The topic of the mycology section one week was mushroom identification, an important one for anyone interested in mushroom foraging. We had also spent a lecture discussing Amanitas (of mario brothers mushroom fame). So I decided to make up some amanitas and ask the students what features would need to be added in order to accurately identify them (volva, gills, and a veil in case you’re wondering). The mushroom caps were made in silicon molds that I painted with white chocolate dots and then covered in red candy melts. I filled the centers with earl grey infused chocolate ganache (one of my favorites). Its a little bitter to counteract the sweetness of the white chocolate. The stems were made with mini marshmallows. I also had some leftover bread dough, so I wove it into a basket to put them in. Every good mushroom hunter needs a quality basket after all…
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Melt the white chocolate and candy melts in two bowls
- Paint dots of white chocolate on the inside of small semispherical silicon molds (whatever size you like).
- Cool in the fridge until hardened
- Paint red chocolate into the molds so that they are fully coated in a thin layer. Cool until hardened
- In a pan over low heat, warm the milk. Then steep the tea in the milk until fragrant and darkly colored (20 minutes at least).
- Strain out any tea leaves and add the milk to a bowl over a double boiler. Add chocolate and wait until the chocolate looks melted before stirring gently to mix. The ganache should come together quickly
- For an extra smooth ganache, strain through a fine sieve after mixing.
- Let cool until its almost at room temperature and then pour into the coated molds until almost full. Chill in the fridge until the ganache has solidified
- With the remainder of the white chocolate, covered the tops of the molds and place a mini marshmallow into the center of each.
- Chill again and then remove from molds