I was surprised this year to get a Groupon for my birthday from our son, Keola. The groupon was for a chocolate candy making lesson at Ricard Chocolat in Waikiki for two people. Keola laughingly said it would give me something to blog about.
When I called to make the reservation, I learned that Ricard Chocolat is at the Queen Kapiolani hotel in Waikiki. I worked for a Japanese Travel Agency there during the summer while I was going to the University of Hawaii. I hadn't been back since. That old photo is one a tourist asked me to take with him.
Our travel agency used to have a table set up right there by the escalator. I sat there answering questions as best as I could.
Here's just a little something about Queen Kapiolani of Hawaii.
Kapiʻolani was born December 31, 1834 in Hilo on Hawai'i Island to High Chief Kuhio Kalanianaʻole of Hilo and High Chiefess Kinoiki Kekaulike of Kaua'i, the daughter of King Kaumuali'i, last King of an independent Kauaʻi before its amicable cession to Kamehameha the Great. She was named Kapiʻolani, after her great-aunt High Chiefess Kapi'olani, who defied the goddess, Pele in the name of Christianity. Her name, Kapiʻolani, means "Rainbow or Arch of Heaven."
Ricard Chocolat is a small shop selling high end chocolates. I was wondering how they could hold a chocolate cooking class in such a small space.
There was a Wisconsin family who was also part of our class. They bought their lesson from Living Social.
We were shown what a cocoa pod looked like and tasted the beans. It was crunchy and a little bitter. I was surprised that I couldn't taste a stronger chocolate flavor. It needed sugar.
Ricard Chocolat uses chocolate grown in Hawaii. I didn't even know we had cocoa trees on Oahu.
We were able to choose the chocolate mold that we wanted for our chocolate pieces.
These plastic sheets were dyed with cocoa butter which would melt on to the bottom of our candy pieces.
The chocolate had already been melted and was poured onto the cool counter. We were then encouraged to moved it about to help cool it down.
I thought there would be some sort of thermometer to see if the temperature of the chocolate was at around 80 degrees F from the 115 degrees F it had been. Nope. We had to apply a bit of the chocolate to just below our bottom lip to test it.
Art then poured some of the chocolate into the mold and I scraped off the excess.
We then added marshmallows, nuts, bits of fruit and Oreos to decorate the tops of the chocolate pieces. The chocolates were put in the refrigerator to cool further. Meanwhile we got to taste a piece of chocolate from the candy counter.
Once cooled, they tapped the chocolate out of the mold and had us pack the morsels into plastic packages with a little ribbon to tie it.
This was certainly a new, sweet experience for me and definitely bloggable!
Thank you, Keola!
Our travel agency used to have a table set up right there by the escalator. I sat there answering questions as best as I could.
Here's just a little something about Queen Kapiolani of Hawaii.
Kapiʻolani was born December 31, 1834 in Hilo on Hawai'i Island to High Chief Kuhio Kalanianaʻole of Hilo and High Chiefess Kinoiki Kekaulike of Kaua'i, the daughter of King Kaumuali'i, last King of an independent Kauaʻi before its amicable cession to Kamehameha the Great. She was named Kapiʻolani, after her great-aunt High Chiefess Kapi'olani, who defied the goddess, Pele in the name of Christianity. Her name, Kapiʻolani, means "Rainbow or Arch of Heaven."
Ricard Chocolat is a small shop selling high end chocolates. I was wondering how they could hold a chocolate cooking class in such a small space.
There was a Wisconsin family who was also part of our class. They bought their lesson from Living Social.
We were shown what a cocoa pod looked like and tasted the beans. It was crunchy and a little bitter. I was surprised that I couldn't taste a stronger chocolate flavor. It needed sugar.
Ricard Chocolat uses chocolate grown in Hawaii. I didn't even know we had cocoa trees on Oahu.
We were able to choose the chocolate mold that we wanted for our chocolate pieces.
These plastic sheets were dyed with cocoa butter which would melt on to the bottom of our candy pieces.
The chocolate had already been melted and was poured onto the cool counter. We were then encouraged to moved it about to help cool it down.
I thought there would be some sort of thermometer to see if the temperature of the chocolate was at around 80 degrees F from the 115 degrees F it had been. Nope. We had to apply a bit of the chocolate to just below our bottom lip to test it.
Art then poured some of the chocolate into the mold and I scraped off the excess.
We then added marshmallows, nuts, bits of fruit and Oreos to decorate the tops of the chocolate pieces. The chocolates were put in the refrigerator to cool further. Meanwhile we got to taste a piece of chocolate from the candy counter.
Once cooled, they tapped the chocolate out of the mold and had us pack the morsels into plastic packages with a little ribbon to tie it.
This was certainly a new, sweet experience for me and definitely bloggable!
Thank you, Keola!
What a sweet gift from Keola! Great looking chocolate pieces!
ReplyDeleteWow, you are now a chocolatier, it seems! Looks like it was a really fun experience. Thanks for sharing it, definitely bloggable. :-)
ReplyDeleteHow fun!
ReplyDeleteThere's a chocolatier in our area that offers a similar class. I've always wanted to do it, but so far it hasn't fit into my schedule.
Oh what fun. I can smell the chocolate from here, Happy birthday at that beautiful hotel surrounded by chocolate. :)
ReplyDeletesuch a sweet gift, lol, sorry couldn't resist,,,,they tell us chocolate is healthy (dark 70 % ) so maybe it was a healthy gift as well, lol, looks like it would smell wonderful in that place!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun gift. I will have to keep that in mind. I have not been in that hotel for almost 40 years!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gift, what an experience! I love the expressions on you faces in the middle pictures. And the 1971 photo is wonderful. So nice you could get back to your old workplace.
ReplyDeleteSweet dreams, Kay. I think even I will be dreaming of chocolate after this special post.
What a terrific gift!! I love it!! Mmmmm and chocolate!! Yummm! What a fun post for the day! Love the pics and your smiling faces!!! I haven't had breakfast and I'm already thinking about CHOCOLATE!!!
ReplyDeleteThe chocolate candies will be the best. I have a friend who makes chocolate candies every year at Christmas. So good I have to give my box away or eat it all.
ReplyDeletehow fun but full of sugar. i had my first glazed doughnut last night in years and felt guilty but other than that, I'm okay...lol!
ReplyDeleteI do love glazed donuts. However, I just got my blood results and it was not good. I NEED to get my triglycerides down.
DeleteMy wife and I had a mixed marriage. She only liked dark chocolate, and I only like milk chocolate.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you said milk chocolate and not white chocolate. I just can't understand how anyone can prefer white to regular chocolate. :-)
DeleteHi Kay, That looks like so much fun--and it was neat for you to get a trip back in a place where you used to work... That's special!!!! I'm not too much a chocolate person --but I'm sure if I were making it, I'd be nibbling and licking my fingers all during the process.... ha
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
Yum. What a great idea for a birthday gift. Dianne
ReplyDeleteWhat a great gift! Learning how to make chocolate pieces instead of receiving a box of chocolate! Anything chocolate is great anyway. My mother in law was allergic to chocolate – can you imagine a worse allergy?
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine being allergic to chocolate. Oh dear!
DeleteLooks like you had so much fun with this! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing gift. Who knew there even was such a thing? Are you ready to open shop?
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! I was really surprised to get this. It was rather pricey though. It cost my son $50 for Art and me and that was a Groupon!
DeleteThat was cool that it turned out so well. Happy Birthday, though I assume it was either yesterday or a few days ago.
ReplyDeleteWell done! You look extremely proud of your accomplishment. My wife can't miss tasting places and it it's chocolate so much the better.
ReplyDeleteWell now I want chocolate! I think I have chocolate pop tarts in the pantry...
ReplyDeleteI stayed at that hotel with my Mom and then 15-year-old son. Beautiful history is displayed throughout the place. They had a huge Christmas model train displayed in the lobby, and artisans on the grounds on designated days. It was nice walking to Waikiki, and around the King's shops. My son was more interested in how the chef carved the fruit to look like doves than the girl dancing on stage. He began to pay more attention to the luau dancers when his hormones fully kicked in by the time he returned to Hawaii with his bride.
ReplyDeleteDrumMajor
How wonderful that he could show Hawaii to his wife! The Queen Kapiolani is in a great location; right next to the zoo too!
DeleteThis is a wonderful gift. Can have fun and can eat . Yumz
ReplyDeleteWhat fun. Now that is an experience one does not get very often if ever. Plus, you had a great take home treat.
ReplyDeleteI loved the old photos you shared.
What? You didn't have to grind your own cocoa beans?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it looks like you had fun, and you got to eat chocolate!
I would definitely not be able to handle a class like that. I am all klutz in the kitchen, let alone making chocolate candies in a mold.
ReplyDeleteL...w
Oh I think you could have done it easily. There wasn't a whole lot to it. The chocolate is already melted so it was just a matter of pouring it in the mold. It was a novel experience though.
DeleteThat is such an elaborate setup! We have enjoyed the much smaller operation our friend Sharky runs at his place a few miles up from us along the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island. His coffee and chocolate farm was featured once in the Hawaiian Airline magazine. His chocolate is the best!
ReplyDeleteI wonder where Ricard Choclate gets their beans. Really on Oahu?
Obviously, you raised that boy right!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun experience! Nice gift from your son.
ReplyDeletei have never liked chocolate though i would love to learn how to make it. i do like white chocolate!
ReplyDeleteHello Kay! I've been waiting for this post since I first set foot in that chocolate shop. I'm Jason and I make up 1/4 (by number, not weight) of the Wisconsin family that was also there that fun and educational day. It was great meeting you and Art! I read a bunch of blogs and articles about Hawaii in general (Example: I subscribe to the Star-Advertiser, but not my local paper), but was too embarrassed to ask for your url. Fortunately, the person that was waiting to talk to our "instructor" wasn't, and I sneakily typed in the url in my phone from her notepad. Hope that wasn't too creepy and stalker-like. I prefer to call it "resourceful". We took advantage of the half-off deal a little too much and ate chocolate at pretty much every meal for the rest of our trip. Wish we were back there doing it all over again, though. For comparision purposes: We're about to head out to a football game--it will be about 45 degrees and raining. Kind of a far cry from wondering if our newly-made chocolates would melt by the time we walked back to our hotel! :) Anyway, wonderful to meet you and keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Jason! Oh my gosh! This is so much fun! Yes, I call it resourceful indeed. :-) Love it! I LOVE hearing from readers. Thank you for your wonderful comment and I hope you'll keep writing.
Delete45 degrees??? Wow! I'm sweltering over here. They're saying 90 degrees for the week and where are those darn trade winds anyway?
I'm so glad we were able to spend that sweet time together. We sure did enjoy meeting you and your family that day. We do miss the Midwest, you know. Have a wonderful weekend. Good luck to your Packers!
How long was the class? Do you think a bunch of teenagers would enjoy it? I'm trying to plan my daughter's sweet 16 party and thought the girls might like this.
ReplyDeleteSorry I just read your policy...Hi I'm Deanna (faithful follower)
DeleteOh wow! I love it! Hi Deanna! It's so nice to meet you. I sure hope you'll write again. I love hearing from my readers.
DeleteNow... To be very honest, I don't think Ricard Chocolat is a good place to have a party. For one thing, it's too small. For another, it's really TOO expensive. Our son bought the Groupon for about $50.00 for two people. It was supposed to be half price. $100 for a couple is way, way too much for the short approximately 1 hour session where each couple brings home just that one tray of tiny chocolates. It was fun to do for my blog, but for a party... I really don't think so.
Still... this was a million times better than the hamster ball experience he bought us another time:
http://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2012/03/sunday-adventure-3-waikiki-walk-on.html
On the other hand, it was another bloggable, laughable experience!
Thanks for your comment. I thought it looked too simple for the price. Oh well, I wanted to do something different with the girls. I know there was a cake decorating place in Manoa but I believe they closed down. I do love your blog and I was getting withdrawals when you took a break. You have a lovely family and I enjoy reading about your adventures.
DeleteDeanna
Thank you, Deanna! I really appreciate your kind encouragement of this blog. I hated to take a hiatus after writing every day for 3 years, and then on the weekdays for .... gosh... I forget... several months? However, this year has been especially hard for me with our various projects, travel and family. Life is like that sometimes though.... which is good. And sorry to say, I'm going to have to do another hiatus soon since everything is suddenly piling up on me again.
DeleteThis is such a neat gift from your son. Looks like so much fun and now I have a craving for chocolate :)
ReplyDelete