Académie du Chocolat™ - Chocolate Academy™

This is a school first and as far as we can tell, the best in Canada.

The chocolate may be good, but a heads up: nothing is for sale to the general public. I came here thinking it was a chocolate store but was greeted by a loud buzzer deterring us. The inconvenient walk only to have this result is a let down.

everything is better with chocolate!

so on a Wednesday late afternoon, after work, me and a few friends were summoned to visit the chocolate Academy of cacao barry callebaut which I didn't realized they moved from their st-hyacinthe location. ever since I really started playing with chocolate confection, I really mean try, attending a chocolate centric class was on my to do list. well, that one is definitely checked and I couldn't be happier. dream came true you could say.

before we started the workshop which is basically us making our own bonbons, no way, we had a little tour, the kind of heavenly tour of the place. looking at the machinery, going into the chocolate vault, getting our own apron and munching on some hors d'oeuvre as well as some chocolate amuse-bouche. we got to learn a bit of what they do and so. with the tour being over, we got our hands dirty and chocolatey by making our own bonbons. that was the one thing I've always wanted to do with chocolate, getting to play with tempered chocolate. would have love to temper my own but still, confectioning my own is still pretty good. so we had a chef, Nicolas, teaching us how to mold, add decoration and whatnot. we had fun, we made a mess, some were messier than others but in the end, we got to learn and I'm happy about that.

earlier in the year, I got to attend a private workshop by Patrice Demers and later that year, I got to spend a great time with a couple of friends adding and most of all having my hands on acquiring this new set of skills I knew was lacking bit time. may I be able to re-create what I did today? if I can get over the biggest hurdle which is tampering chocolate, yes otherwise maybe. nonetheless, we went to willy wonka chocolate factory and we all made it out alive despite gaining a few pounds here and there and probably got diabetes and gingivitis.. still, it was worth it!

cause chocolate is life❤️ and im going here someday