Looking back at a hands-on Chocolate Truffle Making Workshop with master chocolatier Paul A Young at Little Portland Cookery School.
Updated 2026 · Previously published alongside Chocolate Orange Truffles
It’s a hard life, trucking into town on the tube for a Chocolate Event. At least that’s what I tell myself. A mesmerising evening watching chocolate expert Paul demo his cult recipe for Port and Stilton Truffles with chance to roll our own afterwards.
It was a balmy, melty summer evening, we were tucked into the basement kitchen of Little Portland Cookery School close to Oxford Circus. The second of two hands-on cookery experiences organised by Pinterest showcasing visually exciting make-it-yourself projects with expert chefs that people can easily reproduce at home.
Last time we’d enjoyed making Naked Wedding Cakes with Lily Vanilli, tonight it was chocolate truffle making with Paul A Young.
Judging by the number of chocolate making gift experiences you can book online, this tactile craft with everyone’s favourite ingredient is very popular. So I felt very lucky to be attending such a class with an established chocolate guru like Paul.
Inevitably chocolate would be eaten – although chocolatey fingers must not be licked in a cookery school environment. The first bit of business at cookery schools is always explaining the importance of hand washing – and the fire drill instructions.
Making Port and Stilton Truffles
We crowded round as Mr Chocolate soon got busy showing us how to make his freakish sounding, (but oh so good) Port and Stilton Chocolate Truffles.
It’s a flavour combination that sounds like it shouldn’t work – but definitely does.
Whereas France and Belgium have many chocolatiers with their own shops, Paul A Young is a rarer breed in the UK. I love his shops with their purple branding, and a box of Paul’s truffles is an easy elevated gift to choose for friends.
Although who knows, maybe I’ll start making my own truffles to give as gifts. A friend does this every Christmas and I spied that Paul was using the same type of big round Valrhona chocolate chips. These wouldn’t be safe in my kitchen, I’d end up eating them out of the bag.
Anyway, back to the cheesy chocolate concoction. Paul crumbled the Stilton and popped it into a pan of heated cream.
Then it was transferred to a glass bowl. It looks a bit weird here but honestly, you’ve got to trust the process.
It does look like we’re making mayonnaise here – I once made brownies with mayonnaise. It’s all eggs in the end isn’t it. Not that there’s egg in a truffle, it’s cream and chocolate, cream and chocolate, oh gosh I feel I’m being hypnotised.
Be serious Sarah. Although I wasn’t taking notes, the Port and Stilton Truffle Recipe is preserved online at Lovefood – together with more detailed instructions extracted from Paul’s book Adventures In Chocolate.
Paul melted the chocolate chips in a double boiler and then whisked them into the cream.
Using A Marble Chocolate Tempering Slab
The molten chocolate mix was slathered onto a marble slab in an even layer.
I should mention, in conjunction with this class, we received some Lakeland chocolate making equipment – they have put together a range in conjunction with Paul’s new book for them. You can see the other chocolate crafting items in the Chocolate Orange Truffles recipe post.
I won’t deny the marble slab weighs a ton, but to get your tempered chocolate cooling down nicely it’s just the job.
Rolling Chocolate Truffles in Cocoa Powder
As the cooled chocolate mixture firmed up, Paul rolled it into chocolate truffle balls.
Then it was time for us to push our sleeves up and get involved.
As you can see, things got very messy!
Further Reading
This was one of two chocolate workshops I attended with Paul A Young – at the other one we made Chocolate Ganache Dessert at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School. You can also see my pictures from Paul’s Chocolate Afternoon Tea at Grosvenor House Hotel.
Leave a Reply