Flutterby™! : Chocolate follies

I signed up to make dessert for a shindig. So this weekend I refreshed myself on Eliane González's awesome book The Art of Chocolate, and sat down to make 8 individual chocolate cups. Chocolate is fun, but tough to work with because the right texture involves heating and cooling to target temperatures with tolerances of about 4 degrees F, and although you've got to use a double-boiler for that heat control, any water in a melted chocolate destroys it. So after an hour and a half waiting for the chocolate to reach 116F, but absolutely not exceed 120F, then cool to under 84F, then heat back to a working temperature (but not over 90F), I had this fantastic temper which was hard and shiny. But the molds wouldn't release without shattering. Damn. Throw the hardened chocolate back in to melt, hope that it doesn't get to hot while I go running out to get balloons. Luckily balloons worked great, the easier release allowed for thinner walls (which gave me 16 cups, a mixed blessing), although the temper isn't quite as gorgeous, and the killed time meant that each cup only had one rose on it. Pictures tomorrow.