Zoella Inspired Pastry Bakes With Chocolate/ Baking

A few months ago I was inspired by a YouTube video by Zoella on her MoreZoella channel. She spoke about wanting to make something with Puff Pastry- an absolute love of mine! 
Zoe proceeded to use chocolate spreads with the pastry- another love of mine! The end result looked positively delicious and so, inspired by Miss Zoe Sugg, I created my own pastry bakes. 

Zoe used a range of chocolate spreads but I opted for Malteser Chocolate Spread as it caught my attention the most on the store shelf; I also really wanted to have the glass jar it came in for later crafts. 

At the time of making this I was not yet into capturing each stage with a photo and so I only have the finished results to show you all. Nonetheless, I would like to share with you the process; just, in word form:

• First, I lay flat the Puff Pastry onto a flour-sprinkled surface and used a knife to cut both rectangles and squares. 
• With a butter knife, I spread a fairly thick layer of Maltesers Chocolate Spread in the center of the pastry.

Now, the way in which I wrapped the chocolate in the pastry was different each time as I got rather carried away with the shapes I could make.

With some I rolled from the corner of the pastry square, others I rolled starting from the edge of the pastry square. After making each one I delicately placed them on an oven tray lined with parchment paper, (did your mind go straight to Harry Potter too?).

I tried meeting all of the corners high up above the chocolate, pinching and twisting which created a flower like aesthetic:

After creating an envelope shape with protruding corners......:

.........I was inspired to make a Harry Potter Hogwarts letter(!): 

The penultimate pastry goodness I produced was a framed slab of Malteser Chocolate spread:

Finally, I attempted to fashion a plait.............i know, 'That's a plait?'. It isn't quite what I had hoped for. I've watched the video again and I think I've understood it, so at some point in the future I will upload my perfected pastry plait. 

Now for the results *Drum roll*:

The results were (*sings*) Deeeeliciooouuus!

I oven baked them and checked on them on and off for what turned out to be 15-20 minutes.

The Malteser Chocolate Spread tasted lovely and didn't burn whilst in the oven. I must note that the Pastry Bakes are at their peak of yummy-ness when warm, however, the chocolate can be quite hot at first so it's best to let cool down.

It's safe to say that they didn't turn out how I had anticipated but I am, nonetheless, happy with them! Especially the Harry Potter letter:

It kind of looks like the Hogwarts letter exploded open which is pretty cool!

And the framed Malteser Chocolate Spread treat:

Doesn't it look irresistible?

If you try making these pastry bakes or already have done, I would love to see the finished result! You can tweet me at @buddysummerart or comment on this here blog post.

Check out Zoe's vlog to see how hers turned out. It's named THE PUMPKIN CARVING BEGINS on her MoreZoella YouTube channel.

I made up most of the shapes on the spot so have fun with it. I will also be trying again at some point in the future and will update you on the result. Happy Baking!