Chocolate Workshop - Fleur de Sel Bonbons

Some days I wake up looking for trouble. That was the case on a rainy Tuesday morning. While looking for new gadgets in one of my favorite stores, Sur la Table, I envisioned chocolate bonbons shaped like alphabet letters, some fleur du sel over them, and a chance of having fun with the kids -- and chocolate all over the place.

But sometimes trouble is good for the creative mind.  The kids, during our chocolate workshop, couldn't agree more: They were totally fascinated by the idea of having the chance to mix up and prepare their own bonbons.

Brothers H.Stewart were arty and created all sorts of marbled chocolate goodies with their mold. They were happy to use all the ingredients on the table, from coconut sprinkles to mini-marshmallows and the ingredient of the day, the beautiful fleur de sel. They were also happy to use dried rosemary as a way to finish their art.

My boys were too enticed by the alphabet shape, were splashing chocolate all over the place, but finally succeeded to fill each mold with both white and dark chocolate. It took about 15 minutes in the fridge to get all ready. Taking the photos of the bonbons, for Darienne, was a task of a master-mom -- they didn't give us enough time to gaze at their creations and ate it all in few minutes. But then, that's probably what we all would do, isn't it?

Fleur de Sel Chocolate Bonbons

You can use any good chocolate to melt. My recommendation is to go with quality brand discs or chips, like Ghirardelli,  Guittard, or  Trader Joe's.

fleur de sel (a very special salt, from France)
dried rosemary
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 ounces white chocolate
2 ounces milk chocolate
dehydrated unsweetened coconut flakes
mini marshmallows

You will also need:
chocolate or candy molds
3 heatproof bowls

Melt chocolate in the microwave. Depending on the amount of cocoa, the chocolate will react differently to heat, but as a guide, melt 1 ounce of chocolate for 3 minutes at 40 percent (or 6 minutes for 2 ounces) power. If the chocolate is not yet melted, go for more time. An alternative is to improvise a double boiler with hot water in a plate, setting a bowl over it filled with chocolate. That worked fine to melt the white chocolate chips.

Work at a table, giving different candy molds for each kid to work with. They fill the shapes pouring chocolate from the bowls with the help of small spoons or spatulas and can create their own mix. When finished, they may sprinkle some fleur de sel over it.

Leave in the refrigerator for 15 minutes and that might be enough time for the chocolate to harden and retract from the sides of the mold, making it easy to remove them -- they should just pop out. If they don't -- as happened here with the alphabet letters -- return them to the fridge for a little longer.

Enjoy them before they vanish from the tray! And don't worry about the mess -- you will have plenty of energy to clean it after one bonbon!