So what are we going to do this week?

Play with chocolate. At least that’s the plan. I get a steady stream of emails from readers interested in candy making and/or molded chocolate pieces and garnishes for plated desserts. In general I put these requests off because a) I usually have a long list of baked items on my list, but more importantly: b) I don’t know how to make any of them. But then I’m not really the type to let a lack of knowledge or ability stop me (look at a lot of my archives). I figure it’s time I got comfortable doing some of these tricks.

Last week when it was cooler here in the central US I ordered a couple of pounds of couverture chocolate for overnight delivery. That didn’t go as expected. Now I’m told that delivery will happen today via an un-air-conditioned UPS truck. The forecast here in Louisville: 97 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index of 108. Which means that instead of a plastic bag full of orderly little chocolate pistoles, I’ll be getting a mass of molten goo on my doorstep.

So we’ll be doing some chocolate tempering as well. Once that’s done we’ll make some chocolate cups which we’ll fill with peanut butter mousse, then top them with some sort of little garnish I’m thinking. We should end up with a nifty no-bake dessert for a scorching week. Or anyway that’s the plan.