I'm a huge fan of CookSpace Hawaii, a cooking studio and event venue located in Ward Warehouse offering cooking classes, tastings, and more. I was super excited to be invited to attend their Handmade Valentine's Candies class this past Sunday led by Kapiolani Community College Pastry Chef Mark Okumura.
Chef Okumura's background includes 12 years of experience as a pastry chef at the Halekulani Hotel and opening pastry chef for Alan Wong's. He's credited with creating the chocolate crunch bar and five flavors of creme brûlée served in Chinese soup spoons at the Alan Wong's restaurant.
At the candies class, he shared with us valuable tips and techniques as he demonstrated his own recipes for Caramelized Almond Dragees, Easy 5 Ingredient Soft Caramels, and Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles. The best part of class was being able to take home a bento box with the delicious candy creations!
CookSpace Hawaii has lots of cool classes coming up including leaning how to make handmade pasta and French macarons! For more information, visit their website.
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Chef Okumura dipping strawberries. His tips are to make sure the strawberries are dry before dipping to prevent mold. He also likes to dip in chocolate truffles rather than coating chocolate to give the strawberries a softer chocolate shell.
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| Chef demonstrated the making of the "tuxedo" strawberry which is first dipped in white chocolate; sides dipped in chocolate; and bow tie and buttons piped in chocolate. |
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| Chef shows us the proper way to coat a truffle. Using two forks, tap off excess chocolate. CookSpace Hawaii's Megan Tomino assists in decorating the truffles. |
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| Everyone had the chance to make their own truffles. |
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| Absolutely delicious!
Thank you to CookSpace Hawaii for the fun and delicious class!
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