use real butter

This evening I happily announced to Jeremy that we didn’t have any more desserts. He asked about a tupperware full of chocolate-looking things in the refrigerator. This guy – this guy who can’t find a jar of mustard when it’s smack in front of him in the refrigerator somehow knew there was something chocolaty in the back? He was right, of course. I had leftover chocolate roulade, and then I found some Grand Marnier buttercream, oh and some leftover chocolate glaze…

layer roulade with buttercream with roulade with buttercream and glaze

top it off with something fresh, something fruity – et voilà

I wanted to try my new petit four molds. These are larger than the ones we used in class, but I liked the symmetrical shape and I also wanted to be able to use them for savory appetizers. Call them grands fours then. The pâte sucrée came out flaky and delicate this time. Jeremy said the ones I brought home from class were more crumb-like… That’s because my partner overworked the dough. She also let them sit at room temp too long before baking.

chocolate mousse petit four

pastry cream petit four – this is fabulous with semi-sweet chocolate

Yeah, if I had to make more than a few dozen of these pastries, I would find myself in quite the foul mood. It’s a lot of work for something so tiny.

I did some homework today for my pastries class. Looking at all of the recipes from the last week, I decided to do the semifreddo again, but this time with dark chocolate because I’m not a big fan of white chocolate. I also didn’t do one giant semifreddo, opting instead for three smaller 6-inch semifreddos.

chocolate espresso semifreddo begins with a chocolate crumb crust

**Jump for more butter**