Decorate my own chocolate bars? Which I then get to eat? Well, if you insist. (It’s a hard life.) But what actually happens on a 1-hour chocolatier workshop at the Chocolate Museum Vienna “BO-YO”?
- Think experience, rather than museum
- Pour and decorate three bars
- Also make an original chocolate drink
- Friendly, professional staff
- English & German spoken
- Praline and Mozartball workshops also available
- Book a chocolate workshop*
- See also:
Cocoa and creativity
(The kind of workshop end product I can get behind)
The Chocolate Museum Vienna “BO-YO” runs visitor-friendly chocolate experiences. So you might make your own pralines or Mozartkugeln marzipan balls, for example.
But the most popular product is the one-hour chocolatier workshop. So, in another moment of great self-sacrifice on behalf of my readers, I bought tickets and gave it a go…
The workshop essentially consisted of five parts:
Creating basic bars of chocolate
You don’t make your chocolate from scratch, but you do fill a three-bar mould with liquid chocolate from a choice of two dark varieties, milk chocolate, white chocolate and pink-coloured white chocolate.
You can split your bars between types to some extent, but only where this fits with food safety and hygiene requirements. White chocolate and milk chocolate (in that pouring order) worked for me.
Filling a mould takes more care than you might think. Fortunately, our guide explained everything (in English) and helped out where necessary.
After all, you want a nice even surface with minimum waste. Wasting chocolate is a sin against the Food Gods.
Decorating your bars
You have a few minutes while the chocolate is still soft to then place decorative ingredients on the surface.
For example, I used pumpkin & sunflower seeds, gummy bears, raisins, and almond flakes from the dozen or so options available.
I’d like to say I created bars with a thematic consistency and a certain creative je ne sais quoi. But the result was more chaos than Klimt.
(A peek through the window raises expectations)
Making a chocolate drink
Inevitably, you have to wait for the decorated bars to set in the fridge before you can pack them up to take home with you.
In the meantime, we mixed our own chocolate drink by adapting the Aztec Xocolatl recipe. For the more adventurous, this meant sticking to largely original Mesoamerican ingredients (I won’t spoil the surprise for you).
I liked it (and now drink it at home), but my companion rapidly went for the added sugar and milk option.
Visiting the museum
After finishing, we nipped down to the (very) small museum, which has a handful of background videos and displays on cocoa’s origins and the different types of chocolate. Just a quick time filler with some selfie opportunities, but not the reason you’re there.
Hearing info & anecdotes
All through the workshop, our guide explained (in English) what we were doing, why, and how with a few tidbits on history and nutrition. She was a lovely mix of friendly and professional with a laser-like focus on hygiene (after all, we were preparing food).
We never felt rushed or overwhelmed and found the whole experience rather fun. The ambience certainly helps, too: clean and colourful.
Tickets & tips
You don’t buy an entrance ticket for the “museum” per se, but book a place on one of the different workshops offered.
The shop, however, is open to the public and had a wide-range of (BO-YO) chocolate products to buy on my visit: pralines, bars, flavoured dragées, cake decorations etc. Even chocolate-themed t-shirts and cuddly toys.
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
Since it combines chocolate, entertainment and creativity, the experience feels like an ideal family activity (I have many suggestions for keeping the kids entertained in Vienna.)
A potentially tricky part for children would be pouring the chocolate into the mould, but the guide took care of that for those too young to manage on their own.
Other chocolate-flavoured options in Vienna:
- The Schokomuseum attached to the production facilities of Confiserie Heindl in the 23rd district. They have English-language guided tours, for example, at the time of writing
- Chocolate cake is very much a thing here, particularly in the form of Sachertorte. Try the Café-Konditoreien for cakes and specialist creations that also typically include chocolates
- If you time your visit right, you might encounter the Schokoladefest: a chocolate festival featuring, well, I think you can work it out for yourself
- And since chocolate comes just behind cake in the Viennese priority list, you’ll also find specialist chocolate shops in the city. Just keep your eyes open. I tend to combine any visit to Schönbrunn palace with a short stop in the nearby Lindt store, for example. The red balls are my kryptonite
How to get to the chocolate
Subway: the museum is a short walk from two subway stations (Pilgramgasse and Margaretengürtel) on the U4 line that leaves, for example, from the central Karlsplatz and Schwedenplatz stations.
Bus: the Reinprechtsdorfer Brücke stop on the 12A and 14A lines is close by. You can catch both at Pilgramgasse station, for example.
Address: Schönbrunnerstraße 99, 1050 Vienna | Website