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Step by Step
The first thing you need to do is gather everything together: the mold, the filling in a piping bag of some kind, and the tempered chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the mold, filling up all of the cavities. Now quickly flip the mold over (you should have a sheet of parchment down or a bowl to catch everything), and tap the mold firmly until the chocolate is only coming off in light drips. Use a knife or scraper of some kind to scrape the chocolate off the top of the mold. This leaves the top clean and only the cavities coated in chocolate. Set the mold on its side and let the chocolate set completely. This may take a while. Once the chocolate is set, pipe in whatever filling you're using. Only fill each cavity two thirds to three quarters full. You need to leave room for the chocolate that goes on top. Let the filling set for a while, just long enough to get a slight skin on top.

Next pour more tempered chocolate on top of each cavity. It doesn't matter if you are a little messy. You need to scrape the excess chocolate off anyway. You should be left with a filled cavity that has been capped (the bottom has been put on), and the cap should be smooth and clean. Now all you have to do is wait until everything is set. This shouldn't take too long. You could even put the mold into the fridge for about ten minutes. Once the chocolate is set, gently tap the overturned mold to release the chocolates onto the work surface. Voila, homemade chocolates for your special someone!

Angel food cake is a dessert that has relatively few ingredients, but takes a fair amount of planning. The light, downy-soft texture of the cake and fantastic flavor make it worth it, though, because you will never buy an angel food cake that tastes this good at the supermarket. This cake is sweet, moist and nearly melts into your mouth. Eat it straight out of hand or top it with strawberries, whipped cream or lemon curd.

To make the cake, your eggs whites will have to be separated and brought to room temperature. It is easier to separate eggs when they are cold because the yolk is much less likely to break and contaminate the whites. The best way to separate eggs is to use multiple bowls, breaking and separating the eggs before transferring the white to the rest of the whites. This way, a broken yolk will not ruin a dozen egg whites. When the egg whites are at room temperature before you begin to beat them, they will achieve a much greater volume, giving you a higher, lighter cake.

Derrick, from Obsession with Food, saw that there was an important instructional gap missing from the internet and set about to fill it. He created a photo-illustrated, step-by-step guide to rendering lard. He tells you how much to pay for it, what kind to get and exactly what it looks like at key points in the process. There are also plenty of ideas for what to do with it when you're done, from french fries to flakey pie crusts. It will take you a while to make it, but it keeps for months in the freezer and, unlike many shelf-stable brands at grocery stores, contains no partially hydrogenated oils. Lard also has approximately the same fat and calorie content as butter, so it is an alternative when preparing savory dishes.

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