caramelized white chocolate with seasalt!

[tarko]

i recently came across this realy good recipe for caramelized white chocolate with seasalt:

place 400 gr of white chocolate (chopped, pellets or chips) in a cake mould or pan of some sort in the oven at 120 celisus for aprox 40 min or until dark golden like biscotti, give a good stir every 10 minutes. place in a bowl, whisk out any lumps, add a few pinches of seasalt and voila - caramelized white chocolate with seasalt!

i use this as filling in moulded dark chocolates, but it can be used as spreads for cakes etc.

[Chris Amirault]

Welcome to eG Forums, tarko! A question for you: does the texture of the white chocolate change after it's been caramelized?

[Kerry Beal]

Welcome tarko. Gotta love that caramelized white chocolate! Thanks for sharing.

[tarko]

Welcome to eG Forums, tarko! A question for you: does the texture of the white chocolate change after it's been caramelized?

thx chris:) well, yes it does become harder once it cools down.

/magnus

[tarko]

thx kerry - ure welcome!

/magnus

Welcome tarko. Gotta love that caramelized white chocolate! Thanks for sharing.

[gap]

Here is a good blog entry on it with some pics as well

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/06/caramelized_white_chocolate.html

[MattyC]

Always been big fan of the caramalized white chocolate. I've found the easiest way is just put it in a vacuum bag and put it in a water bath. Heck of a lot easier that way.

[RobertM]

Played around with the roasting technique yesterday afternoon - I roasted 1 1/2 pounds and it took about 90 minutes or so until I got the flavor, texture and color that I was "thinking" it should be - amazing how it went from solid, to liquid, to semi-solid and back to liquid again - even my wife (who doesn't like white chocolate) was amazed at the flavor - now to make some delicious dark chocolate molds and use this as a center....

[mostlylana]

I haven't tried using caramelized white chocolte as a center yet. It seems as though everyone is using it as is... no cream added? I'm thinking that would be awfully firm. What is the texture like? Caramel?

[Tri2Cook]

The folks at Ideas in Food make a ganache by combining caramelized white chocolate with cream cheese. Maybe not the ideal thing for filling chocolates that won't be fridged but it sure is tasty.

[Sue Casey]

Hi MattyC

Can you give specific directions for the vacuum bag and water bath method that you use to make caramelized white chocolate. Sounds interesting and easier.

[MattyC]

Hi MattyC

Can you give specific directions for the vacuum bag and water bath method that you use to make caramelized white chocolate. Sounds interesting and easier.

Yeah sure. I mean, it's pretty easy, really just using a vacuum bag so you can toss it into things while still having contact all around it for even heating - plus no mess or anything like that either - pretty much a basic sous vide technique.

If I remember right, the primo temp to caramalize it was around 260 degrees F, for like 40 minutes or so. Now, regular old boiling water will do fine (not quite the temp you want though, but still will work), just seal up the white chocolate and leave it it there for about 45 minutes, but for a much better result, toss it into a pressure cooker sealed up for 30 minutes or so, high pressure. You'll get a much better result with the pressure cooker, but both will work fine.

[fanny_the_fairy]

I usually caramelise mine at 160C for just 8min. and I make a lovely ganache with it.

[mostlylana]

Fanny, to make your ganache, do you add cream to the caramelized white chocolate in the same ratio as you would to regular white chocolate?

[Chocolot]

I just made some with the pressure cooker technique. It is a lovely dark brown color, similar to peanut butter. The texture is very firm, like stiff peanut butter. Is this correct? What do I do with it now? It is really good eaten with a spoon with a sprinkle of grey salt:-)

[tarko]

I just made some with the pressure cooker technique. It is a lovely dark brown color, similar to peanut butter. The texture is very firm, like stiff peanut butter. Is this correct? What do I do with it now? It is really good eaten with a spoon with a sprinkle of grey salt:-)

yes that sound right to me. i have used as centers in moulded shells - heated it in the micro, poped it in a pipingbag and then piped the shells, let them set and caped them...

[RichardJones]

I tried this to use up some Callebaut white my supplier sent by mistake (I hate it). Unfortunately caramelizing it did not improve it! I might try again with a different brand...

[Jim D.]

I purchased a bag of Cacao Barry's Zephyr Caramel (so, caramelized white chocolate) for a Melissa Coppel recipe and would now like to use it as a filling for other chocolates, probably pairing it with a second layer. It strikes me that it might work well with a fruit layer (perhaps something subtle like apricot?), but probably not so well with a milk or dark chocolate layer that would overwhelm the white. I wonder about using it with lavender. Any ideas on how to use it would be welcome.

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I purchased a bag of Cacao Barry's Zephyr Caramel

 

Were you not already on the Valrhona Dulcey bandwagon?  If you have tried them both, I'd be interested in how they compare. 

 

And since I just made pretzel blondies with Dulcey today, my suggestion is a caramel and pretzel or peanut butter, pretzel, and caramelized white combo.  Apricot sounds good but they are not always that subtle.  How about apple or pear - good ol' caramel apple!

[ChocoMom]

I have the Dulcey from Valrhona. If the flavor profiles are similar, lavender should work. I just used the Dulcey in some Earl Grey chocolates this week, and they are quite delicious.  I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect that a Chai flavor might pair well with it, too.  I would think something along the lines of coconut / lemongrass, or a coffee / cappuccino might work as well.  

 

I drink Earl Grey tea daily, and I've been wanting to try this for awhile. Reading of @jmacnaughtan's amazing adventures with bergamot just inspired me to try the Earl chocolates now. 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Were you not already on the Valrhona Dulcey bandwagon?  If you have tried them both, I'd be interested in how they compare. 

 

I think you have forgotten that once upon a time you were aghast that I was not a big fan of Dulcey. I think it has a chemical-y taste (I know, heresy). I do like the one you pointed me to, Valrhona's Orelys, and I now use it in my chocolate chip cookie truffle. The Cacao Barry caramelized white is much more subtle than Dulcey.

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, ChocoMom said:

I have the Dulcey from Valrhona. If the flavor profiles are similar, lavender should work. I just used the Dulcey in some Earl Grey chocolates this week, and they are quite delicious.  I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect that a Chai flavor might pair well with it, too.  I would think something along the lines of coconut / lemongrass, or a coffee / cappuccino might work as well.  

 

I drink Earl Grey tea daily, and I've been wanting to try this for awhile. Reading of @jmacnaughtan's amazing adventures with bergamot just inspired me to try the Earl chocolates now. 

Interesting, the combination of Dulcey and Earl Grey. Greweling's Earl Grey recipe calls for milk chocolate, and I have always thought the Earl Grey flavor was almost overwhelmed by the milk. I'll give Dulcey and also the caramelized white a try. I envy jmacnaughtan's access to fresh bergamot.

[julie99nl]

I made an apple pie bonbon with apple compote in the top, a thin layer of caramelized white ganache with cinnamon added to taste. I used dulcey for the caramelized white. And a crunchy cookie/nut insert.

 

10 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I purchased a bag of Cacao Barry's Zephyr Caramel (so, caramelized white chocolate) for a Melissa Coppel recipe and would now like to use it as a filling for other chocolates, probably pairing it with a second layer. It strikes me that it might work well with a fruit layer (perhaps something subtle like apricot?), but probably not so well with a milk or dark chocolate layer that would overwhelm the white. I wonder about using it with lavender. Any ideas on how to use it would be welcome.

 

 

 

 

[Pastrypastmidnight]

12 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I think you have forgotten that once upon a time you were aghast that I was not a big fan of Dulcey. I think it has a chemical-y taste (I know, heresy). I do like the one you pointed me to, Valrhona's Orelys, and I now use it in my chocolate chip cookie truffle. The Cacao Barry caramelized white is much more subtle than Dulcey.

I feel like the Dulcey is much more white chocolate tasting and the Zéphyr Caramel is much more caramel tasting. 

[Jim D.]

7 hours ago, julie99nl said:

I made an apple pie bonbon with apple compote in the top, a thin layer of caramelized white ganache with cinnamon added to taste. I used dulcey for the caramelized white. And a crunchy cookie/nut insert.

 

That sounds really good. Do you mind describing how you made the apple compote?