eggboy and i spend a lot of nights watching movies. between our big smushy couch/90s tv setup at home, and a town movie theater that makes you feel like you're in someone's log cabin, complete with clean bathrooms that smell of cinnamon, watching or seeing a movie always feels like a good option.

the only problem is, we don't get all those cute independent limited release movies that at one point in my life only required traveling two stops on the d train. and when we do get something that doesn't star a super hero or hungry games, it plays for like one week. at least that was the case with the grand budapest hotel.

so despite my girl crush on saoirse úna ronan and ooglie eyes over wes anderson colors, i have not seen the grand budapest hotel. yet i am still drawn to this courtesan au chocolat that apparently plays a huge role. it's a tower of chocolate-filled choux pastry puffs with pretty colored glazes and white filigree (!!!!!). so renee and lyndsay and i are all posting about these little guys today because how fun is that?!?!?1!!

until recently i had never done made choux pastry before. it was sort of grouped in my mind in the same category as the soufflé: fussy sensitive things that i should block out an entire day for. to my surprise, my first batch of puffs came out swimmingly, and so did the second batch, etc., etc. they were that easy. one day i am going to fill some with pimiento cheese but today they're filled with dark chocolate and topped with matcha, ube, and raspberry glazes.