Springtime Owl

Use some tempered dark chocolate couverture to mold the owls (Owl mold ref. 9795). Turn them over, leave to drip for a few moments, smooth the end and then leave to set. Trim. Before the chocolate sets completely, mold them a second time (this stage is optional. You can tap the molds as much as needed to obtain the desired thickness of chocolate. Leave to set, trim again, and place in the refrigerator for a few minutes or leave to set at 17°C until the chocolate unmolds on its own. Then stick the half-owls together by melting the edges on a hot baking sheet (between 58-60°C) to ensure a firm seal. Leave to set at 17°C.

Take some PVC tubes with an interior diameter of 15mm (tubes ref. 6960). Roll a piece of baking parchment around a stainless steel rod (rod ref. 3411). Insert the rod wrapped with paper into the PVC tube. Remove the rod, leaving the paper inside. Fill the tubes with tempered dark chocolate using a plastic piping bag. You can fold the paper over at one end to stop it slipping during filling. Turn over the tubes to drain any excess couverture. Any excess can be removed using a plastic baster bulb or a sugar pump. mediately roll the tubes quickly back and forth to ensure the remaining chocolate is evenly distributed over the interior of the tube until it starts to set. Leave to set at 17°C before unmolding.

Temper some dark chocolate couverture. Roll it out on an acetate sheet to a thickness of 10mm, using a ganache frame. As soon as the couverture starts to thicken and no longer sticks to your finger, cut into 3 x 12cm rectangles. Leave to set, turning the sheet of couverture over and weighting lightly, with a rack for example, to prevent the bases from bending. Leave to set at 17°C.

Fill one cone with tempered Opalys 33% chocolate and another with tempered Opalys 33% chocolate colored red using some red cocoa butter. Draw some red and white flowers with the chocolate on an acetate sheet. Make a ring of five dots of white couverture with a red dot in the center for the white flowers and a ring of five dots of red couverture with a white dot in the center for the red flowers (see photo). Leave to set at 17°C.

Use a warmed knife to cut the tubes into 12cm, 7cm and 5cm sections. Melt the end of each section on a hotplate. Take one 7cm and one 5cm section, melt the bottom of the sections and stick them to the 3 x 12cm rectangular base. Then melt three other tubes and immediately stick them on top of the first two. At one end of the base, stick three hollow dark chocolate shells one on top of the other, on top of the tubes. Use a wire brush to gently brush the base and tubes to make them look like wood.

Melt the ingredients together and strain. Temper the mixture to 30-32°C.