Chocolate swans

You're going to love this recipe: chocolate swans with a chocolate-rich custard centre. These will impress, whether it's for a dinner party, a child's birthday or a wedding.

Chocolate swans. Credit: The Chocolate Queen

• makes

  20

• prep

  1 hour

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Chocolate crémeux

• 215 g thickened cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 25 g caster sugar
• 85 g good quality milk couverture chocolate 33%
• 80 g good quality dark couverture chocolate 54%

White chocolate wings, tail, neck and head

• 300 g good quality white chocolate 28%

Allow 1-2 hours for chilling and setting.

Instructions

1. For the crémeux: Place the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar to create a slurry. Pour the hot cream over the slurry while whisking. Transfer back into the saucepan and mix over low heat until it reaches 80°C, to create an anglaise.
3. Place chocolate in a bowl. Strain the anglaise over the milk and dark chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface and place into the refrigerator for up to 3 hours.
4. For the swans: Temper the while chocolate by placing it into a saucepan over an induction cooktop on setting 4. 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. (Alternatively, use the microwave method here).
5. Transfer the tempered chocolate into a piping bag, or zip lock bag.
6. To create the wings: Pipe 30mm discs of chocolate onto a sheet of baking paper. Before the chocolate sets, use a fork to swipe the disc outwards, creating a wing shape. Allow to set at room temperature. You will require 40 wings in total, 20 with a fork swirling in each direction.
7. To create the tail: Pipe 30mm discs of chocolate onto a sheet of baking paper, this will be the base of the swan. Before the chocolate sets, use the back of a fork to drag the disc out into a tear shape, creating a tail. Allow to set at room temperature. You will require 20 bases.
8. To create the neck and head: Pipe 20 swan necks onto a sheet of baking paper, then pipe some additional chocolate at the end to create the head. Before the chocolate sets, use the tip of a fork to drag the head out to create a beak. Allow to set at room temperature. You will require 20 neck and heads.
9. To assemble: Once the chocolate cremeux is set, transfer it into a piping bag fitted with a 13mm plain piping tip. Pipe the cremeux onto the white chocolate bases, then gently insert the wings and neck to complete the swan.

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.