8 Chocolate Classes & Events to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth
Taking chocolate classes is a great way to explore your creativity and get your chocolate on while you learn from experienced instructors. We’ve got a bunch listed here, including ones in our own home area.
There’s also details on a big event, The Chocolate Expo!
We explore various chocolate making courses, both near us and online. Learn how to craft delicious chocolates and enhance your skills with our top picks for chocolate classes that suit all levels.
4 Chocolate Classes & Events in the New Hampshire Seacoast Area
Taking an in-person class gives you the opportunity to not only ask questions, but to interact with other students in the class. We love learning where people are from and what other experiences they’ve had. We have received several good recommendations for cooking classes from our previous classmates.
The New Hampshire Seacoast area boasts 4 very distinct seasons, beautiful scenery no matter the time of year, and plenty of opportunity for new and diverse experiences.
If you live in the New Hampshire Seacoast area, or plan to visit soon, why not make time to explore a chocolate-making class, or a chocolate class with one of the area schools as well? Anything with chocolate is time well-spent in our opinion.
Dancing Lion
In business since 2007, the Dancing Lion in Manchester, NH, professes on their website to be a “Bean to Bonbon chocolate maker”, producing their own chocolate from beans they source from a variety of origins.
Their Master Chocolatier, Richard Tango-Lowy studied at Ecole Chocolat in Vancouver and Ecole du Grande Chocolat Valrhona in France.
Past in-person chocolate classes at the Dancing Lion have included one called, “Down and Dirty Chocolate” where students will make ganache, learn how to temper, and put the two together into truffles to take home.
Other baking classes included how to make truffles, how to make croissant and a chocolate adventure class.
You can find out more about the Dancing Lion on their website and make sure to follow them on Instagram.
La Cascade du Chocolat
La Cascade du Chocolat has shops in Exeter and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They opened their first “chocolate room” in downtown Exeter, NH during the summer of 2017.
Samantha Brown, the Master Chocolotier, studied at Ecole Chocolat in Vancouver, holds an M.Ed. and has 2 decades of teaching under her belt.
La Cascade du Chocolat offers chocolate classes for both kids and for adults. Right now, they schedule their classes around people’s schedules. Just contact them and they’ll work with you.
Some of the classes in the past included a chance for kids to paint their own edible art, make chocolate sculptures and so much more. Adults can methods of tempering chocolate, take a delicious walk through history by sampling chocolate drinks from around the world, build bonbons, paint edible art and more! I don’t know about you, but “Build a BonBon” sounds like a skill I want to have.
For those who are more serious, they also offer a full 10-week online program for people who are interested in pursuing chocolate professionally.
And FYI, they offer free chocolate tastings on Friday nights through the summer and fall.
You can learn more about the chocolate classes at La Cascade du Chocolat on their website and be sure to follow them on Instagram.
M Cacao
M Cacao, founded in 2020, is the newest home of Master Pastry Chef Delphin Gomes. Gomes is the former owner of Delphin’s Gourmandise School of Pastry and the former Director of the pastry program at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. With a powerhouse culinary educator such as Chef Gomes at the head of the classroom, you can imagine why their chocolate classes were recommended to us with one word, “Amazing.”
In their class catalog, they’ve had classes in French pastries, macarons, pulled sugar, croquembouche, truffle class and more. In their shop is where you will find a rainbow of French confections including marshmallows, caramels and fruit jellies.
You can access the M Cacao chocolate class catalog on their website.
The Chocolate Expo, Sunday, October 13, 2024
DOUBLETREE EXPO CENTER, MANCHESTER, NH
4 Online Chocolate Classes
First and foremost, it’ll be fun. Chocolate is everyone’s favorite, right? Well there’s no better way to enjoy something than by learning how to make it yourself.
Second, taking an online chocolate class is an engaging way to learn. The classes below are taught by experienced chocolate makers who are passionate about their craft. They will guide you through the process step-by-step, providing tips and techniques to help you succeed.
What we like about online cooking classes is that they offer the convenience of learning from the comfort of home.
The Chocolate Academy
The Chocolate Academy offers masterclasses in chocolate and pastry via livestream. For those not as advanced, try the Chocolate Academy Online. This library of pre-recorded chocolate classes are categorized into fundamentals, bakery, pastry, and plated desserts.
The catalog is organized neatly, including video trailers of the class, so you can see what the chocolate class entails.
You can find the Chocolate Academy on their website.
Dandelion Chocolate Factory
Dandelion Chocolate Factory is another bean-to-bar chocolate maker, specializing in small-batch, single origin chocolates.
Dandelion is currently offering one chocolate class – a chocolate tasting course where you order your tasting set when booking your class dates. You wait for your package of goodies to arrive, try not to eat them all while waiting for the specified date and time for your guided virtual tasting experience.
Find out about Dandelion Chocolate Factory classes on their website.
Valrhona
L’Ecole Valrhona offers chocolate classes to learners of all skill levels. You can watch a pre-recorded class on tempering, for example.
For live, virtual chocolate classes, the current catalog contains cooking and baking classes in Entremets (loosely translated as “desserts”), and pastries including a vegan pastry class.
Check out their short demonstration videos for mousse, pudding, soufflé, biscuits and more.
Other virtual courses are more targeted to hose in the profession who are looking to expand their skills.
Explore the chocolate classes at L’Ecole Valrhona on their website
Ecole Chocolat
Dancing Lion in Manchester, NH partners with Ecole Chocolat to bring interactive, online chocolate classes such as Ganache Recipe Development for Chocolatiers, and Mastering Chocolate Flavor.
Ecole Chocolat is also recommended in a 2018 article in Food and Wine Magazine titled, “How to Become a Chocolatier.”
Get directed to the Ecole Chocolat classes through the Dancing Lion website.
So, are you ready to dive into the sweet world of chocolate making?
Whether you choose a local class or an online experience, or you head to the Chocolate Expo for a day of delicious fun, you’re definitely going to have a great time learning and tasting. Check out the options we’ve highlighted and start your chocolate adventure today.
Happy chocolate crafting!
