Until October 3, award-winning Scottish chocolatier William Curley and his wife and business partner Suzue Curley, who is originally from Japan, are celebrating Japanese Week at his Belgravia shop where Japanese-inspired chocolates, patisserie, hot and chilled drinks will be on offer as well as some one-off sessions. As part of this, we were invited to one of his special Japanese-themed chocolate making masterclasses.
The tuition itself takes place in a kitchen downstairs from the shop floor where chef Lucy takes a small class through the making of Toasted Sesame Couture Chocolate and Yamazaki Whiskey Truffles. While getting our hands dirty (in a very finger-licking way), Lucy fills our head with all kinds of tasty choccy facts both about the business (including how William Curley keeps its quality by sourcing its chocolate from a single supplier (Amedei in Italy), tips on cooking with chocolate (use a stainless steel bowl in preference to a glass one to melt chocolate in as glass will overheat the contents) and more generally about how chocolate arrives to our shelves from the bean onwards.
This is one full-on experience which will satisfy and edify any chocoholic. This special masterclass will be run again this Saturday and Sunday afternoon at £75 per person. More details can be found on the William Curley website.