Chocolate Making Party

Jaya & Anjali

I have been making chocolates at home for three years, it all started after a friends hen party where we went on a chocolate making workshop in London. It was great fun and the whole process of making truffles was a lot simpler than I thought it would be. Apart from this December which was just to busy I always have the book club girls over and we make up a big batch of truffles for Christmas gifts.

I always wanted to offer a chocolate making party when I started Buttons as I love introducing children to new things. As with all my making parties the main aim is for lots of fun mixed with a little learning.

My party starts with a little silly quiz on the history of chocolate followed by some chocolate tasting (of course!) I always offer different flavors and at my party yesterday it was white, dark, ginger and chili. They all liked the white, only about 3 out of 21 liked the dark (no surprise to me, I hate it) most liked the ginger (a surprise to me) and out of those that were brave enough to try the Chili they liked it.

My party yesterday was in Church Crookham, only 10 minuets away from me in Fleet and it was for two lovely twin girls 7th birthday, Jaya & Anjali who you can see at the top of the page. It was Myself and Rachel looking after this party and surprise, surprise we had a great time!

Chocolate heaven

After the little bit of history and tasting it was time to learn about Tempering. Tempering chocolate is when you melt it to around 112F and then add in some more unmelted chocolate and stir until the temperature drops down to 86-88F. This tempering ensures that when the chocolate cools and goes hard it has a shiny surface and a nice snap.

I have chocolate thermometers that are nice and clear and so easy for the children to read. Once we had the chocolate cooled down we poured the lovely mixture on to baking paper to create giant chocolate buttons. The kids then decorated to there hearts content.

Next up the children were given some chocolate ganache (pre made by the lovey Odiham Cake Company) and used the palms of there hands to roll it into balls (yes this is quite a messy party). Next up was covering the chocolates and for this we used coco powder and melted while and pink candy coating. Candy coating or Candy Melts (American version) is a chocolate like product that is especially for covering cake pops and chocolates. It has a thinker consistency and so you get a better coverage and also dries much faster. For a party is ideal and there would not be time to get all the chocolates in the fridge to cool.

Whilst the children had there party food and some much needed carbs after all the finger licking, we popped the chocolate buttons (back out of the fridge) and truffles into little cello bags ready for them to take home.

pour, dip, sprinkle

The feedback from the birthday girls mum was great. She was delighted with how it all went and said all the parents loved the party and commented on the fact that the first half is nice and relaxing with the children happily poring, dipping, sprinkling and tasting.

If you think your child would like a choclate making party do pop me a call on 07743896987 or an email to ellie@buttonsparties.co.uk. For more on Buttons Children’s Parties follow this link.