Chocolate flower

"I know what you're thinking, 'oh, I'm not going to do a chocolate flower'. Yes you are. It's so easy once you know the steps," says Kitsten Tibballs, who explains exactly how to do it.

Credit: The Chocolate Queen

• makes

  1

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Use to decorate cakes, or desserts such as Kirsten Tibballs' no-bake chocolate cheesecake tart.

Ingredients

• 250 g good quality dark couverture chocolate 54%

Setting time: 1-2 hours

Instructions

1. Cut 5 strips of baking paper, approximately 70 mm x 300 mm in size.
2. Place the dark chocolate into a saucepan on an induction cooktop on setting 4 (or over medium-low on a standard cooktop). Stir continuously until you have 50% solids and 50% liquid. Transfer the chocolate into a heat-proof plastic bowl and stir vigorously until the solids have completely melted.
3. Dip a dry pastry brush into the tempered chocolate. To create individual petals, brush the chocolate in a slightly curved line onto the baking paper strips.
4. Leave 10 petals flat on the workbench and place 20 petals into a tube or jug to create a curved shape. Allow to set at room temperature before gently removing the baking paper.
5. Use a hair dryer to gently re-heat the remaining chocolate while stirring.
6. Place a teaspoon of the chocolate in the centre of a square piece of baking paper.
7. Create the outer layer of petals by arranging 5 of the flat petals in a circle so that each base is in contact with the melted chocolate.
8. Spoon some additional melted chocolate into the centre and arrange the remaining flat petals so that they sit in between the first layer.
9. Dip the back of each curved petal into the melted chocolate and add them to the centre of the flower base until the flower is full.
10. Allow to set at room temperature.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Use to decorate cakes, or desserts such as Kirsten Tibballs' no-bake chocolate cheesecake tart.