We recently tried a candy making class at Sweet Pete’s in downtown Jacksonville and had fun getting messy with chocolate and stuffed with sweets. We signed up for the Candy Apple class, but due to a mix-up and apple shortage we ended up doing the Smashing Pumpkins class. No complaints from the 5-year-old about the last minute change as long as candy was involved!

Smashing Pumpkins Candy Class

Sweet Pete’s offers candy making classes for everyone from toddlers to adults, but they stipulate that everyone in the candy room has to be a paid participant. So whether you want to gorge yourself on candy or not, you gotta pay up to supervise your little one. The exception is their Toddler Time classes, where you only need to pay for the child participant. Our candy making class was $18 per person.

The classes take place in Pete’s Parlor, where we had my son’s baby shower. It was a little surreal to be sitting in that same room with him making candy! There were a few other families in the class but it was a small group overall, and everyone was required to wear a mask.

A Little Candy Education

The Smashing Pumpkins class consists of pouring chocolate into a pumpkin mold, letting it set and then filling it with candy. While we waited for our pumpkins to harden, our candy making class instructor talked a bit about the history of chocolate and how chocolate is made. I actually learned some new things! We got to hold a giant cocoa bean and learn what goes into making dark, milk and white chocolate.

A good amount of chocolate was poured into the mold, and then we had to swirl it around slowly to coat the sides. After it was well-coated, we poured the excess out on the wax paper. We nibbled on this chocolate as it hardened into what my son deemed “chocolate cookies.”

Fill ’em Up!

I think the most fun part for my son was being set free in the huge candy store, where he could choose anything to fill his pumpkin. We were given little cups to fill, along with gloves and a sterilized scooper. The hardest part was choosing just enough to fill the cup! There were too many delicious choices.

Once the pumpkins set, we poured our candy choices into the hole at the bottom. Then we were given a little chocolate disc to seal the bottom shut. I’ll admit, I ate half my candy before I even got it in the pumpkin. Once the seal was complete, we were sent home with our chocolate pumpkins to smash at a later date.

The Big Pumpkin Smash

By “later date” I mean, “as soon as possible” because no kid going to let a candy-filled chocolate pumpkin sit around for long! We all had fun doing the candy making class together. It was definitely something a little different to do as a family activity, and it’s always fun to visit Sweet Pete’s! Just wandering around the store and looking at everything is part of the fun.