I thought I would get the blog started with something that appeared impressive but was actually fairly easy. Although tedious, making these chocolates was definitely worth the effort. Because the chocolate story is so long, it’s broken into two posts.

Excuse the fact that I’m not yet a master editor and may include facts that either don’t interest you, or have already been mentioned. Also, don’t assume by my delivery or instruction that I am being condescending. I’m not a professional chef, I’m not a teacher (unless you are the student), and I don’t know the kitchen intellect of each person reading. I hope you enjoy reading up on the process and looking at the photos, maybe you will return. Any comments are appreciated.

I have always been impressed with artisanal chocolate and its creation. I’ve been lucky enough to try some of the best filled chocolates (my favorite being Chapon in Paris) and have daydreamed about another life as a chocolatier. That was as far as it got, until now. I don’t know what came over me but I decided I needed to make filled chocolates. Scouring the internet for resources, recipes and advice, I found a wealth of information that was adapted to the plan. And even though I don’t have candy airbrushing equipment, an enrobing machine or hundreds of chocolate molds, I still managed to have a somewhat professional approach. This project doesn’t translate well to an orderly recipe so I am going to write it like a story and try to keep a step-by-step structure.

making the filling…

I love ganache and wanted to force everyone around me to love it, ganache is also surprisingly easy to make and work with. Essentially, the chocolates are molded truffles (doesn’t sound too appealing does it?). I made these flavors:

Rosemary, Lemon, Earl Grey, Caramel, and Ginger

It sounds a little fancy, but basic ganache is made with just two ingredients; cream and chocolate. By tweaking the amounts used, you can make anything from icing to really rich hot chocolate. The ganache has to be prepared hours ahead or the previous night before filling the chocolates, as it needs to set up to a workable consistency. As a basic recipe for medium ganache, use 50/50 dark chocolate and heavy cream. Some recipes include butter or other additives, but I stick with the cream/chocolate. The only real way to make a good ganache is with the very best cream and chocolate, preferably organic.

To make ganache, break chocolate into small chunks, heat your cream to just before boiling, remove the cream from heat for a for a couple minutes and then pour it over the chocolate. Mix together lightly with a whisk or fork. If the chocolate doesn’t completely melt, it can be carefully heated over a double boiler. You should end up with a glossy, heavy texture. The method of flavoring the ganache depends on the type of flavor. For rosemary, I steeped fresh rosemary in cream for a bit after it heated up and removed it before pouring over the chocolate. Don’t press herbs while flavoring, this will release excess oils and you will have a bitter, not so subtle flavoring. The Earl Grey was created the same way, steeping Palais des Thés loose leaf tea until it reached the flavor I wanted and pouring through a sieve onto the chocolate. For lemon, I added a couple drops of flavored oil after the chocolate had melted. The ginger was created using melted ginger candy chews and small pieces of candied ginger. The caramel was a little more complicated…I made a soft caramel with water, sugar, cream and Fleur de Sel, this was poured over the broken chocolate instead of cream.

the molds…

I found a basic dome mold as well as a silicone multi-shape mold at Sur La Table. If you know me, you know that I’m not a big fan of silicone bakeware (it’s all a little too Family Circle for me). But this gave me an easy opportunity to experiment with different shapes and see if I had a preference of material (still don‘t love silicone). For the shells I used Callebaut organic dark melting chocolate. The chocolate needs to be tempered before pouring into the molds. If you aren’t familiar with this process, it consists of heating the chocolate to a specific temperature, bringing it down and then warming it back up before working with it. It is absolutely vital, as in the past I have experimented with not tempering and ended up with foggy, soft, bad stuff. The tempering process stabilizes the cocoa butter crystalline and gives you a clean, shiny, and snappy chocolate. You can figure out the proper temperatures via experimentation or the internet can help you with specific brands. In general the chocolate can be heated to about 118 degrees using a quick thermometer and then “seeded” and cooled with non-melted chocolate off heat until it reaches 84 degrees and then reheated to around 89 degrees, all while carefully keeping the chocolate moving. These instructions are very basic so if you plan on trying this, I would recommend reading up on tempering and what will suit your project best.

To give the chocolate a nice shine, and also assist in the application of luster dust, cocoa butter works well. Surfas sells cocoa butter chips that just need to be melted down and brushed into the molds with a cotton ball (lightly). It sets up quickly with just a couple minutes in the fridge. I tried both with and without the cocoa butter and there was a noticeable difference in favor of using it.

to be continued…