a valentines treat.

valentines is a time to embrace the chocolate.
welcome it in. treasure it. enjoy it.
i adhere to this philosophy. these teachings. {and for arguments sake, because we are all friends here, i may take a dry run at the practice a week or two ahead of time - just to assimilate myself.}
anyways, valentines. chocolate. the two go hand in hand. end of story.

so why not start the day out with it? brilliant!
in a perfect world we would all wake up with perfect hair, make-up in place, tip-toe out of the house at dawn, rush out to our local patisserie and pick up the most delicately beautiful pain au chocolate {chocolate croissants.}, sneak back in, put on coffee, display them a la martha stewart, await your crew in the kitchen, smile on your face and collect our awards for mother of the year.
blah, blah, blah......

but this is not a perfect world and you are not going to sneak out to do this.
but....you can make these and place first-runner up. trust me.

rockstar.


jen's quick pain au chocolate.

1 sheet prepared puff pastry
1 pure chocolate candy bar (at least 100 grams or the equivalent in chocolate chips.}
1 egg - for an egg wash to make it all golden and shiny!

defrost your sheet of puff pastry in the fridge overnight. 
pre-heat your oven to 425.
roll it out on your cookie sheet, keeping it on the paper. cut it in four equal parts then cut each square on the diagonal into two triangles.  lift your triangles off the paper and on to your sheet - you could leave them on the paper for now if you want. place a block or two of chocolate {or pile of chips} at the longest part of the triangle and roll it gently into the pastry. curl your ends around - you want to make sure your chocolate is sealed inside. ***with puff pastry you have to work fast. if you find your pastry getting too soft toss the whole sheet in the fridge to firm up - about 5 minutes. place your croissants equally over the sheet and brush with an egg wash - lightly beat your egg in a bowl and using a pastry brush paint your pain au chocolate - then place in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill. remove and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. if they are not golden after this time bake them for 1 minute increments till you are satisfied. pull out of oven let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, remove from pan, serve and take in the compliments.

happy valentines day!
xo