Bonbonniere, Panettone

Chef Keith's Elegant Bonbonniere With Chocolate Rose

Today's class was more technical than usual: we made bonbonniere, a small fancy box filled with bonbon, or candy. Ours was way cool, made and filled with, you guessed it, chocolate!

Tampering Chocolate: The Many Faces Of Chef Keith 

For the box to set properly, the chocolate first had to be tampered well. Now that I've done it a couple of times without stuffing up, this step doesn't petrify me as much anymore.

 Creating Chocolate Rose Petals

Building The Chocolate Rose

Once the petal have set into place, luster is dusted on for a shimmery effect. I like this rose, with its Gothic Corpse Bride / Beetlejuice look and dark romantic feel, it's very sexy indeed! 

Layering Chocolate Onto Transfer Sheet, Cutting Into Shape

Constructing Chocolate Box 

With template as guide, cutting out the pieces and building the box took no time at all. It was gloves on the whole time to avoid leaving fingerprints on the glossy chocolate surfaces.

Macerated Fruits & Nuts For Panattone  

Candied fruits and almonds are mixed together with some alcohol to macerate overnight. The recipe called for 20ml of rum, so I rounded that up to 75ml.

My Overdressed Bonbonniere

My bonbonniere was très bonne! Sure the Hawaiian top may clash with the Victorian lace bottom, but hey, I was having a ball today, trying my hand at different decorating techniques. 

I used the entire transfer sheet for the top and neatened the edges with dark chocolate piping. Not wanting to distract from the cheery pattern, I finished with 2 long simple waves of chocolate ribbons. And rather than leave the sides plain, I piped a lace design that probably belongs more on a wedding cake. 

Chef Keith taught us how to make mitre, or 45 degree angle cuts, for the sides to join seamlessly at the ends, but I did it the other way around, with the dull side facing out. Doh. Not wanting to lose the shine, I piped white chocolate columns to neaten up the corners. Like I said, this was a class for trying out new things, which I did, and I'm happy with the result. Bonne, mon cherie!