Chocolate Leaves – Seakettle

If you’re looking for a fancy and fabulous holiday treat, I have just the dessert for you! I’d been waiting for an occasion to try chocolate leaves, and my friend Kelley’s bridal shower was the perfect opportunity. Not only was it a great excuse to make something pretty, but I knew my Triple Chocolate Tart would be a hit with two dozen female guests!

The chocolate leaves were surprisingly easy (after wrecking my first batch). If you don’t need to serve a crowd, I recommend making the tart in a tart pan (as called for), so you can save the time and fuss of cutting individual pieces ahead of time. The chocolate leaves would look just as lovely on a round tart!

For the shower, I doubled the tart recipe and made it in two square pans. I lined each of the pans with two perpendicular sheets of foil that draped over the edges (so when cool I could pull the tart out of the pan). To get the (mostly) clean cut edges, I used a very long knife to make one stroke, then wiped it clean and repeated.

Here’s what you need to know about the chocolate leaves — use only chocolate! No milk, cream, butter, shortening etc. I learned this the hard way. I thought I’d be resourceful and use up some leftover ganache in my fridge. Seventy rose leaves and a couple hours later, I discovered that they were never going to harden. The leaves wouldn’t peel off the chocolate, and they were just a bendy mess that had to be thrown away. So keep it simple! Just chocolate.

Supplies:
Rose, citrus or other non-poisonous leaves with nice veins. Washed and dried.
Chocolate chips (heat in small batches)
Paint brush
Wax paper
Cookie sheet

1. I poured semi-sweet chocolate chips into a glass bowl and microwaved them for 30 second intervals, stirring in between. Be careful not to over-microwave. As soon as the chips were melted and smooth, I painted a thick layer of chocolate onto my rose leaves.

2. I set them on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet and then put them in the fridge to harden. If you’ve done it right, it won’t take long – 15 minutes or so. If they don’t harden in an hour, they aren’t going to! (But don’t worry, yours will, because you’ll only use chocolate!)