Valentine’s Day Chocolate Tempering: A Virtual Class

Expand your knowledge and techniques in preparing dishes using fresh pasta dough, homemade sauces, fresh herbs, and more. Over the course of the evening, you will learn to create intricate, trattoria-quality pastas, such as: Potato Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Sauce; Ricotta Cavatelli with Peas, Mint and Lemon; and Spaghetti Carbonara.

Emilia-Romagna, which stretches between the Adriatic coast, northern Tuscany, and the Po Valley, is one of the most prolific agricultural regions of Italy. It is known for its pasta, balsamic vinegar, Parma ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano, among a wealth of other products. While enjoying wines such as Sangiovese and Barbera, you will learn to make traditional dishes that include: brodetto fish stew; cotechino con lenticchie; chicken cacciatore with creamy polenta; and warm zabaglione with Marsala wine for dessert.

For a flash course on all the basics you need to make a varied and impressive meal, look no further. With a professional chef, you'll gain the skills vital for moving through any simple menu with ease. You'll practice knife skills, roasting vegetables, cooking proteins with a pan sauce and a vinaigrette. Then you'll use what you learned as you make a menu of: popovers; sautéed chicken with classic pan sauce; roasted root vegetable salad with fresh herb dressing and garlic mashed potatoes.

Working in teams of two, each student will finish and take home two of the following cakes: vanilla mocha latte with mocha ganache and espresso buttercream; triple chocolate cake with dark chocolate cake, white chocolate ganache, chocolate frosting; chocolate chip cookie dough with edible cookie dough filling and vanilla buttercream; Ferrero Rocher cake with praline ganache and feuilletine crunch and chocolate ganache frosting.