Do-It-Yourself White Chocolate Roses
February 08, 2010 - Linda Grasso
They teased me, even jeered at me, from the page. There's just no way I could make those white chocolate roses, I thought to myself, when I saw the beautiful photo in Susie Norris' new book Chocolate Bliss. It's just way too Martha - plus desserts ain't my thing. When I've got to come up with something sweet, I always flip through recipes before chickening out and speeding off last minute to the closest bakery.
So, when offered the chance to join forces with Susie for recipe from her book, I couldn't help bringing up the seemingly impossible as I meekly said, "Could we possibly do the roses?" Much to my surprise, Susie quickly quipped, "Sure! those are soooo easy!" You don't know me, I thought to myself.
Beauty aside, I thought if I could in fact pull this off, those roses could really come in handy - from adorning a simple store-bought cake, cupcakes or as a stunning garnish on a dessert plate. Susie, by the way, also likes to give them as gifts, “I like to present the roses in a reusable box, such as a small jewelry box lined with plastic wrap with the roses inside. Import shops often sell ethnic boxes and are a great place to pick these up.”
So, we went for it, and the shocking thing is that it really was easy! First you have to make Susie's recipe for Chocolate Plastique (see below). Be sure to use one of the better brands of block chocolate, not those Nestle chips commonly used for cookies. You end up with a dough like ball of white chocolate. If you want colored roses, add a few drops of coloring gel (not liquid drops), available at baking shops, to the mix and knead it out. Make sure you wear plastic gloves and you cover your counters with plastic as this coloring gel stains. Use some white powdered sugar or cornstarch to roll it out - just a bit thinner than a pie crust. The video above kicks off just after rolling out the chocolate.

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