Not What I'd Planned

I went to Chocolate Necessities late this afternoon to buy the main ingredient for an incredibly simple chocolate mousse that I saw in the New York Times recently. The only ingredients needed are good bittersweet chocolate and some water (a sprinkle of fleur de sel is optional). I thought chocolate mousse would make a terrific blip, and then we could eat it!

So I had the good chocolate, and the water -- but we had our refrigerator repaired this morning, and I forgot to turn the icemaker back on, and it's 8:30pm and there are only a handful of ice cubes available -- not nearly enough for the ice bath that's an essential component of this recipe.

Fortunately, I'd taken a few photos at Chocolate Necessities, so standing in is my Valentine gift to Phil, seen above. The little hedgehog shapes are filled with yummy chocolate and hazelnut paste, and take us back to our early days in Bellingham, more than a decade ago, when we first discovered Chocolate Necessities and these tasty little hedgehogs. Happy memories!

(Note: In the video version of the recipe, Melissa Clark says to use 265 grams of chocolate, but in the print version, 285 grams is listed. I'd go with the larger amount! One cup of water/8 fluid ounces equals 237 ml; 285 grams of chocolate equals 10 ounces.)