Fun Chocolate Truffle Workshop

I cannot rate our time making chocolate truffles with Joseph high enough! It was fun, relaxed, amazingly delicious, and we came home with a few dozen assorted flavours of hand made truffles! My 12 year old daughter joined me. She was enthralled and felt so accomplished along with everyone else. I will definitely be exploring more opportunities here. A great experience together.

The class was fun and good. I’ve done a class like this many moons ago. They were about the same price. Comparing the 2 classes, the other class I did gave more background on the different types of chocolate with samples (white, dark, milk). Also got to make a few more different chocolates to take home which included teddy lollipops, hot chocolate stirrers and the truffles (like this class).
Maybe adding the extra chocolates to the class would bring in more people and if you choose the type of chocolate. I’d do it again if we could make more chocolates.

Joseph was very knowledgeable and provided us with a history of chocolate. The Belgium chocolate we made was delicious!

I had an enjoyable experience at the chocolate workshop. Interesting learning about the history of chocolate and getting to bring home a generous box Thanks Chris!

Joseph is a fantastic teacher , with good knowledge . Was very patient and answered all our questions.

Venue average , got bit too warm even with air condition.
I will consider doing other classes run by Joseph

Jo and Connie were great teachers, very accomodating and lots of fun.

Would highly recommend.

The big class started on a slightly serious note and it seemed a bit overcrowded to begin.

Joseph soon had everyone relaxed and having fun learning how to make filled chocolates or truffles. He and his charming assistant soon had everyone eating out of their hands and managing what had seemed a big group at first.

I would be surprised if there was anyone that didn’t enjoy the class, gain useful information and the ability to make truffles. Highly recommend it.

And the ‘homework’ we took away was delicious as was the hot chocolate served during the class.

Joseph was a great teacher! Detailed history which was good for the adults; and so so patient with the kids. Would definitely recommend for any type of event.

The venue was easy to find.
The teacher have the look of the "chocolate man" - he's funny and happy to work with chocolate with some seriousness.
I really enjoyed the hot chocolate drink served while waiting for our chocolate to cool and take shape.

Teacher was great. I had so much fun learning how to make chocolates, love the fact that you get to take home the chocolate you made. Great course, highly recommended.

The facilitator was knowledgeable and engaging, the class was educational yet fun, and would definitely recommend for small groups.

very informative, very friendly, and professional at the same time

overall great class learnt heaps

We made ganache-filled chocolates in molds. We learned about the origins of chocolate and the coco bean, and also, the different types of chocolate. We enjoyed a sample of rich hot chocolate and ganache.

Our teacher, Joseph, was engaging and accommodating, particularly for the children in the presence of a large adult group. He explained concepts very clearly and was very helpful. It was obvious that he clearly enjoys what he does. Connie was also wonderful and very personable.

Great care was taken in encouraging proper safe food handling. I would go again, but next time, for the longer course.

This was a fun class and the chocolates were very tasty. Overall a great way to spend an afternoon.

Fun and interesting afternoon with some delicious chocolates to take home. If you love chocolate you will enjoy this.

Such a fun night! And I will never forget that amazing hot chocolate either Joseph was awesome and had so much knowledge too

Great day. Informative in both techniques, “tricks of the trade” and the history of chocolate. Joseph made the class fun and interactive. Will be back for the session on how to make chocolate. Thanks Joseph

A wonderful Fun Chocolate Truffle Workshop! Joseph was great, the chocolates we made were absolutely delicious and I now know more about my favourite food. I will be recommending it to everyone.

A really fun class. Hi he teacher is always trying to both teach you as well as keep a light hearted atmosphere. Great value for money with super delicious chocolates at the end

It was a really fun workshop! We got to make a few different flavours and everyone got to take a whole heap of chocolates home for our families. The instructor was really nice and taught us about a lot of interesting chocolate history.

My daughter loved it, very clean venue and Joseph is very knowledgeable, weall learnt a lot from him. Fun class

Loved Joseph’s enthusiasm and energy. He was a great teacher with a personal touch for all his students.
Was pleasantly surprised not just by the workshop but Joseph also provided history and chocolate snacks to complete the whole experience.

Joseph was fantastic! We loved learning about the history of chocolate and it was a really fun atmosphere Thank you!

Great teacher, lots of fun The kids loved it, was a lovely activity to do together

From the moment we walked into the workshop, our teacher Joseph was very welcoming and friendly. We booked the chocolate truffle workshop as a team bonding activity. It was great to get out of the office and get deliciously messy! My team and I enjoyed every moment. Joseph incorporated learning into the workshop by sharing some history and facts about chocolate and of course the practical/fun side of creating and EATING the yummy chocolate. GREAT value for money, thank you

Our teacher Joseph is very warm and friendly and has a great sense of humor. We molded and filled our own chocolate truffles, drank a hot chocolate and ate strawberry and marshmallow fondue! It was a fun experience.

Good stories, tasty treats but a little slow on the pacing/too much time spent standing around.

Great, ebjoyable class. Both teachers were very helpful. Had a blast, would happily go again.

Joseph and Connie were fantastic and so were my truffles at the end! Would definitely recommend - especially if you love chocolate!

Great class , fun environment and enjoyed the whole process of making chocolates from A to Z highly recommended for anyone who loves chocolates and wants to learnt the history and hands on approach of how to make it this could be something really interesting

Good class, took my niece as a birthday present, she loved it! only thing to change would be to have a smaller class.

Great teacher, welcoming environment and lots of fun. Will recommend to friends and family. Thanks.

Great class! Was really happy with the end products. Very friendly teachers and was a very informative class.

The teacher and Connie were very knowledgeable and personable. We did exactly what the description of the class says - so I was prepared and pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. The pace of the class was slower than I would have liked but understandable for the class size and the process. It was so lovely that I have signed up for the ultimate chocolate making workshop.

Really enjoyable class, very professionally run in a top quality facility. Joseph and Connie are lovely and super-experienced, so they make it look easy as they take you step-by-step through the molding process. It was a big class (26 people), which was fine and gave good opportunity to meet and chat with others. We were each given a mold and made a tray with 3 different fillings - all of which were delicious!

The only reason I haven't given this a 5-star is because I'd have liked to have seen the full process of chocolate-making, whereas this class focuses on molding of filled chocolates. There is another class that shows the full process (which I will sign up for!).

This course was very fun. The class was full of a mixture of couples, friends and family (like in my case!). The teacher explained everything very well and I liked that we all had the chance to use the professional chocolate making machines for the experience but they also told us how to make the chocolate at home without all the equipment. The chocolate also ended up being some of the best I have ever had!

Joseph and Connie are really great hosts. We had lots of fun and eat very tasty chocolate.

Soooo much waiting around doing nothing. 20 people in the class, twice what would’ve worked well I think. Came home with one small box of chocolates, had one tiny cup of hot chocolate, and 4 small strawberries dipped in chocolate. Just felt like we did nothing for more than 3/4 of the time we were there. People left the group to sit and play on their phones Had to get dinner afterwards as we were starving.

Joseph conducted the class well. Venue was very small. Class was overbooked. After I booked the class, I was requested to come to an earlier class on the day, which I declined. The class was a very large class with people everywhere. 30+ crowded in a small space. It's communial style cooking.

There's four steps: fill premade melted chocolate in moulds (top of choc), put filling in, close up the choc, remove finished product from mould.

My mould was dirty. It was previously used by another person. It made me feel very unhygenic and made me wonder who touched it with their grubby hands (majority had their gloves off by the last stage, so we were all using our bare hands). There was two queues to fill the mould. Filling was all premade. You huddle around two tables again waiting your turn. I personally did not like this process. I thought we were going to make chocolates from scratch. This class was just putting the chocs together.

You get hot choc and nibblies while waiting for your finished product.

Due to size of class and hygiene, it's not for me.


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Reply from the teacher:

Thank you for your feedback although you have played with the truth a little.

- The area is around 60 square meters
- We had 28 participants and three teachers, around 9 people per teacher.
- We had a class in the morning, some of the moulds were used. Each person is provided with a pair of gloves to wear. The mould is only soiled with chocolate. When you are working with chocolate you wear gloves, the only residue on the mould is cocoa butter. The cocoa butter will help the chocolate to release from the mould.
- I did not see any participants without gloves, if I do see them without gloves, I will ask them to put the gloves on. If you were concerned, you should have asked one of the three teachers to ask the glove free participants to put the gloves on.
- The summary of the workshop on the website is well set out, you make chocolate filled truffles in a mould. The process of making chocolate from the cocoa mass to chocolate it will take from 36 hours to 48 hours. We do not have accommodation for people to stay overnight.
- You did not mention how much your partner enjoyed dipping Strawberries, Turkish Delight, and Marshmallow in chocolate and eating it.
- The summary of the workshop is set out as follows.
- A brief history of chocolate.
- Each one will receive a mould to make filled chocolate.
- Three ganaches are provided to choose from.
- We talk about how chocolate is made and open

We had a work team building day at the Chocolate workshop and Joseph made it a very fun day.
Venue was easy to find and good street parking available. Our chocolates turned out beautiful and it was a lovely treat to take home to family and friends. Thank you from the Gilbarco team.

It was a Christmas treat for my 9 year old grandson- we both really enjoyed it.

It was a great fun class and Joseph is a sweet chocolatier. The children love him and his class.

Very enjoyable class, Joseph and his team made it fun and interesting. I highly recommend this class!

A wonderful experience. Learned so much and enjoyed the chocolate making and tasting. Would highly recommend this class.

Joseph made the class fun and informative. The chocolates turned out to be very tasty and full of flavour. Class recommended for anyone looking to learn how to make chocolates!

Anita

Very fun class, Joseph and Connie are both very lovely people. Not to mention the chocolate is just simply amazing!

Nice teacher, made some chocolate, drank some more chocolate and then ate more chocolate dipped strawberries and marshmallows. So worth the price.

The teacher was very warm and pleasant and we had a lot of fun during the activity. But I feel we should’ve done a lot more for the price we paid. But over all a great experience

Heaps of fun! Basic but non stressful and super super tasty. Teacher even gave a history of chocolate and the rose hot chocolate was mind blasting.

Poor location for a work shop as everything looked like it was dirty (rotting flowers in one corner attracting tiny flies, the mould most people used was not clean). Exposed wiring didn’t make the place very nice - or safe looking.
Instructor was too eager to step in and “help” which meant you didn’t get to do a lot yourself. You had no choice in which mould you were using (it was advertised there would be a choice) and no choice in filling.
There was no talk about tempering chocolate (let alone doing it) and the fillings were already made so really the class didn’t make you feel like you come away with any skills to be able to make things at home. Even the final product didn’t look that great (isnt tempered chocolate suppose to have a gloss/gleam to it - this doesn’t).
There was a lot of standing around waiting for other members to have their turn.
Someone turned up late and was given a box of chocolates which was comprised of a collection of all the other participants chocolates AND gets to come back to do the course again. There was no asking if this was alright, it was just presumed. The instructor even made his own batch, why he couldn’t have donated his ones to the late comer was a mystery?
Overall not worth the money and a big waste of time if you are actually attending to learn something. If you want something to do for 2 hrs where you personally don’t do much and walk away with some chocolates maybe this is for you.

Response from the teacher: I am sorry you did not enjoy our class, however please note:

- The factory is in Lilyfield 10 minutes from the CBD. It has stainless-steel benches, tiled floors and white tiled walls, all cleaned, and regularly inspected by the food authority and local council. On the day you attended there was a bunch of basil used for a previous class that was slightly wilted. To my knowledge there were no fruit flies.
- I always help the participants for the first time however, I allow them more freedom the second time.
- We had a class in the morning, where the participants used some of the moulds. The moulds were not dirty but as some of them had been used previously, they had a layer of cocoa butter still in them. The advantage of couverture chocolate is if the moulds have been used the thin layer of cocoa butter that is left on the mould allows the ease of release of the chocolate and the chocolate comes out of the mould easier. This I explained to the class.
- We always allow three ganaches for the participants to use as fillings and everyone has

Great afternoon spent making chocolate, perfect for a group of friends or a couple. The instructor was friendly, professional and made every member of the class feel welcome. He was very informative and had a thorough knowledge about the making of chocolate and where the ingredients originate from. It was nice to have a product to take home with you.

We had an amazing experience. Joseph and Connie were great. We learned how to fill chocolate as well as the history of chocolate. Would definitely recommend this as it makes an excellent gift or team event.

Had a great time making our own chocolates. Learned a lot, not only about chocolate making, but also about the history of chocolate. The bonus hot chocolate was the best I’ve ever tasted. I hope to do the Ultimate chocolate class too.

Very nice experience. Good quality of product and good teacher. Lot of fun!
Thank you for having us!