Prep 1 hour, plus 1 hour cooling, serves 4
For the chocolate discs:
- 600g dark or milk chocolate, roughly chopped
- 65g unsalted butter, softened, single drops of essential oils
For the chocolate ganache:
- 135ml whipping or
- UHT cream
- 230g dark or milk chocolate (or a mixture), roughly chopped
Special equipment:
- bain-marie or heatproof bowl piping bag (if you have one) lollipop sticks
Make the outside discs by melting 400g of the chocolate in a bain-marie or heatproof bowl over a pan of water that boiled 5 minutes earlier and is now off the heat and cooling. Stir occasionally, until smooth, before adding the remaining 200g chocolate. Continue stirring until smooth. The chocolate should have come down to body temperature. Test this by putting a spot of chocolate on your lip - it needs to feel neither hot nor cold.
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Using either a piping bag or a spoon, drop 8 even-sized 'dollops' of the melted chocolate, spacing them roughly 5cm apart on the lined baking tray. Remember, you need two dollops for each lollipop.
Pick up the tray and give it a firm tap so the chocolate spreads out to form circles roughly 7cm across.
Set the tray aside and leave it to cool at room temperature (or if you are in a hurry, refrigerate the tray for 10 minutes). The chocolate should be very stable and retain a nice shine when set.
Now make the ganache. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Remove from the heat and leave it to cool for a minute or two.
Put the 230g chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour over the still-warm cream.
Stir until smooth before adding the softened butter. At this point, if you would like to, add any essential oils. Leave the ganache to cool for 1 hour in the fridge.
Now for the fun part - the assembly! Use a quarter of the ganache as a glue to sandwich two of the discs together, with a lollipop stick in the middle. Squash the discs gently so the ganache spreads out. Repeat with the remaining discs and ganache. These will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge (the top shelf is best).
