Chocolate Truffle Class at Chocopologie, South Norwalk

I've said it before and I'll say it again- Fritz Knipschildt is the Willy Wonka of Connecticut's coast. On a special evening, however, Miss Love and I experienced a special chocolate-making class- Golden ticket not required! Chocopologie has been featuring classes for its loyal followers, where participants can spend an evening rolling truffles with the man himself and enjoy dinner in the cafe. We were invited to roll up our sleeves and make some treats.

If you haven't checked out Chocopologie yet, it's a must-see. The dessert and truffle cases alone are worth the trip- homemade macarons and cakes fill the shelves, as well as Fritz's unique take on truffles and classic treats like chocolate-covered Oreos, jazzed up with bacon and sea salt. We were too full to take any home with us but definitely recommend going with an empty stomach.

I don't know how they're able to make so many delicious treats!

Adorable Snickers cakes dotted the case along with...
Fresh peach macarons! 
But enough about awesome sugar treats. We were here to work, damn it. Along with a few more intrepid chocoholics, your faithful gourmand and her photographer waded through lakes of chocolate, miles-long deep freezers, and battled Martha Stewart herself for the last truffle. I kid, I kid. We learned the composition of a good ganache, how to infuse truffles with fillings like alcohol and fruit, and most importantly, the best pairings for chocolate in all shapes and sizes. Fritz told us that you can never go wrong with champagne, a sentiment I wholly echo, but also likes banyuls, a fortified French wine, for a switch-up.

 And then, the moment we were all anxiously waiting for- truffle class! Fritz had prepared some dark chocolate ganache ahead of time that we rolled into little truffles.

Awwww yeah gettin' that molten gold. Straight up Callebaut, natch. This part got a little messy. Suffice to say, more than one of us left with a little chocolate in our hair!

Also, we were unionized for the hour-long period, which entitled us to a mandatory hot chocolate break. Ganache and heavy cream for the win.

 It was busy and bustling, and plenty of fun. We rolled our truffles in combinations of spicy cocoa powder, bittersweet cocoa powder, crushed almonds, and sunflower seeds. I can imagine these being wonderful with panko crumbs or sea salt, too!

The finished product- minus a few, of course.

After tasting, we sampled some of the store's famed truffles to get an idea of the other flavors we could use. The possibilities are endless. Fritz names his truffles after beautiful woman. Seeing as I'm quite the hot number, the Jess would likely include a smoked dark caramel and beer ganache center with a malt powder and sea salt coating and a candied jalapeno on top! Complex, but fascinating...just like me. These truffles were the Lola, with lavender and dark chocolate, the Aisha, with Turkish coffee and dark chocolate, and the Antoinette, dark chocolate and rosewater. All were sumptuous.

 Also, I've heard that for an undisclosed sum, you can buy ten minutes alone with this enrobing machine. No limits, anything goes.

After our class, we were very hungry. We enjoyed coq au vin and poached salmon along with raspberry peppercorn martinis as the sun set. We're still munching on our goodies this week- it was a really edifying experience, one that will definitely come in handy when the holidays come around! For $69, it was a tremendous value- generous portions of food and wine and at least two pounds of truffles. I highly suggest taking this class if you're curious to learn more about what goes into these tasty treats. Fritz was wonderful and spent a lot of time answering our questions and telling us all we wanted to know about the store and the world of chocolate. It was a very pleasant evening.
If you know someone who loves chocolate and is tired of receiving boxes of truffles and gift certificates to chocolate mud baths, this is the perfect gift for them. Chocopologie is holding another class on June 16th, which you can sign up for if you're in the area!

Thanks again to Chocopologie for having us to this lovely event...we'll be back soon for more treats!