2amdessertbar's Janice Wong made last Saturday's session a really sweet and meltingly good bonding session for parents and children. Apart from teaching them to make hand rolled chocolate truffles (recipe below) she also taught them to make Red Bean Panna Cotta and a no-bake bread pudding whose recipes can be found later in this magazine.

With history and insights to the making of perfect chocolate, this class was packed full of information that not only specified technique, but also provided useful tips on the science of chocolate making.

Here's the recipe, from Janice Wong of 2amdessertbar ((www.2amdessertbar.com)

INGREDIENTS (Makes 50 small truffles)
370g Valrhona chocolate, cut into small pieces
400ml President's cream
Cocoa powder (for coating)

1. Chop up the chocolate and place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Melt in a saucepan over low heat.

2. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling.

3. Pour the cream little by little into the chocolate so it won't split. stir in one direction only and be careful not to agitate it too much so that it won't split. If it does, add a little milk (which has less fat and will therefore help to bind the fat molecules in the chocolate and cream). The chocolate mixture will bind better when the water-to-fat ratio is higher. Finer chocolates need "tempering" in a chocolate room to ensure that the mixture doesn't split as the temperature of the room is kept low.

4. Put the chocolate into a piping bag and let the warmth of your hands bring the cold chocolate to room temperature. If you don't have a piping bag, cut a small hole at the end of a plastic bag and squeeze the chocolate towards the cut corner of the bag. Make little mounds of chocolate on a silpat (can be bought from Huat Kee) and push towards the silpat to make patterns. Place in the refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm.

5. Sieve cocoa for coating the truffles on a plate. Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands, or else a melon baller or small spoon form the chocolate into round or mis-shaped bite-sized balls. Immediately roll the truffle in the coating and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or tray. Cover and place in the refrigerator until firm.

Truffles can be refrigerated for a couple of weeks or else frozen for a couple of months. Bring to room temperature before serving.

History of Chocolate:
The first people known to have made chocolate were the ancient cultures of Mexico and Central America. These people, including the Maya and Aztec, mixed ground cacao seeds with various seasonings to make a spicy, frothy drink.

Later, the Spanish conquistadors brought the seeds back home to Spain, where new recipes were created. Eventually, and the drink’s popularity spread throughout Europe. Since then, new technologies and innovations have changed the texture and taste of chocolate, but it still remains one of the world’s favorite flavours.

SILPATs are made of fiberglass mesh and the highest quality food grade silicones. The specially designed mesh works with the silicone to provide consistent heat distribution and promotes even baking and browning.