Late last year, my friend Nic bought me some new chocolate to try.
It was quite tasty, but the appearance was what fascinated me – it looked like it had been poured onto bubblewrap. I thought it might be fun to see what chocolate set on textured surfaces would look like, and went on a trawl through the pantry to see what I could use.
I found a silicone baking mat, a potholder, and my kaak cookie moulds…
Thinking a flavoured chocolate would be more interesting than a plain one, I finely chopped some Buderim Naked Ginger and a handful of sweet roasted almonds leftover from a previous project, and stirred them into a bowl of tempered dark chocolate (about 62% cacao)…
I then spread a generous portion onto my textured silicone mat, and flattened it out with an offset spatula. This was actually the easy part – balancing the darn thing in the fridge to set was tricky…
These are the cookie moulds I picked up from Harkola – they’re reversible, and I used the other side of both of these..
…and ended up with these exquisite wheels of chocolate, studded with ginger and nuts…
I’m really chuffed with how well these turned out! I’ll be rummaging through the cupboards looking for more textured surfaces to play with tomorrow!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
WOW! Seems it is great fun to make them… I should search these equipments in here, Thank you dear Celia, I love chocolate :) Love, nia
Nia, thank you – I really had so much fun with these! :)
You are not only good at making all kinds of chocolate goodies but you are obviousely enjoying the process no wonder everything turns out perfect. Your wheels of chocolate are too pretty to bite into.
Norma, thank you! They were hard to break apart, but so much fun to make – I’ve made them again since drafting this post! :)
Nice! Experimenting in the kitchen is what it is all about.
Connie, that’s so true! :)
You are the queen of chocolate Celia, oh and bread baking.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, you’re very kind. Not the queen, more like the mad hatter.. :)
Celia, I don’t even know what to say. I have NEVER seen anything quite like it made in a home environment. You are incredibly talented, and you post as if it’s nothing….
I just tried to melt chocolate chips in the microwave yesterday and let’s say two things: my Drama Queen side showed up. Phil is a saint.
Sally, I’m sorry it didn’t work! I wish I lived closer and I’d come and show you how easy it really is. Why don’t you and Phil fly over for a visit? :)
Celia, you are a darling! But, I tell you one thing, if I inform my dear Mom that instead of flying to Brazil I decided to take a vacation in Australia, she might never recover from the shock… seriously! :-)
but it would be a wonderful visit, I am sure!
Those chocolate wheels look really lovely, as someone else said, too good to bite into! You make everything look so easy but I expect if I tried anything like this it would be a different story…..
Jeannette, it’s not really hard, but it takes a bit of practice, and the right kit. Oh, and you need teenage sons who are willing to eat any stuff-ups. :)
please!!!! i ‘d love to be your humble assistant… :) (✿◠‿◠) gina
Gina, you’re very kind, thank you! :)
My big weakness must try them the quality of chocolate looks my style love your blog read it every day keep it going John Potter
John, thank you! We’re looking forward to seeing you guys soon – I’ll make some wheels for you! :)
Celia… that is pure heavenly chocolate yumminess!
Lizzy darling, thank you! :)
You’re so good with bread and chocolate! I love ginger chocolate but your textured chocolate looks too good to eat! xx
Charlie, I wish you could see it in person, the textured surface is so appealing! I bought some more silicone trivets at the PoK sale to play with!
They look fabulous Celia. As if chocolate wasn’t easy enough to eat!
Meaghan, I can’t argue with you there. We do get through quite a lot of it! :) Thanks..
Now I’m thinking about a BIG WHEEL of chocolate!
These look fantastic. You are a chocolate marvel!
Heidi, it was so much fun to make, and I was so pleased to have something else to do with my cookie moulds. They work better as chocolate moulds than cookie ones! :)
Wow – these look stunning Celia! Almost (but not quite) too good to eat. How did you manage to get the rounds out of the moulds so perfectly?
Amanda, thank you – the tempered chocolate just tapped cleanly out once it was set!
The wheels look just gorgeous Celia. Exquisite is definitely the word. I really need to learn to temper chocolate this year. It’s very high on my list but the cost of failure is equally as high unfortunately.
Claire, it IS expensive if it doesn’t work, but two things to remember – if you use dark chocolate, you can remelt it almost indefinitely, and secondly, failures can go straight into cakes and cookies! :)
The combo of ginger with almonds must have been delicious, Celia. Those molds, though, really made such beautiful chocolate disks. They’d make perfect Valentine gifts and so unexpected on a day when everything is heart-shaped.
John, thank you. They were so pretty – I was very pleased indeed. We really did have trouble eating the first one! :)
Wow those are stunning Celia – love those round wheels. What a clever use of those biscuit molds (good excuse to buy more!). You should take one with you next time you visit Harkola and wow them.
Darn it, you know me too well. I bought a couple more last time I was at Harkola. :)
These look so wonderful – far better than anything you can buy!
Kari, that’s a kind thing to say, thank you very much!
Oh my word, these look amazing :)
Tandy, thank you! I loved that they were different from the usual rectangular blocks!
It is so much fun to trawl (excellent word) through the pantry/house/G.O.’s shed in search of that very thing you need to execute a fine idea… The ginger & almond chocolate thins look delectable but the wheels are a feast for the eyes :)
Thanks ED – I was like a small child pulling the plastic containers out of the pantry! :)
I want a delicious chocolate UFO frisbee. These are amazing, Celia.
Maz.
Thanks Maz! Hope you’re all well and happy, darling! x
Celia is this the same silicon mat that you used for the sourdough starter? The appearance is stunning!
Rose, yes it was! Only I used the untextured side for that!
Great flavour combination! How big are the cookie moulds – the results look fantastic – they would make lovely gifts.
Suelle, they’re quite big – the small one is 6″/15cm in diameter!
I do like your idea of fun!
We do like to play, Jo. :)
Hi Celia, If I could temper chocolate, I could make chocolate wheels just like you:)
And I could send you more cookie moulds! :)
“Chuffed” – i haven’t heard that word in donkey’s years. We always said it as kids in the north of England … anyway, i digress. Amazing chocolate wheels! I particularly love the last one which looks like layers of Cadbury’s Chocolate Orange (another northern England fave). I’ll be on the look out for textured surfaces for you … but i’m sure you’ve got that ground covered!
Rachel, that’s the byproduct of having English friends and British children’s television! :) It’s been a lifetime since I’ve had a chocolate orange!
Wow! Those wheels are awesome!
Thanks Manuela! xx
Your chocolate thins are amazing! I’m sure they taste fabulous too! Have managed to post In My Kitchen in February a bit earlier than last month! E x
E, thank you for playing! And the chocolate things are just a little too easy to eat – after all, they’re only “wafer thin”.. :D
How clever!!!
They almost look to good to eat!
I want to go through my cupboards now too and melt down a block of chocolate ;)
Thank you! Pete keeps finding the silicon hot mats covered in bits of chocolate when he goes to use them these days.. :)
I can imagine you must have such fun discovering potential moulds. The wheels look glorious, fabulous presentation but I see a serious problem Celia: it would not be possible to nick a bit and not be found out.
Jan, that’s true! And as a result the thins were eaten up much sooner than the wheels! :D