Ann Reardon

Magic Chocolate Flower

magic chocolate flower how to

Bring some magic to the dining table and wow your friends with this magic chocolate flower dessert.  Good desserts not only taste great, they should look amazing too.  Pour on the hot custard and watch the petals fall open to reveal the delights that were hiding in the centre.

In the middle of your chocolate flowers.

chocolate macaron ann reardon

1/4 of a batch of chocolate macaron recipe 

fresh fruit (raspberries, blue berries)

Chocolate truffle, one per flower you could purchase these or make your own using chocolate truffles
part 1, part 2 or part 3.

The petals

100g (3.53 ounces) tempered chocolate per flower

Chocolate flower petal template click to open pdf

Temper your chocolate and spread the chocolate thinly on some acetate.  Using a knife and the petal template cut out individual petals, see video for demonstration.

Working quickly before the chocolate hardens curve it up into a half circle.  Use something cylindrical to hold it in place.

Spread more chocolate out and cut small circles and cut each circle in half.

To assemble the dessert use a little chocolate to secure a selection of fruit to the top of your macaron.  Place the macaron on top of a chocolate truffle using chocolate to hold it in place.

Arrange the chocolate petals around a silicone hemisphere mold.

Then using some more chocolate add the base, this is going to hold all the petals in place.

Take one half of your flower and use chocolate to hold it in place on the base of the bowl.

Then add the chocolate macaron to the middle.

And carefully add the other half into place.

recipe for magic chocolate flower dessert

creme anglaise recipe (thin custard sauce)
(Serves approximately 4)

5 egg yolks or 90g (3.17 ounces)
1/4 cup or 50g (1.76 ounces) sugar
1 cup or 250millilitres (8.45 fluid ounces) cream (35% fat) (see what cream to use page)
1/2 cup or 125millilitres (4.23 fluid ounces) whole or full cream milk (4% fat)
1 vanilla bean

Scrape the vanilla bean and combine with the cream and milk in a saucepan and heat.

Whisk together sugar and the egg yolks.

Once it just starts to boil remove from the heat and pour into the egg yolk mixture whisking as you do.

Pour back into the saucepan, refrigerate.  When ready to serve the dessert reheat the creme anglaise to 185F (85 degrees Celsius)

Immediately pour through a sieve into a jug.

Take the dessert to the table and pour some hot anglaise into the bowl.

The hot sauce melts the base of the petals making them fall open beautifully.

Dish is inspired by a dessert from Pastry Chef Joaquim Sousa in Portugal.

chocolate flower dessert ann reardon

2015

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

58 Comments View Comments

  1. Can the creme anglaise be made in advance? If so, what would be the best way to reheat the sauce before serving?

    • Hi Daisy, you can make the anglaise the day you need it and pause at the point where you refrigerate it as per the recipe. Just before serving reheat the creme anglaise to 185F (85 degrees Celsius), Immediately pour through a sieve into a jug. Take the dessert to the table and pour some hot anglaise into the bowl.

  2. Hey Ann,

    I was just going through your recipes, watching every video that my horrible WiFi will let me, until I realized that Fathers Day is just around the corner. So I didn’t wasn’t anybody else’s advise but you. So, do you have any suggestions for me?

    Thank you and bless you and your family!
    Sierra

  3. Lovely! I want to try and make this , but is there something else I can use to replace acetate

    • Hi reka, Acetate is just a strong but flexible, food safe plastic sheet. You can get it at stationary stores.

  4. A lovely recipe! I want to try and make this myself , however is there something I can use instead of acetate

    • Hi Rekha, acetate is similar or the same as the plastic sheets sold in stationery or office supply stores for covering projects. It is a firm plastic that is safe to use.

  5. I tried making this, but im not sure on what cylinder or cookie cutter size to use with the template! My leaves wudnt join on either end:( any advice? Thanks in advance:)

    • Hi Saba, Use chocolate to connect the petals as demonstrated on the video.

  6. hey anne i love your web site its amazing i hope you have fun making and creating more of your cool and creative ideas

  7. Ann,

    Any ideas for substitutions for the custard sauce? I have some party members not so keen on custard ‘soup’ haha!

    • Hi Lindsay, you could use a caramel sauce or a warm ganache.

  8. Hi Ann, I’ve just found your site – some fantastic things for me to try.

    Please could you let me know what size silicone hemisphere mould you used when setting the halves in place? – Need to order one to give the magic flower a try x

    Kind regards
    Paul

    • Hi Paul D, Ann used a hemisphere tray with 6 hemispheres that were 7cm in diameter. Here is a link to a similar one, so you could keep an eye out for some thing similar: http://goo.gl/0ja5z6

  9. you are very creative.
    I love your desserts. they are so yummy
    hats off to you

  10. great wed , thanks for sharing , love your work

  11. Hi Ann,
    I am in love with your recipes they are amazing I haven’t make they yet I have been very busy, but I will make it I promise:) thank you for sharing the amazing gift you have with all of us.. Can’t wait till the new video… I also wanted to enter for the chocolate truffles, but I think I’m late for that one 🙁 I wanted to try the chocolates so bad they look delicious 🙂

    Thank you,

    Nilu

  12. i love your website

  13. I love your website! There is something about your beautiful accent and upbeat personality that makes me think “I CAN DO THIS” . I Tried your Apple Roses Dessert which turned out perfect, so I decided to tackle the Magic Flower …Epic Fail as you can see from my picture. My first time working with chocolate and I had a great time and learned a lot. Loved that you include the science behind Tempering Chocolate. But I may need some one on one time before I tackle this one again. I need a Magic Flowers for Dummys Kit. LOL! :
    1. Styrofoam half balls (worked perfectly for me) for assembling the petals
    2. Rings for shaping the petals to match the styrofoam balls
    3. acetate sheets already cut out with templates ( I used sheet protectors and they worked well)
    4 and lastly a cookie cutter ring for the base.
    LOL I’d be interested in knowing if you teach classes and where you are located.

    • Uhhmmmm….this is a bit embarrassing….I went back to find the Rose Shaped Apple dessert and discovered it wasn’t from your website. Sorry!

    • Hi Hoppe, Thanks for the feedback. Great first effort on the chocolate flower. Ann is based in Australia.

  14. I love it! so stunning!
    how many people could it be served?

    Thank you, Ann!

    • Hi Bianca, Thanks for the feedback. Just multiply the chocolate quantity for the number of flowers you want to make. The Creme Angaise recipe on this page will make about 4 serves.

  15. Hi with the magic chocolate flower wanting to know the size of the half circle silicone mould is

    • Hi Daniel, The mold Ann used makes six hemispheres. Each hemisphere is 7cm in diameter and 3.5cm deep., but Ann uses the reverse side of the mold to assemble the shape.

  16. Did you notice on a competitive cooking show on TV, that a chef has done something similar to this?

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