Chocolat

I love this movie!

This seems to be a fitting night to write this blog (even though I cooked weeks ago). Today is my 22nd birthday! Nine years ago, for my thirteenth birthday, I had a Chocolat themed party. We watched the movie and my mom made an incredible 5 chocolate texture cake.

As I watched Vianne rejuvenate the tiny french town with her chocolate magic, I was reminded of that birthday, and the love my mom put into all my birthday cakes. For every birthday, I searched through my mom's cookbooks, usually The Cake Bible, for the most theme-appropriate cake possible, and my mom somehow always oblidged. One year, I wanted a caramel cage. Another year, for the Wizard of Oz themed party, I wanted a layered cake, with each layer a different color (the outside was black and white--like the flow of the movie from b&w to color). The cakes had to represent the themes, and the themes were usually inspired by movies. Looking back, I realize 1) I don't think I ever properly thanked my mom for making me such decadent cakes filled with love and care, 2)Wow, how I was demanding 3) The Screen to Table Project goes a long way back.


To celebrate the movie Chocolat, I decided to make gift boxes filled with chocolate truffles for people I care about. I made Vianne's Nipples of Venus. These are from one of my favorite parts of the movie. Vianne teaches Josephine how to make these, and as she brings them out to the front of her shop, she asks the Count, "can I interest you in some nipples of venus?" The suggestive chocolates would work well as Valentine's favors too.

Nipples of Venus adapted from Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat and The French Kitchen: A Cookbook)

Filling:

8 ounces bittersweet (70 percent cocoa) chocolate, chopped--I am a fan of the pound plus at Trader Joe's

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Dipping:

4 ounces dark chocolate (I used 50 percent cocoa)
2 ounces white chocolate

For the filling, melt the chocolate in a double broiler. Heat the cream before adding it to the melted chocolate, and mix until blended evenly. Set aside to cool for 2 hours. After cooling, beat the mixture until it is stiff and forms holds its shape.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. For the next step, I used just a plastic bag with a tip cut off, but you can use a pastry bag if you have one. Pipe little mounds (or nipples) onto the parchment paper. Refridgerate to set.

* For dipping, take each nipple and dip into the melted dark chocolate (Harris suggests tempering the chocolate, but I did not and they turned out fine). Let set for an hour. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water or in the microwave. Dip the tips of each chocolate nipple.

*I had trouble with dipping because my chocolates were not set enough. Instead, I coated each mound with the dark chocolate and used my homemade pastry bag to pipe the white chocolate tips. This works too.

I made floral paper boxes to dress up my experiment as a chocolatier.

For a simpler Chocolat experiment, try making Vianne's Hot Chocolate

I melted a couple ounces of dark chocolate, then mixed the chocolate into a cup of hot milk. I added 'a tiny hint of chili pepper,' as Vianne tells Armande, and as she says, it gave me 'a lift.' Enjoy, experiment, and give the gift of chocolate.