Chocolate-Mint Leaves

They look impressive and taste wonderful—no one will ever guess these chocolate leaves are so simple to make. You just need a bunch of fresh mint with good-sized leaves and some quality chocolate. We like the way the leaves look in dark chocolate, but you can use other types of chocolate if you prefer. Use a chocolate you enjoy eating because there are no other ingredients to disguise it, though it does take on a touch of mint flavor from the leaves.

Making the chocolate leaves is as much a craft project as a recipe; it involves painting melted chocolate on one side of each mint leaf, letting them cool and harden, then carefully removing the leaf to reveal its twin in chocolate. Enjoy these sophisticated candies with after-dinner coffee or use them to decorate all manner of desserts, puddings, and cakes.

The Best Chocolate for Chocolate Mint Leaves

You can use bittersweet chocolate as we did here, semisweet, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate. Use good quality chocolate because it is the only ingredient. Do not melt chocolate chips to use in this recipe as they are made with added stabilizers to help them hold their shape.

Two Ways to Melt Chocolate

On the stovetop: Fill a small or medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Place a heatproof bowl filled with chocolate on top (be sure that bottom of bowl isn't touching the water) and stir constantly until chocolate is melted. Since even the smallest drop of water can cause chocolate to seize up, keep a close eye on the bowl to make sure none makes its way in.

In the microwave: Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and cook in 20-second increments, stirring between each one, until chocolate is mostly melted. (A few small unmelted pieces are okay; just keep stirring and they'll melt into the rest of the chocolate.)

Tools Needed to Make Mint-Chocolate Leaves

Small paintbrush: Use a new, clean paintbrush to paint the chocolate onto the leaves. As many types of paint are toxic, it's important to not work with a brush that's been used for non-food purposes for this recipe.

Skewers: To give chocolate leaves a realistic appearance, we recommend draping them over a wooden skewer or the handle of a wooden spoon after coating.

Kitchen tweezers: Kitchen tweezers will make it extra easy to separate the mint leaves from the hardened chocolate. And lest you think they're only reserved for restaurant chefs, guess again: They're great to use for garnishing plates, checking the doneness of noodles, and flipping small items in a skillet (think shrimp or cubes of tofu). Find them in kitchen supply stores or online.

How to Use Chocolate Mint Leaves

Use chocolate leaves to decorate a dessert or set them out on a plate as an elegant after-dinner mint treat. Here are a few ways to use them as a decoration:

• Ring a whole cake (like this glazed chocolate recipe or our ultimate chocolate cake) with chocolate leaves
• On top of cupcakes
• Finish scoops of ice cream with a mint leaf—not just mint chocolate chip but also chocolate or vanilla
• Use them to top cups of chocolate mousse or homemade pudding
• Serve them alongside a grasshopper cocktail