I think it was looking at, salivating over and finally tasting those wonderful chocolate bars at The Chocolate Tree, in Edinburgh, that made me want to try creating my own. Perfectly tempered, glossy but unassuming on one side, when flipped over, they are a pretty picture of jewel-like fruits and roasted nuts.  It must be confessed, the idea of placing these items on the chocolate, rather than suffering again through my late, ham-fisted attempts at enrobing, really strikes my fancy, this week.

I’ve had these wonderful little chef hat molds, from Belgium, sitting in a box, just waiting.  Biding their time, until I am ready to attempt the engineering and culinary challenge of double-sided, hollow chocolate molding. I open the box and stare at them.  Darned cute, very detailed.  Lots of crevices that will demand that the chocolate be perfectly tempered, so it will flow into all of the places it needs to go, to create the definition – the pleats in the hat.  These should be sturdy enough to stand up, when finished, with no extra messy “tails” of chocolate trailing out from the bottoms or sides.  They should look like little sculptures.