Cookbook review by Tracey Zabar
Make these easy and adorable chocolate hearts for someone you love.
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I adore these chocolate hearts, and what makes them even better in my book is that they are so easy to make, they barely require a recipe. You will, however, need to be snappy and catch the chocolate at the right moment: if you try to pipe it before it’s firm enough, it will simply spread too much to hold a heart shape; and if it’s too firm, it will be impossible to squeeze it out of the piping bag. Which is the very reason that I suggest making small quantities at a time.
Valentine Hearts
by Annie Rigg
Makes 6
1/4-1/2 cup brightly colored cake decorating sprinkles
200g dark chocolate, finely chopped
Equipment
disposable piping bag fitted with a small star shaped nozzle
6 coloured ribbons
Store
The hearts will keep for up to 3 weeks in an airtight box in a cool place.
Scatter the sprinkles in an even layer on to a parchment-covered baking tray.
Tip the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Melt the chocolate, stirring until smooth, and then remove the bowl from the pan. Leave the chocolate to cool and thicken, stirring frequently until it will just hold a ribbon trail, at which point you will need to move quickly.
Spoon the chocolate into the prepared piping bag and pipe heart shapes directly on top of the sprinkles. Leave until set firm, then thread each heart with coloured ribbon.
You can re-use any leftover sprinkles either for cake decorating or to make more chocolate hearts.
Excerpted from Sweet Things by Annie Rigg (Kyle). Copyright © 2013 Annie Rigg. Photographs Copyright © 2013 Tara Fisher.
