The Ultimate Chocolate Baking Course for Beginners

Learn to prepare 380g of chocolate hazelnut spread with blanched hazelnuts and powdered sugar, stored in sealable jars or bpa-free containers, with granulated sugar substitutions.

Measure 150g blanched hazelnuts on a precision scale, then either blend into paste or crush for a textured spread, aiming for a slightly wet, oil-releasing texture.

Master a creamy chocolate spread by blending hazelnuts with melted butter, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, and salt, then gradually whisk in water to reach a honey like consistency.

Seal and store your jars with the homemade chocolate hazelnut spread. Discover how a small amount of salt enhances sweetness by amplifying flavor, even without fermentation.

Explore a chocolate flapjacks recipe to make four medium servings with all-purpose or cake flour, optional sugar, and a raising agent such as baking powder or white flour sourdough starter.

measure 250g flour with salt and sugar, mix liquids with a rising agent for baking powder or sourdough starter, then add butter and eggs to form batter; sourdough rests overnight.

Cook flapjacks by timing batter from the fridge, grease a nonstick pan with butter, measure with half cup and tablespoon, add chocolate hazelnut spread, flip, and brown.

Explore chocolate stuffed flapjacks with toppings like butter for whipped cream and crushed walnuts, and preview using chocolate spread in the next class to make cookies.

Learn to bake six chocolate chip cookies with a hazelnut spread filling, using brown sugar, unsalted butter, chunky 70% dark chocolate, and a choice of baking soda or sourdough starter.

Line a large baking tray with parchment, portion six hazelnut fillings of 50 g each, and freeze until firm before making the cookie dough.

Measure 100g unsalted butter and 70g brown sugar, add 40g sourdough starter or 4g baking soda, compare baking powder's double-acting texture, then mix flour, salt, cornstarch, eggs, and dark chocolate.

Assemble cookie balls by wrapping 110 g of rested dough around frozen filling to form a crater on a parchment-lined tray, then chill at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 220°C (428°F), place cookies on the middle rack, and bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown, adjusting timing as ovens vary.

Remove the baking tray, transfer cookies to a rack, and cool ten minutes. The cross-section reveals the warm chocolate hazelnut core; dip in milk for indulgence.

Learn a chocolate tart recipe with a 25 cm base using cake flour for crust, and ganache filling of 70% dark chocolate with heavy cream, finished with a glaze.

Prepare tart base by softening butter, whisking sugar, salt, egg and yolk, optionally adding sourdough starter, then fold cocoa and cake flour and chill for 3 hours or overnight.

Master blind baking a chocolate crust by buttering a 25 cm tart pan, docking the dough, and baking at 190°C for 30–35 minutes, then applying egg yolk.

Whisk 160 g heavy cream with 230 g 70% dark chocolate to make ganache, stir in 25 g butter, pour into the crust leaving glaze space, and chill three hours.

Dissolve gelatin in water, heat cream with sugar and cocoa until bubbling, off heat add gelatin and swirl glaze over a chilled tart after a brief cool, refrigerate to set.

Slice the fully set chocolate tart, garnish with raspberries and a dusting of cocoa powder or icing sugar, and savor the three textures and chocolatey flavors.

Learn to bake a chocolate babka loaf with flour options and a 70% dark chocolate filling. Use instant yeast or a sourdough starter and finish with a golden glaze.

Measure 650g flour, 80g sugar, 85g water, 85g milk, and a rising agent; add three eggs, fold in 150g butter, knead, and rest 15 minutes to form babka dough.

Master the stretch and fold technique to develop gluten for a fluffy, elastic dough, with timed rests, proofing, and options for instant yeast or sourdough starter.

Measure 70g sugar, 35g cocoa powder, 1g salt; cube 100g butter and 150g dark chocolate, melt together, then mix in the sugar, cocoa, and salt until smooth; chill 20 minutes.

Grease and flour a 30 cm loaf pan for easy release, roll the dough to 30 cm by 1 cm, spread chocolate with a 3 cm border, chill 15 minutes.

Master babka braiding by cutting the cooled log and weaving chocolate side up strands into a zigzag braid, then proof the braided dough in the pan before baking.

Preheat oven to 190°C (374°F) and bake proofed loaf 30 minutes, then simmer 70g water with 60g brown sugar for three minutes to glaze for a golden sheen.

Remove the babka from the oven with mitts, brush on glaze while hot to absorb into the crust, rest 20 minutes, release from the pan, and enjoy chocolate layers.

Master a four-component chocolate éclair recipe, featuring a sturdy shoe pastry with white bread flour, optional sourdough starter, a 70% dark chocolate pastry cream, and a two-ingredient glaze.

Prepare the choux pastry by simmering milk, water, butter, salt, and sugar, then mix in flour and eggs to form a glossy dough. Pipe, egg wash, and freeze.

Make a rich pastry cream by whisking three egg yolks with sugar and cornstarch, tempering with warm milk, then melting in 70% dark chocolate.

Freeze choux pastry, preheat to 220 C, place a water-filled tray to prevent burning, slice and arrange diagonally, bake 15 minutes, rotate, then finish at 190 C until golden.

Cool the shoe pastries; bring the pastry cream to room temperature. Heat 105 g cream to start glaze for eclairs, whisk in 100 g 70% dark chocolate until smooth.

Warm and soften pastry cream, then pipe into shoe pastry with a narrow nozzle or straw; cut five centimetre lengths, punch three one centimetre bottom holes, fill, glaze, and repeat.

Add the remaining glaze to the top of the completed eclairs and let them rest for three minutes until set, a delicious chocolate treat pulled straight from childhood.

Learn to bake two lava cakes with 70% dark chocolate and a hazelnut spread, optionally store-bought, using sourdough starter as flour substitute and eight-hour prep for non-stick 10 cm ramekins.

Freeze the chocolate hazelnut spread for 30 minutes, then preheat the oven to 190°C, melt butter and cubed chocolate together, mix until incorporated, and cool at room temperature.

Learn to whisk eggs with brown sugar and salt, blend in chocolate, and portion batter into butter-greased ramekins with a molten chocolate hazelnut core.

Bake a molten lava cake in ramekins at 190°C for 13–15 minutes, invert onto a plate, then finish with cocoa powder, icing sugar, raspberry, and a splash of heavy cream.

Explore more recipes from the instructor, including conventional sourdough baking, pastries and desserts for beginners, and a broader array of chocolate treats, tarts, cinnamon rolls, and stroopwafels.