More from le Flour

Nicole asked me to make some chocolates for Valentine's Day to put in boxes she had left over from her wedding. I love doing chocolates because tempering can be so challenging and the results are always gratifying. I tempered the chocolate using the seeding method in which you chop up chocolate pieces, put them in a bowl of melted chocolate, and stir like crazy. Because purchased chocolate is already tempered, the pieces pull the melted chocolate into temper and you are left with a bowl of tempered melted chocolate.
To save time we purchased pre-made chocolate shells. I filled them with a simple dark chocolate ganache, a peanut butter ganache, and a brandy caramel ganache and dipped the whole thing in chocolate. Pre-made shells can be too thick but in a pinch they are very usefull.

Cake for one manly dude.

This cake was two layers vanilla, two layers chocolate cake, banana slices, and whipped cream. The roses are gumpaste.

We made mini versions of all our tarts for a barmitzva: Blueberry with streusel, almond cream with peaches and chopped pistachio, chocolate ganache, and lemon cream with candied lemon zest. She ordered lots of miniature treats including brioches, petit fours, and croissants. The little pastries got me thinking about tea service. I've always loved petit fours and the Chinese equivelent, dim-sum. The small size makes them ornaments in themselves, unlike larger foods which need a smaller garnish like a tuile to make them beautiful. I think I might start throwing tea parties.

Gumpaste footballs piped with buttercream to decorate superbowl cupcakes.