With locations in New York, Paris and Tokyo, La Maison du Chocolat teaches sessions in chocolate-making through its Parcours Initiatique program. The program offers two classes titled "Tamanaco" and "The Duo," which teach participants about the transformation of the cacao bean into cocoa paste, cocoa nibs and cocoa butter. Students learn how ganache is made and can taste La Maison du Chocolat ganache, as well as gourmet coffees and caramel mousse. The chocolatier holds classes twice per week at a cost of $70 per class, per student, as of February, 2011. Classes are limited to 18 people maximum and last two hours.
Chocolate makers at Normal Love Confections, located in Fort Myers, Florida, teach classes about twice per month in the art of chocolate making and dessert creations. Their chocolate-making courses include classes on creating molded candies, truffles and specialty chocolate Easter eggs. Other classes, such as cupcake making, include sections about making chocolate ganache to top the cupcakes. The plated desserts course teaches students to make hot chocolate souffle. Classes last for three hours, cost $95 per student and you must reserve your space by credit card. The classes require you to wear a hair net, wear close-toed shoes, long pants and minimal jewelry for food safety.
Ecole Chocolat offers classes in chocolate making completely online. The school offers five programs, including the professional chocolatier program, the chocolate making from the bean program, the quality assurance program, the business plan for chocolatiers program and the master chocolate program. Each program lasts one to three months and offers students online lectures, forums, technique instructions and other online resources. Each program runs about $200 to $700 and includes several separate class modules per program online. The school holds the master chocolatier program, for more advanced students, in person at various locations, including Vancouver, Belgium, Tuscany, Paris and Costa Rica. This program costs about $1,700 and lasts for one week.
When deciding which professional chocolate-making classes to attend, consider what you want to accomplish with the classes. To simply expand your knowledge of how chocolate is made and its history, attend a class in your local area through a chocolatier or culinary school. If you want to start a chocolate-making business, you want to invest more time and money into your training and seek out a school that specializes in chocolate making. You may need to travel and attend school in a large city, such as New York or Paris, which have a wider selection of specialty schools that offer chocolate-making courses to gain the skills you will need.