A Christmas tree to chew on

Made in the greatest secrecy in the EHTL pastry workshops, the all-chocolate Christmas tree is now enthroned in the school entrance. Original and aesthetic, it has received rave reviews both in situ and on social networks. We reveal to you the recipe for this success.

Take :

– two pastry teachers with a chocolate maker’s certificate;

– a class of internationally protected students, made up of adults aged 20 to 50 years old, enrolled in the first year of the cook training course;

– a bit of inspiration;

– a good dose of motivation;

– 25 kg of chocolate;

– an excellent command of techniques;

– respect for the ideal temperature;

– 20 hours of diligent and meticulous work;

– the discretion of the whole team to make the surprise a success.

“We don’t often have the opportunity to work with chocolate. Therefore, we took advantage of the freedom given by the FBPI class programme to embark on a different project from what usually comes out of our workshops. In addition, the skills acquired by the pupils through this project will be useful to them in the great pastry shops”, explains C. GOEREND. His colleague, T. VEZAIN, explains the choice of the Christmas tree: “It’s a way of introducing our culture and traditions to these pupils who come from sometimes very distant lands. For their part, they also show us their specialities: it’s a real exchange and a pleasure to work with such motivated and willing learners, even though some of them are trained as mechanics or electricians. »

Even the most greedy resist the temptation to touch this work of art. After the Christmas period, the tree will be “recycled”: once melted, the chocolate can be used to make ganache, for example.

After the petits fours, the Christmas logs, and this magnificent all-chocolate Christmas tree, in January, the students of the FBPI class will have the opportunity to make a home-made puff pastry galette des rois and discover the tradition of the famous bean.