One day in the supermarket, I spied a box of Ferrero Rocher.... and something inside screamed at me to turn them into angels!
It's not something I've seen done before, and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. So darn adorable and perfect as little Christmas decorations and gifts. With all that chocolate, nutella, piedmont hazelnuts and salt caramel, what's not to love ?
You'll see I even utilized part of the wrapper for the little ruffle collar round the neck. However, if you prefer different colours - we've got a load of mini muffin / cupcake cases that are an ideal size to choose from.
You will also need a 12 cell silicone Dariole mould to make these.
I guess you have been looking at them long enough - so I have best show you what to do !
I'm afraid I didn't work out quantities of ingredients for these. It depends if you want to leave the body part empty or fill it 1/2 with nutella and half with salt caramel (just a suggestion)
Ingredients :
a few roasted hazelnuts
a medium sized jar of nutella
one batch quantity of salt caramel
You will need :
plastic bowl
a pastry brush
offset spatula (or a wide flat knife will probably do)
a heart shaped cookie cutter
a rolling pin
a clean tea towel
a granite of marble chopping board (frozen overnight) - or a glazed tile
Scissors
microwave
Put the couverture chocolate in the plastic bowl and microwave in 30 second bursts at 75%. After every 30 seconds, remove from the microwave and stir with a silicone spatula - even if it looks like it hasn't started melting at first.
The good thing about couverture chocolate is that as long as you melt in short burst and the temperature stays really low, your chocolate will stay in temper. Chocolate needs to be in temper - or it will go gritty if you get it too hold or lose it's shine and get a mouldy look due to either sugar or fat bloom.
When the chocolate is about 70% melted, don't put it back in the microwave. Just stir, stir, stir until almost all of the chocolate melts. Don't worry if it won't all melt. The remaining chunks can be removed with a fork. The chocolate should be around body temperature when ready to use. Touch a little bit to your upper lip. If you cannot feel it at all, it should be ready to use.
Use your pastry brush to apply a coat of chocolate inside the cells of your mould - making sure to cover all the silicone. Allow to start to set and have a matt finish before adding a second coat. Use a 3rd coat if required - we only used two coats.
This dariole mould has only had one coat at this point. You can still see the silicone shining through the chocolate on the furthest away cell.
Pop two or three roasted hazelnuts into each cell if desired.
Using a disposable piping bag (or a sandwich bag with a corner snipped off), pipe some nutella into each cell - followed by salt caramel. Be sure to leave at least 5mm gap above the filling to the top of the mould.
Of course, you can leave these hollow if you choose to.
Fill the gap at the top with more chocolate and give the mould a tap so the chocolate levels.
Once this is done, pop into the fridge for about 30 mins to set nice and hard before attempting to release from your silicone mold.
Whilst these are setting, we're going to make the wings !
Unfortunately, I forgot to take some photos here.....
Take your frozen granite / marble chopping board out the freezer. Leave for about 2 mins, then scrape the ice off the surface.
Next, spread on a small amount of chocolate using a flat knife or angled spatula. Use the heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the chocolate.
Free the chocolate right away from the slab with a knife / angled spatula. Place a clean tea towel over a rolling pin and place the heart on to that. The chocolate will be firm but "bendy" at this stage and curve a little round the pin.
Next, cut the bottom third of the heart off with a pair of scissors before making the next heart.
You need to cut that bottom bit off, or the wings just don't fit properly on the angel. Do make twice the amount of wings that you actually need. They are very thin and fragile - some will get broken during assembly.
If you wish to box these and give as gifts, I'd suggest putting some chocolate on a 3" dia cake card and then placing the chocolate filled dariole on top. Of course - this isn't required - I actually think they look better off cards.
Next, put a little blob of chocolate on the top of the body, then place on the mini cupcake case / frilled wrapper on top.
Another little blob of chocolate on top of that, and you can stick on your Ferrero Rocher / angels head.
A small amount of chocolate on the centre area of the trimmed chocolate heart and the wings can now stick on !
Voila ! That's it - your angel is complete :-)
If you like this tutorial, please do feel free to share it. I'd also love to see your chocolate Ferrero Rocher angels :-)
Happy Baking and Creating
Sarah-Jane - http://www.siliconemoulds.com
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