Chocolate – Baking parties are gaining in popularity

Celinda Colavita scooped out a spoonful of gooey chocolate from a bowl and began rolling it into a ball.
The balls of chocolate would soon be truffles, and Colavita – along with five of her friends – were part of a truffle-making party at the Sweet Boutique Bakery on Walter Reed Road.

“Mine are, um, a little messy,” Colavita said with a laugh.

The chocolate truffle party, arranged by a few spouses with the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Group, was a first for the Sweet Boutique, said owner Nicole Sullivan. But it’s part of a growing trend of requests for baking parties, Sullivan said.

“I think it’s fun,” said Allison Schwartz, one of the organizers of the party. “It’s like being on something like ‘DC Cupcakes.’ And you get to take them home.”
Schwartz was referring to a TV show on TLC that follows two sisters who own a cupcake bakery in Washington, D.C. It’s one of several popular shows about bakers and bakeries, including “Cake Boss,” “Next Great Baker” and “Rachel Allen: Bake!” that are inspiring those with a sweet tooth to learn how to bake.

Sullivan said the popularity of those shows may be the reason she’s seen a growing number of requests for baking parties. “It’s fun,” she said. “It’s different. People watch TV, and they’re so interested and intrigued.” For kids, too Sullivan holds baking camps for children and cookie decorating classes, but she also has had requests for birthday parties and adult classes.

Jae Brown, owner of Just Desserts Bakery on Hay Street, said she’s seen a similar demand for cake decorating classes. Brown sits on the advisory board of Fayetteville Technical Community College’s culinary school and teaches cake decorating classes through the college’s continuing education program.

Currently, Brown said, she has 35 people on a waiting list to take cake decorating classes through FTCC. She attributes much of the growth in bakeries and the popularity of baking and cake-decorating classes to cable shows about food.
The shows offer some instruction, of course, but mostly they give potential bakers the inspiration to create, Brown said. “We welcome all the cake shows,” she said. “It’s going to make it better for us.”

In the not-too-distant past, Brown said, bakeries were a dying breed. But over the past few years, they’ve popped up everywhere. People watch the artistry that goes into creating sweet confections on TV, but they also want to learn to create something that looks and tastes unique, Brown said. During Sullivan’s truffle-making party, the attendees were surprised at how easy it was to make and individualize their own truffles. Something that had once seemed exotic was suddenly doable, said Shelley Fox, one of the partygoers.

“I do a little baking, and so far it doesn’t seem that complicated,” Fox said. But it’s also a fun night out experiencing something different, said Iris Hash, another partygoer at Sweet Boutique. “I think it’s great,” she said. “I like that everybody’s relaxing and learning how to do a new thing. And (Sullivan) makes it fun.”

SWEET BOUTIQUE BAKERY’S DECADENT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

FILLING
1 pound high quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cognac or other flavored liquor (substitute heavy cream for an alcohol-free version)
ENROBING
1 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup finely chopped unsalted pecans, toffee bits, or hazelnuts

Note: The quality of your truffle will depend on the quality of chocolate that you start with.
Place chocolate chips in a medium bowl and set aside. Pour the cream into a glass measuring cup and microwave until it reaches the boiling point. Watch carefully, however, so it doesn’t burn. Pour the boiling-hot cream over the chocolate chips and gently stir to melt the chocolate. Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight or until firm, about 4-6 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. With a small ice-cream scoop or melon baller, drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared sheet. Quickly roll into spheres and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.

Place the cocoa into one shallow bowl, and place the chopped nuts into a separate shallow bowl.

Decorate the truffles in various ways by rolling some of them in the cocoa powder and others in the chopped nuts. Peppermint pieces, coconut, or white chocolate shavings may also be used. Quickly roll coated truffles between your palms to form them into a perfect round shape. You may need to recoat them at this point. Place in a parchment-lined container. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Can be made ahead and stored, tightly covered in the refrigerator or freezer.
Chocolate with Bill & Sheila
_____________________________________________________________________
If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest. This site is hosted by (click on the graphic for more information)

Return from chocolate to Home Page

If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites THEY ARE FREE. Spanishchef more than doubled its ‘New Visitors’ last month simply by signing up to these sites:




Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER