Amaury Guichon Desserts: 14 Chocolate Showstoppers From the Pastry Chef Who Turns Chocolate Into Life-Size Sculptures, Made Simple at Home

Amaury Guichon desserts have become some of the most watched sweets on the internet, and it is easy to see why. The French-Swiss pastry chef builds giant animals, working machines and life-size figures entirely out of chocolate, and his recent sculpture videos have pulled millions of views each. Most of us will never carve a chocolate panda taller than a toddler, but the techniques behind his work are surprisingly friendly once you slow them down: tempering, glazing, molding and piping. This gallery starts with who he is and how a showpiece comes together, then moves into 12 approachable desserts that borrow his core skills. Each slide has a short story, a shopping list and simple steps, so you can bring a little pastry-school magic to your own kitchen this holiday season..

Who Is Amaury Guichon? The Chef Behind the Viral Amaury Guichon Desserts

Amaury Guichon is a French-Swiss pastry chef based in Las Vegas, where he co-founded The Pastry Academy and later hosted Netflix’s School of Chocolate, as his Wikipedia biography explains. On YouTube, a chocolate figure he sculpted of a famous YouTuber passed 13.6 million views this year, and a video where he challenged his students to recreate his giant chocolate panda reached about 8.4 million. What makes Amaury Guichon desserts so watchable is the calm, step-by-step build. The good news is that the same basic habits work at home..

You will need: good dark chocolate (60 to 70 percent cocoa), a digital thermometer, a silicone spatula, a marble board or cold baking sheet, and patience.

How to make it: 1. Watch one of his build videos once just for fun. 2. Watch it again and note each technique: melting, tempering, molding, assembling. 3. Pick one recipe from this gallery that uses the same skill. 4. Practice with a small batch before you scale up. 5. Keep your kitchen cool, around 20°C, for the best shine.

Amaury Guichon Desserts Start Here: How a Chocolate Showpiece Is Built

Every showpiece starts the same way: properly tempered chocolate. Tempering means melting, cooling and gently rewarming chocolate so it sets glossy, snaps cleanly and releases easily from molds. Pastry chefs then cast hollow shapes in molds, glue the pieces together with more melted chocolate, carve fine details and finish with a cocoa butter airbrush. These shop-made chocolate figures show the idea on a smaller scale. At home, a simple molded figure or hollow egg is the perfect first project.

You will need: 300 g dark chocolate, chopped, a silicone or plastic figure mold, a thermometer, and a little extra chocolate for gluing.

How to make it: 1. Melt two thirds of the chocolate to 45 to 50°C. 2. Stir in the remaining chopped chocolate to cool it to 31 to 32°C. 3. Fill the mold, tap out bubbles, then pour the excess back out for a hollow shell. 4. Chill 15 minutes and repeat for a thicker wall. 5. Unmold, join halves with a little warm chocolate and let set.

Mirror Glaze Chocolate Raspberry Entremet

The mirror glaze is the signature finish behind many Amaury Guichon desserts, a glossy coat so smooth you can almost see your reflection. It is made from sugar, condensed milk, gelatin and chocolate, poured at just the right temperature over a frozen mousse cake. This home version hides a raspberry layer and a crunchy base inside. The trick is simple: freeze the cake solid, and pour the glaze in one confident motion.

You will need: a frozen 18 cm chocolate mousse cake on a sponge base, 150 g sugar, 75 ml water, 100 g sweetened condensed milk, 8 g gelatin, 150 g dark chocolate, and red gel coloring (optional).

How to make it: 1. Bloom the gelatin in cold water. 2. Boil sugar and water, then stir in the condensed milk and gelatin. 3. Pour over the chocolate, rest 1 minute and blend without making bubbles. 4. Cool the glaze to 32 to 35°C. 5. Set the frozen cake on a rack and pour the glaze over in one go. 6. Thaw in the fridge 4 hours before slicing.

Tempered Chocolate Mendiants With Nuts and Dried Fruit

If tempering sounds scary, start with mendiants, the little French chocolate discs topped with nuts and dried fruit. They are the easiest way to practice the skill behind Amaury Guichon desserts, because you can see right away whether your chocolate sets shiny and snappy. Spread the same tempered chocolate into one big sheet and you have holiday bark instead. Both make lovely gifts packed in small boxes or jars.

You will need: 250 g tempered dark chocolate, toasted almonds and hazelnuts, dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, pistachios and flaky sea salt.

How to make it: 1. Line a tray with parchment. 2. Spoon tempered chocolate into small circles about 5 cm wide. 3. Press nuts and fruit on top before the chocolate sets. 4. Sprinkle a few salt flakes. 5. Let set at cool room temperature for 30 minutes, then store airtight for up to two weeks.

Two-Tone Chocolate Mousse Quenelles

Pastry kitchens love serving mousse as neat oval quenelles, shaped between two spoons, and it instantly makes a simple dessert look restaurant-ready. Make one dark and one white chocolate mousse and plate them side by side with a swipe of cocoa. For an extra wow moment, dip small balloons in tempered chocolate, let them set, pop them and fill the chocolate bowls with mousse. Guests always ask how you did it.

You will need: 150 g dark chocolate, 150 g white chocolate, 400 ml cold heavy cream, 3 eggs, 2 tbsp sugar, cocoa powder, and two tablespoons dipped in hot water.

How to make it: 1. Melt each chocolate separately and cool slightly. 2. Whip the cream to soft peaks. 3. Whisk egg yolks with sugar and divide between the chocolates. 4. Fold half the cream into each bowl. 5. Chill 4 hours. 6. Shape quenelles with two warm spoons and plate with a cocoa swipe.

Glossy Molded Chocolate Bonbons With Salted Caramel

Molded bonbons are the small cousin of a showpiece: a thin tempered shell, a soft filling and a sealed base. Professionals paint their molds with colored cocoa butter first, but plain dark shells look just as elegant in a gift box. A salted caramel filling is the classic crowd pleaser. Once you can make a dozen of these, you understand how Amaury Guichon desserts and sculptures are built piece by piece.

You will need: 300 g tempered dark chocolate, a polycarbonate or silicone bonbon mold, 100 g sugar, 80 ml warm cream, 25 g butter, and a pinch of sea salt.

How to make it: 1. Fill the mold with tempered chocolate, then turn it over to drain and scrape clean. 2. Chill 10 minutes. 3. Cook sugar to amber caramel, whisk in the warm cream, butter and salt, and cool to room temperature. 4. Pipe caramel into the shells, leaving 2 mm at the top. 5. Seal with tempered chocolate, scrape flat and chill before unmolding.

Hazelnut Praline Dark Chocolate Tart

Praline, caramelized nuts ground into a smooth paste, is one of the most used flavors in French pastry. Here it hides under a silky dark chocolate ganache in a crisp tart shell, and a spoon of praline cream on the side makes each slice taste bakery-level. Like many Amaury Guichon desserts, this tart layers textures, and it is a smart dinner party choice because it is made a day ahead and needs no baking after the crust is done.

You will need: 1 baked 23 cm sweet tart shell, 120 g hazelnut praline paste or chocolate hazelnut spread, 200 g dark chocolate, 250 ml cream, 30 g butter, and toasted hazelnuts.

How to make it: 1. Spread the praline paste over the base of the baked shell. 2. Heat the cream until steaming and pour over the chopped chocolate. 3. Stir smooth, then add the butter. 4. Pour into the shell over the praline layer. 5. Chill at least 3 hours. 6. Slice with a hot knife and serve with whipped cream and hazelnuts.

Amaury Guichon Desserts at Home: Chocolate Dome With Hot Caramel Pour-Over

Few Amaury Guichon desserts are as fun to serve as a melting chocolate dome. A thin tempered shell sits over mousse, berries and brownie, and at the table you pour hot sauce over the top so it slowly opens up. It is pure theater, and it only takes a half sphere mold and a little timing. Make sure the sauce is hot but not boiling, so the dome melts gently instead of collapsing at once.

You will need: 200 g tempered dark chocolate, a 7 to 8 cm half-sphere silicone mold, brownie rounds, vanilla mousse or ice cream, fresh raspberries, and 200 ml hot salted caramel sauce.

How to make it: 1. Brush the mold with two thin coats of tempered chocolate, chilling between coats. 2. Unmold the shells carefully. 3. Place a brownie round on each plate and top with mousse and raspberries. 4. Cover with a chocolate dome. 5. At the table, pour the hot caramel over the top and watch it open.

Chocolate-Drenched Profiteroles

Choux pastry is the base of eclairs, cream puffs and croquembouche towers, and it shows up in Amaury Guichon desserts and pastry classes alike. Light, hollow puffs are filled with vanilla cream or ice cream, then drowned in warm chocolate sauce the classic Paris bistro way. Choux looks fancy, but the dough is just water, butter, flour and eggs cooked in one pot. Freeze the baked shells and you are always minutes away from dessert.

You will need: 125 ml water, 125 ml milk, 100 g butter, 150 g flour, 4 eggs, vanilla ice cream or pastry cream, and 200 g dark chocolate melted with 200 ml cream.

How to make it: 1. Boil water, milk and butter, then stir in flour until a smooth ball forms. 2. Cool 5 minutes and beat in the eggs one at a time. 3. Pipe small mounds and bake at 200°C for 25 to 30 minutes until deep golden. 4. Cool, split and fill. 5. Pour warm chocolate sauce over just before serving.

Opera Cake Squares With Coffee and Ganache

Opera cake is the layered French classic that every pastry chef is judged on: thin almond sponge soaked in coffee syrup, coffee buttercream and dark ganache, finished with a shiny chocolate glaze. The clean, even stripes are what make it famous, and they appear in plenty of Amaury Guichon desserts too. Bake it in a sheet pan, stack the layers, and cut it into small squares. It keeps well in the fridge, so it is ideal for holiday platters.

You will need: 1 almond sponge baked in a half sheet pan and cut into 3 strips, 120 ml strong coffee mixed with 2 tbsp sugar, 250 g coffee buttercream, 200 g dark chocolate ganache, and 100 g chocolate glaze.

How to make it: 1. Brush the first sponge strip with coffee syrup. 2. Spread a thin layer of buttercream. 3. Add the next sponge, soak, then spread ganache. 4. Repeat, finishing with buttercream. 5. Chill until firm, pour over the warm glaze and chill again. 6. Trim the edges with a hot knife and cut into squares.

Glazed Chocolate Cake With Tempered Chocolate Shards

A plain chocolate cake turns into a showstopper with one trick pastry chefs use constantly: decorations made from leftover tempered chocolate. Spread it thin on acetate or parchment, let it half set, then cut shards, roll curls or twist ribbons. Stand a few shards on a glossy glazed cake with some crunchy pearls and it looks straight out of a patisserie window. For more ideas, see our chocolate desserts gallery.

You will need: 1 round chocolate cake covered in ganache, 100 g tempered dark chocolate, a sheet of acetate or parchment, crunchy chocolate pearls, and a palette knife.

How to make it: 1. Spread tempered chocolate thinly over the acetate. 2. When it starts to set but is not hard, cut triangles with a knife. 3. Chill 10 minutes, then peel off the shards. 4. For curls, drag a bench scraper over a thin layer of chocolate on a cold board. 5. Arrange shards and pearls on top of the cake just before serving.

Marbled Chocolate Christmas Ornaments Filled With Cocoa

These hollow chocolate ornaments use the exact same sphere molds as the domes, with a holiday twist. Swirl a little white and pink-tinted chocolate into the mold before the dark layer and every ornament comes out marbled. Fill them with hot cocoa mix and mini marshmallows, seal, and you have the cocoa bombs everyone wants to gift this season. Drop one in hot milk and it opens up in the mug.

You will need: 300 g tempered dark chocolate, 60 g white chocolate with a drop of pink oil-based coloring, a 6 cm sphere mold, hot cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, and edible gold luster dust.

How to make it: 1. Splash streaks of white and pink chocolate into the mold. 2. Coat with dark chocolate, chill, and add a second coat. 3. Unmold the halves. 4. Fill half the shells with cocoa mix and marshmallows. 5. Warm the rim of an empty shell on a hot plate and press it on top to seal. 6. Brush with gold luster and add a small chocolate loop.

Amaury Guichon Desserts for Christmas: Chocolate Pinecone Cake

Edible pinecones are a holiday favorite on pastry feeds, and they are easier than they look. Each one is a cone of chocolate truffle covered in rows of chocolate cereal flakes or sliced almonds dipped in chocolate, then dusted with powdered sugar snow. Set three on top of a ganache-covered layer cake with rosemary sprigs and you have a centerpiece that looks carved by hand, much like the Amaury Guichon desserts that inspired it.

You will need: 1 three-layer chocolate cake covered in ganache, 200 g chocolate truffle mixture, about 2 cups chocolate cereal scales or sliced almonds dipped in chocolate, powdered sugar, and fresh rosemary.

How to make it: 1. Shape the truffle mixture into three egg-shaped cones and chill. 2. Starting at the narrow tip, press the scales in overlapping rows, angled slightly upward. 3. Chill the pinecones until firm. 4. Set them on top of the cake. 5. Tuck in rosemary sprigs and dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

Ganache-Filled Macarons in Every Color

French macarons are the ultimate pastry chef sandwich cookie: crisp almond shells with a chewy middle and a creamy ganache filling. Their smooth tops and little ruffled feet are a true test of technique, a perfect final project for fans of Amaury Guichon desserts, which is exactly why they feel so satisfying when they work. Tint each batch a different color and fill them all with dark, milk or white chocolate ganache for a box that looks like a Paris bakery window.

You will need: 100 g almond flour, 100 g powdered sugar, 75 g egg whites, 75 g sugar, gel colors, and 150 g chocolate ganache made with equal parts chocolate and cream.

How to make it: 1. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar together. 2. Whip egg whites, adding sugar gradually, to stiff glossy peaks and tint them. 3. Fold in the almond mixture until the batter flows like lava. 4. Pipe 3 cm rounds, tap the tray and rest 30 minutes. 5. Bake at 150°C for 14 minutes. 6. Cool, then sandwich with ganache and rest overnight in the fridge.