Novel Bakery

She pulls the zipper open, grabs a silver square and unwraps it, eats it, and another, and another–

This one is for eating my chocolate–
This one is for stealing my boy–
This one is for ruining my–

Tears and sobbing start their procession but Chrissy won’t have it. She wills herself stoic, demands calm and comfort via this act of personal chocolate revolution.

Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane

Barnett is coming home for a visit and not, as his mother hopes, to take over the farm. And he has news – he’s getting married. Chrissy knows her son is gay, but she’s spent the last decade plus in denial. With his impending nuptials, Chrissy is forced to confront her feelings about her son’s relationship and her soon-to-be son-in-law. 

Big Gay Wedding is a sweet and very funny rom com about family expectations, finding your own path, and reconciliation. I highly recommend it if you’re in the mood for a light and funny read that will pack a thoughtful punch.

In December 2019 (yes, right before the world shut down), I visited Belgium. I sampled, purchased, and basically bathed in all the chocolates. I was so amazed at the different styles from the different chocolatiers! I was so inspired and returned home wanting to learn how to make chocolates.

Fast forward to reading the funny, endearing, family drama, rom com Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane. I was thrilled that the chocolate scene was so pivotal and so hilarious and knew I had to make some chocolate bars. There’s also this whole bit on the farm with mushrooms and I knew I had to pull in the mushrooms somehow.

Turns out, there’s a mushroom intended for desserts! Have you heard of candy cap mushrooms? There’s apparently a popular ice cream flavor at Disneyland you can get that’s made with candy cap mushrooms. And the mushrooms smell just like maple syrup which was mind-blowing!

I filled my dark chocolate bars with a mushroom infused caramel. While the chocolate was quite good, I could have done with the mushroom aftertaste!

I used this chocolate mold for the bars and the design was so pretty!

For the painted design on the chocolate bars, I used my baking brushes and colored cocoa butter. The lighter shade is Roxy & Rich cocoa butter in tiffany blue. The darker shade is Roxy & Rich in night blue.

Check out my Instagram reel for Big Gay Wedding.