel Sydney Cooking School classes I naturally chose the chocolate one. That afternoon, when Mr NQN and I were on our way, we spied the temperature which read 37C. *gulp* “That won’t be very good for the chocolate” I tell him.
We reach there and it’s a small class with a teacher Brad Reiher who is a pastry chef at Dolcetti and a facilitator Brett who usually teaches the classes like the very popular Duck & Pinot class. Some classes are more interactive whereas others are a bit more sit back and learn like this one. Today we are going to learn some background of how to make chocolate truffles, some basics and a ganache filling for a chocolate brulee tart. The class is a mix of basics like tempering chocolate along with some very handy tips.
First of all Brad shows us his chocolate machine which keeps chocolate at a constant temperature. For chocolatiers who make dozens of chocolates at one go, it is important to keep chocolate at a consistent temperature. This machine is from Europe and doesn’t use a water bath underneath it which is an advantage as water seizes chocolate.
We start with a basic ganache. A ganache which is a filling for truffles is a mixture of chocolate and cream. Here they use two types of chocolate: Callabaut and Cacao Barry. Temperature is very important for chocolate making and we take the cream to a boiling point and then pour it over the chocolate. However Brad tells us that we shouldn’t start stirring straight away and we should let it melt first. Stirring or whisking it reduces the temperature of the chocolate ganache mixture and to give it a little more warmth, he puts it on top of the saucepan that held the cream and then stirs it until just combined, never over mixing it.
The recipe for ganache should always be the same, however if the weather is hotter you can change the amount of cream to be less and if it is colder, you can add a little more cream. If you were using this ganache to ice a cake you would need to refrigerate this overnight to get the consistency that you want. Also Brad points out that you infuse the cream with basil using basil leaves and then strain the cream, then the basil leaves will absorb some of the cream and you always need to ensure that you have the correct amount of cream after infusing and straining. These pastry chefs are very precise!
We then get started on the truffles. Brad tells us that chocolate molds need to be polished between uses with cotton wool balls in order for the chocolates to pop out easily. They never use soap or detergent to wash the molds, simply hot water and at first glance the molds may look clean but once you rub them with cotton wool, the chocolate that is left on becomes apparent.
We first need to temper the chocolate. All couverture chocolate needs to be tempered in order to get the glossy look and that crisp snap when you bite into it and the glossy top. And did you know that with truffles, they only use tempered chocolate on the top that shows? The bottom of the chocolate isn’t tempered so you can use chocolate that is at a slightly higher temperature in order to fill in the gaps after you pipe the ganache in.
To temper dark chocolate you really need an electronic thermometer. Brad tells us that it’s almost impossible to do this otherwise although some people that are expert in it can tell with a lip test but this takes years to do and a lot of practice. A candy thermometer will not do the job as it doesn’t get precise enough and mostly works on higher temperatures.
For dark chocolate you need to take the chocolate up to 45C to melt everything so that everything separates. Then you reduce the temperature to 27C (you can do this naturally by waiting or with a water bath, just be sure not to get a speck of water into the chocolate as that will seize it faster than a bunch of Dementors!). Then you need to bring it up to 31C using a fan (aka a hairdryer) to get it to the correct consistency to pour it and set it. If you don’t do these steps and go beyond these temperatures things such as a bloom will appear on chocolate which is the sugar that comes out of the chocolate as it has separated too much.
For milk chocolate you need temper it to 40C, the reduce it to 27C and then 29C. There is a limit to the number of times you can temper chocolate and Brad tells us that he doesn’t temper a batch of chocolate more than twice. You can still use the chocolate for a ganache or for cooking but not for glossy truffles. You can also temper chocolate by heating two thirds of the chocolate to 40C and then adding in the remaining unmelted third of the chocolate which will bring the temperature down if you are in a hurry.
Chocolate that has been tempered twice already
Oooh drippy!
To fill the molds you spoon in the tempered chocolate generously. You tap the sides of the mold to get rid of any air bubbles which should rise to the surface and then tip the mold vertically so that the excess chocolate tips back into the bowl. You then take your scrap and scrape along the mold to scrape off the excess chocolate and then tip the mold upside down on a sheet of baking parchment to drain it even further.
Filling the molds
Adding the last layer of chocolate for the bottom
Then scraping the extra off
Then ensuring that there are no bubbles and that the chocolates are filled properly
They pop right out!
Once this is set, we pipe it with the milk chocolate ganache. Then we add a coating of untempered chocolate for the base and scrape this back too and allow it to completely set. Once it has, we tap the mold and out pops the glossy chocolates!
Making a biscuit base for our ganache tarts
Brad then shows us how to do some barely set chocolate custard tarts. He firstly uses a shortcrust biscuit base which he reheats up in the oven and as soon as they come out, he uses greased cutters presses down to on the biscuit and creates a seal. He then adds the chocolate ganache mix which is made with eggs and milk so that it sets in the oven.
Filling with chocolate custard
Gently pushing out the tarts from their molds
The whole thing is cooked in the oven for a mere 2 minutes and then the oven is switched off and left for a further 12 minutes to slowly cook the insides but the tart filling is supposed to be like a jelly filling with a barely set centre with a wobble.
Our last lesson is in learning how to make chocolate curls. Not by that way where you pour chocolate onto a marble surface and then use a spoon. This method produces a more consistent thickness to the curls and you can make patterns. You can use overhead projector sheet which you can buy at any office supply store.
Using the shiny and not the matte side, you spread some tempered chocolate onto it. When it looks like it is just starting to set run the back of the knife in a range of patterns, we did triangles but you could also draw curls, and then an easy way is just to rest it on top of a long spray can (we used oil spray) resting on a tea towel to get a curl.
After it is set, the curls come off easily
We also fill some chocolate cylinders with some vanilla cream brulle mixture that also has gelatin in it so that it is pipeable. We seal both ends with chocolate and the cylinder is again made out of the overhead projector sheet.
And what if, like me, you have hot hands? Some people naturally have hot or cold hands and cold hands are good for chocolate and pastry making. I’m rather annoyed that I have hot hands but I suppose that makes them better for chocolate and pastry eating? 
In any case, Brad suggests that if you do have hot hands you run them under cold or ice water and dry them and keep doing this. Also if you are rolling truffles he suggests piping the ganache into rounds so that there is less rolling with the hands which is a clever idea.
The class is very informative and the pastry chef Brad was very knowledgeable-I think you could ask him anything about chocolate! I think we came away with more chocolate knowledge than we knew what to do with. It is more of an instructional class however with some participation but not quite one of those scoff lots of chocolates kind of classes. You get to eat and decorate one tart and take one home a chocolate ganache tart (which was my favourite item) along with a few truffles. Also some information as to whether classes are more a participatory or observation class (I like participatory classes as I want to learn new skills first hand) or experience level would be helpful to find a class to suit your level or interest.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have hot or cold hands?
NQN and Mr NQN attended the class as guests of Fisher & Paykel
Sydney Cooking School
73 Military Road, Neutral Bay, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 8969 6199
http://www.sydneycookingschool.com.au/
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58 Comments | Add your own
What a terrific class Lorraine…And u have shared it splendidly!
The way u have put together the pics and write up , i also am walking away with so some of chocolaty goodness!
OH those curls are terrific!
Wowowow. I think of myself as having a lot of patience in baking/cooking, but I’m not sure I could do all this for one beautiful treat. Which is why I’m glad there are others who will make them for me to buy. What an awesome behind-the-scenes peek.
Thanks, stacks of helpful little tips! Sadly I have hot hands.
Drool!
All that chocolate. I love how chefs make it all look so easy.
SSG xxx
Hello, I read this with great interest because I am planning to do a chocolate class myself, in Melbourne at ganache chocolates in toorak road, south yarra, I hope it’s as good as yours!
I am a beginner blogger and would be honored if you had the time to check out my blog.
It’s http://dr-cupcake.blogspot.com
All the best, astrid
I have cold hands. This looked like a lot of fun! I’m going to try the choc curl method, he made it look so easy!
Oh to have the will power like Brad’s!
This place is not far from where I am and the class looks interesting! I usually have cold hands, but in this heat I’m boiling just about everywhere! 
disappointingly i have hot hands too! discovered this when i tried to make chocolate truffles & rolling them meant i had more chocolate on my hands than in the truffle. i’ll give the piping of ganache thing a go next time
I’m lucky, I have very cold hands. These came in very handy when I went to the Melbourne equivalent of this class. Ours wasn’t as in depth as yours seemed to be. We learnt the tempering and the perfect ganache. Then we used the ganache to learn to make hand rolled truffles. A skill I used to shower my family with salted caramel truffles for Xmas
Oh my god thanks lorraine for the info about the chocolates. I have been dabbling in tempering and truffles for quite a while now and have always wanted to learn the propper way and seriously thought of going to tafe but could not find the course. So guess what I am off to the cooking school at Neutral Bay with Brad. You are a legend. One other thing I have cold hands. Well not at the moment because it is now about 33 degrees. Thanks heaps,
Cheers,
Polly.
I have hot hands & A GREAT LOVE OF CHOCOLATE!!!
Chocolate is my very favourite food subject of all, so I am just a little envious.
Although I did spend a very happy hour or so with one of Adelaide’s finest chocolatiers -Stephen ter Horst – on Friday, so I shouldn’t moan.
“seize it faster than a bunch of Dementors”
I LOVE Harry Potter references in food! Lol.
Alas, I have hands as hot as the Sahara, making even short-crust pastry a challenge for me
Great how to pictures it makes me want to have a go.
I can just imagine the aroma of that chocolate, one of my favourite smells ! Unfortunately I have hot hands, which translates to using my wizz alot for pastry ! What an incredible experience, I dont think I would have the patience to create such delights !!!
Me-oh-my! And to think I was gearing up for the first round of this year’s Choc Appreciation workshops – what a good omen!
Do come to the Philippines one of these days, Lorraine. It’ll be food-filled and fun!
OMG. Girls would be lucky to have boys who just does amazing things like that! Such as tempering chocolate T_T
Lorraine – this is probably the most useful and fun Sunday am lesson I have had for a heck of a long time! Thanks so much for the exact point-to-point! I kept on watching both MC and JMC contestants speaking of ‘ganache’ without really understanding what they were on about (there goes the bad grammar again!). Altho’ my avowed love of choc is basically limited to a few squares of 70% dark at night on going to bed to hug my pillow, one never knows. Huge thanks for the very exact lesson!!!
Beautiful! Such a joy to see a true craftsman at work!
What a heavenly day surrounded by all of that chocolate. I have cold hands but a warm heart
Oh Lorraine. OH, LORRAINE. The photo of that hot melted chocolate dripping from the trays…. I think I have to go and read this post again.
I have hands that are hot when baking and cold when playing piano. A fail on both ends
I was already craving chocolate and then I read this. Dammit!
I always thought that hot hands were better for pastry or bread making?
What a cool class – all about chocolate – how fun to learn all these techniques!
Yum! Tempering chocolate has been one of those techniques that has alluded me. One day I’ll get around to it.
As for hands, I have warm hands which is no good when I’m kneading fondant, so I always keep a cold ice pack wrapped in a tea towel handy to keep my hands cool.
That looks like such fun!
Your site is so lovely. Your photos are beautiful too!
xx,
I’ve never really done that much work with chocolate, but you’ve stepped us through the class so well I feel like I ‘sort of’ understand the process. kinda fiddly huh? What a great class, would really love to do one of those…., one day
Delicious to read! I have icy cold hands – so much so that when the temperature drops below 25 degrees they start to go blue, even in summer!! Put me in a cool room and I wont melt a thing with my hands.
My hands are hot and I would love to get my hot little hands on some of that chocolate.I love this post, it is as though we are in the class with you.
I love the step by step photos and explanation, thanks. I’d love to do a pastry chef course but wonder if anyone would employ a gluten and lactose InTolerant one? I never tell people when I go for and interview with my normal cheffing, just let my work speak for itself!
What a great tip for making curls! I have seasonal hands – boiling hot and fat in summer and cold in winter.
That looks so nice! He makes it look so easy but I just know I’d make a huge mess of it!
This all looks so devine Lorraine, but the little chocolate tarts have my heart. Unfortunately, I have hot hands – not ideal for chocolate making.
can I e-mail from the UK? I love your e-mails and they remind me of my stays in Oz when I visited the Sydney fish market dems where we actually did do the food and the other fantastic restaurants where we ate the most wonderful food.
Mmmm …. chocolate. I have cold hands. Good to know there is a side-benefit!
Finally, a good use for my cold hands. That, and when my husband has a headache.
My daughter is a pastry chef, but I’m much happier eating than preparing… she might just be getting a phone call tomorrow after reading your teasingly yummy post (hint-hint nudge-nudge “won’t you make something for your dear mamma who brought you into this world?”)
Cold hands, warm heart! What amazing abilities Brad has… particularly in the heat there in Sydney at the moment! Great photos and story. Cheerio
I learned a million things from your post, Lorraine. I think doing it correctly sounds a little daunting.I have read lately that unless you buy the $100 electronic thermometer you are not going to get a true reading (I think mine was $20!).
Thanks for all the hard work to bring out all this information… you must be a writing magician!
Have you done any tempering of chocolate since this class? How did it go? which method did you use?
It’s all so incredibly precise.. makes me feel a bit better for being nervous about doing things with chocolate.
I have COLD hands, cold feet too
I’m a heat thief in winter, hehe.
That class looks fantastic! What a clever way to make chocolate curls! And that tart looks lovely. I tend to have cold hands, so maybe I’ll look for a chocolate class near me. Thanks for the great description! I loved this post
Lorraine, your dream is my dream. I just helped to decorate my neighbor’s house after his divorce. It was so much fun shopping and spending his money, not mine. And, now his place is nicer than ours. I’ll have to make some chocolate to perk up.
Wow, that was quite a process, but with great results! I think my hands are somewhere in the middle, but leaning towards hot:)
I would love to attend a chocolate class, I’ve made truffles many times but have never tempered the chocolate ever!
Thank you Lorraine for such a comprehensive review. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We’re still looking forward to you visiting us at our shop – Dolcetti.
Also thanks to everyone for the great comments. For those of you interested, the next available chocolate class at the Sydney Cooking School will be in July.
I don’t quite understand why you were infusing Basil into the cream for…was it just to give the chocolate a Basily taste? Sounds like an interesting class because I look at everything like that as being in the too hard basket!
What a lovely class! I have hot hands too, despite being cold all the time, so if I make truffels I have to have the mixture cold, roll a few, chill it again and continue like that, otherwise I just end up with chcolatey hands and no truffles
Beam me in Lorraine.I have read the entire post with my breath held. Fabulous!! I love the barely set chocolate custard on the shortbread biscuit and the curls. Off to study how he made the curls again. Hope I don’t have ‘hot’ hands…LOL!
Waw! Waw! Waw! What a great chocolate making master calss this surely was!! Perfect pictures, dear Lorraine!!
I’m always looking for new tips and tricks on working with chocolate! Lovely post, Lorraine! By the way, love the idea of those gorgeous chocolate cylinders…and those are the prettiest chocolate curls!
i very much agree with your list of ideal careers, and i might add tv reviewer to the list.
tasty post, lorraine!
Wow, I don’t think I would have the patience to do that every day. That dessert looks delicious though. Yum chocolate!
Oh you have the best job! I’m hot handed too, very frustrating when handling chocolate.
Participation is more fun although I guess any chocolate class is miles ahead of most classes! I have hot hands too, not great for rolling truffles
I am after as much info as you can give me for your chocolate cooking class, Our group of 27 are on a team building incentive week and we would like to create a class to fit in with this, What are your ideas for team building? Could we maybe split the 27 in to groups with some kind of friendly competition between them? We will be providing a facilitator to assist on the day with this group & would like to be able to present one of the groups with an award at the end of the day.
We will be happy to help with ideas for team building if needed just wanted to see if you had ideas from previous groups you have worked with.
How far exactly from the CBD are you located?
What would be our commission on this group booking?
Kind Regards
Kerry-Anne Myles
Hi Kerry Anne- you can contact them on the number or through the website provided above. This is a food blog and has no affiliation with the cooking school so they will not see the comment you post above.
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