Chocolate Leaves

Preserving beautiful autumn leaves can be a really delicious pastime.


You'll only need an especially yummy chocolate, leaves, a tray, and wax paper.

We chose leaves of all different shapes and sizes – including catnip, raspberry, rose leaves, and peppermint.
I’d say roses worked the best, because they’re rather leathery and sturdy, and still have lovely markings on their undersides.
Thin leaves tear easily when you’re lifting them from the chocolate, but if they’re edibles such as raspberries and peppermint, it doesn’t really matter.
Make sure to choose from plants and trees that have not been sprayed with anything harmful.
Leaves with a bit of a stem are easiest to lift from the chocolate, and of course don’t use brittle leaves.

We washed our various leaves, and then patted them dry.

We melted our chocolate on a lowish heat in a double boiler, stirring the chocolate every couple of minutes.
Note: You could use a microwave to melt it for a few seconds, but I believe a double boiler is better, as the chocolate won’t cake, dry, and harden as quickly if you leave the pan in the warm water while you’re working.
When it was completely melted, we painted the undersides of our leaves with a generous layer of chocolatey goodness – use a spoon, a knife, a pastry brush (or try a paint brush!) – whatever suits your fancy.

We then placed them -chocolate side up- on the waxed paper.

We set them outside in the shade -it’s cold out there today!- but you could put your tray in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes.

After several minutes, we turned them over and drew the leafs up carefully, pulling them away from the set chocolate.

Store them in a cool place until you’re ready to serve them.

Beautiful!