We try chocolate making at Kakawa Artisan Chocolate and Co at Brogdale Farm in Faversham
Published: 05:00, 01 September 2023
Have you ever dreamed of unleashing your inner Willy Wonka? Wondered what it would be like to cram all of your favourite treats into one chocolate bar?
Well, look no further because Kakawa Artisan Chocolate & Co allows you to do just that!
Based at Brogdale farm, Faversham, the confectionery-making business gives you the chance to put everything from chilli flavourings and Oreo chunks to dried fruit and caramel bits into slabs of milk and white chocolate which is literally dripping from a tap.
The founder of the company, John Jeffery, offers more than 200 handmade chocolate products from his unit at The Old Dairy.
Following the start of his business three years ago, John now offers a range of chocolate-making experiences.
Perfect for foodies and sweet tooths alike Kakawa allows you to get hands-on and create a selection of chocolate bars, slabs, and mini-filled chocolate bonbons.
Despite the weather being miserable, Brogdale Farm’s wonderful and quaint selection of shops and businesses made the environment as welcoming as ever during our visit.
I was attending my luxury chocolate-making experience for two with my brother – something neither of us had ever done before.
We were welcomed into the Kakawa unit by John himself and the smell of warm chocolate filled the air, which was heavenly.
The unit is only small and the minimalistic deco gives a nice, neat feel. We were welcomed with a drink and cracked on with our experience right away.
After washing our hands John got right to the point and explained what we’d be making; three chocolate slabs each, three chocolate bars each and two trayfuls of mini caramel-filled milk chocolate bonbons.
It was an immense amount of chocolate and I’d never been more excited.
There were two tap-like machines filled with liquid white and milk chocolate that were operated by a pedal.
John gave us an example of how to cover our moulds in chocolate and, of course he’s a pro and made it look so easy
It was, in fact, not easy at all and before we knew it my brother and I were covered in chocolate up to our wrists.
Not my proudest moment but I suddenly understood why some refer to chocolate-making as an “art”.
After filling our moulds we were given free range to top it with anything that was in the bowls laid out before us.
There was Malteasers, Caramac buttons, honeycomb, dried fruits, nuts, chocolate swirls and more goodies than you could shake a stick at.
And, if you weren’t spoiled with choice enough, you even had flavourings you could add such as strawberry, raspberry, vanilla, chilli and even gin.
I opted for the more classic-looking bars such as white chocolate with dried cranberries and milk chocolate with honeycomb whilst my brother loaded his with anything he liked the look of.
Satisfied with our creations we left our sweet treats to chill in the fridge whilst we had a look around the Brogdale Farm shops.
Due to the weather being muggy and fairly warm lately, the tempered chocolate did take a little longer to set, but less than half an hour later we had our goodies wrapped up in bags and ready to take home to our family.
It was a wonderful experience and I’d highly recommend it to not only chocolate lovers but also those who love getting stuck into something. It’s simply fun for everyone.
To find out more about the experiences on offer visit the Kakawa Artisan Chocolate & Co website.
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Megan Carr