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As far as half term activities go, I’d say spending the morning at a café that specialises in chocolate making edible creations out of ice cream cones, melted chocolate, marshmallows and all kind of sprinkles rates pretty highly on our list of favourites!
I accidentally descended on Aleksandra’s Chocolate Café in Bridport a week early for their half term Halloween-themed chocolate workshops (seeing as Bridport schools break up a week later than the schools over the border in my home county of East Devon), with two girls who had their hearts set on getting stuck in to some messy chocolatey fun.
Luckily for us the staff were absolute superstars and whipped up the activities for us to try despite not being fully ready for ‘launch’, so we’ve been treated to a preview of their Halloween activities planned for later this week and next week - slots are available to book from 23rd – 31st October 2019 - be sure to book in via phone or Facebook rather than just turn up like I did!
The Halloween package costs £14.95 per child which includes a free hot drink for an accompanying adult and three gooey chocolatey creations to make and take home (or scoff in the café once you’re finished.) In terms of age suitability, the workshops are open to all, I’d say best suited to age 2.5+. Come armed with a kids’ apron (or old clothes) and your trusty packet of baby wipes for younger kids as they’re likely to get messy!
After we’d been given some instructions by the café manager Becky, the kids got stuck in to making their edible slime (a bowl of melted marshmallow into which you can mix all manner of brownie crumbles, chocolate drops and sprinkles from your marvellous tray of goodies). This can be mixed by hand or with a big wooden spoon, witches cauldron style!
Next up was chocolate witches’ hats, which the girls had a whale of a time decorating with blue, white and pink chocolate from deliciously squidgy piping bags; and lastly we made s’mores – a waffle cone filled to the brim with milk chocolate and chewy marshmallow, which I’ve been instructed to toast later (campfire optional! – I’ll just pop in the oven for 5 mins.) I’m literally salivating at the thought of these and I’m half tempted to warm them up once the kids have gone to bed!
While the girls were immersed in chocolate (and by this, I mean they were actually immersed – Livvie has rainbow sprinkles in her hair/ear and Darcy’s pink top is now rather more brown), I had a chat with the staff and found out that they run lots of similar workshops during school holidays – in summer they ran chocolate seashell and pirate coin-making activities that proved really popular.
They also offer personalised children’s party workshops, which I think would be great for smaller groups, and something for the grown-ups with prosecco and truffle making evenings – sounds pretty tempting!
Give them a follow on Facebook or Instagram to keep an eye out for future workshops, and also for their upcoming special offer on some amazing-looking chocolately gifts for Christmas (10% off when you order before the end of November, made in-house in Bridport.)
We were too stuffed to the gills to consider lunch this time but Aleksandra’s doesn’t just do chocolate, they’re open 9.30 to 17.00 Mon – Sat and offer a light lunch menu, coffees and cakes/pastries and reputably the best hot chocolates in Bridport (done properly with REAL chocolate).
There’s plenty of space for buggies and a comfy sofa area at the back if you just want to pop in for a drink and a snack with the kids. Even on an ordinary day without the hands-on workshops this café would be a novelty, with its impressive selection of chocolates to choose from as a treat – and all hot drinks come with their signature mini chocolate frog as a freebie.
Parking was easy as the café is almost directly opposite East Street short stay car park (which was a bargain at 80p for two hours). The café is on East Street next to Instant Redress fancy dress shop and opposite the Lord Nelson pub.
My two were absolutely buzzing after consuming more than their body weight in marshmallow so we decided to extend our day out by heading over to West Bay’s amazing adventure play area to let the girls run off some of their sugar high – write up coming soon!
We really enjoyed the Halloween chocolate workshop and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend – to book (23rd – 31st October 2019) please call the café on 01308 458770 or message them on Facebook.
Thanks for having us – we’ll definitely be back!