caramelized white chocolate with seasalt!

[pastrygirl]

18 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.

 

And honestly, I'll probably forget again! 😊

[dhardy123]

Melissa also does an Apricot bonbon which I have used Dulcey in. You could try that with the Cacao Barry

[Jim D.]

45 minutes ago, dhardy123 said:

Melissa also does an Apricot bonbon which I have used Dulcey in. You could try that with the Cacao Barry

That is the recipe to which I referred a few posts back--it's why I bought the Cacao Barry. Who am I to question a Melissa recipe, but I found the apricot flavor subdued, and the jasmine tea taste absent. Her use of apricot is what made me think of pairing, for example, an apricot pâte de fruit with a layer of caramelized white.

[julie99nl]

On 2/9/2019 at 7:24 AM, 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.

 

 

 

 

 

This is not a recipe I developed, but I got from my mentor so don't know the origin. I've made it twice and the original recipe with what changed the second time in parenthesis.

 

50 g butter

50 g water (I split this into half water half fresh lemon juice)

20 g cinnamon liquor (I did this once with fireball whiskey and found it too strong tasting, so made it a second time with apple brandy and then added a little cinnamon to the ganache layer)

 

300g firm apples very finely diced (I made it with granny smith for the sour that would balance all the otherwise  sweet)

5-10 gr various apple pie spices. I used some nutmeg, a clove,star anise, and a small amount of fresh grated ginger.

 

simmer on fairly low heat until the apples completely break down and the liquid is nearly gone. Once cool, if it's too chunky, blitz it (immersion blender) to a smaller texture.

 

 

This isn't a long lasting bonbon, though I did not test the AW, but for a one off it was tasty. It might need more experimentation and testing to bring down the AW.

 

 

[Jim D.]

@julie99nl, thanks very much for the recipe. It does sound delicious. My followup question was going to be on the shelf life, but you have dealt with that issue. My guess is that the water content is fairly high. Peter Greweling uses "apple compote" in some of his recipes and describes how to make it (which is what your recipe calls for, plus heating the applesauce in the oven until it is as dry as possible--that might help some with Aw). I am already thinking about what might be done to lower the water content. Maybe some invert sugar could be added (but I notice the recipe calls for no sugar beyond what is in the apples and liquor, so that might make it too sweet). For other fruits I have experimented with making a pâte de fruit using Pomona's pectin, which allows the fruit flavor to be more assertive because of the short cooking time required and also requires adding sugar, which will help with shelf life. Unfortunately these ideas will end up masking some of the delicate apple flavor. I do have an excellent French apple "essence" (distilled from the fruit itself) that might help with the flavor. All this is certainly worth more thought. Thanks again for sharing the recipe.

[Jim D.]

I thought I would report back. I made the apple filling. I didn't have a liquor with apple flavoring in the house, but used vodka so as to get the effect on Aw of adding liquor. It is not a good time of year (at least in the northern hemisphere) to get flavorful apples, so this was not a taste test. I cooked the apples as much as I could to get rid of all the water I could. The Aw reading was 0.91, which, of course, is high. Jean-Pierre Wybauw writes that a ganache above 0.85 lasts for 3 weeks maximum, but I doubt that he was really envisioning a reading above 0.9 as being that safe.

 

I think I'll try a pâte de fruit using apple purée and dried apples (maybe some fresh as well, but dried usually have a stronger flavor--and obviously less liquid). It's possible to keep some texture to the fruit so as to enhance the sensation of eating apple pie.

[teonzo]

I would suggest you to try microwaving the apples: peel and core the apples, cut them in dices (about 1-1.5 cm), then microwave them at full power for 5 minutes or more (this depends on your microwave and on how much apples you are cooking, so you need to make some tries). I think microwaving is the best way to cook apples, you get better taste than with the other cooking methods, plus you remove a lot of water content (the more you cook them, the more water you loose, obviously). If you are quick there's no need to use some acid to avoid oxidation. You get the best vivid yellow color in this way.

Beware that they keep cooking after you take them out of the microwave, so you need to take them out before reaching the stage of doneness you are aiming for (you need some tries to get ahold of this method).

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Chocoguyin Pemby]

On 2/8/2019 at 3:02 PM, 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. 

I'm late to the party but I made a delicious Earl Grey milk chocolate ganache with some tea my brother brought from Harrods in London - so good!! I used 3 tea bags in 3/4 cup of cream and steeped it for a while - the tea flavour was great.   I might try it with the white chocolate now.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Chocoguyin Pemby (log)

[sbain]

Hi folks. asking on this old thread because you seem to be masters of caramelized white chocolate. I tried it today and wound up with dried out powder! Weird.

 

I am using good couverture chocolate (Eitienne Guittard 31% Creme Francais). I baked it on a sheet at 250 F for about 30 minutes, it came out as a wonderful amber brown color, but when I tried to stir it it was dry and crumbly. I let it cool and now it is a sand/pebble consistency. I tried to melt it again and it wont melt, it gets hot (120F+) but stays solid. And the worst part is...it tastes amazing!

 

Help! What am I doing wrong? Do I need to add cocoa butter? if so how much and when?

 

Thank you!

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, sbain said:

Hi folks. asking on this old thread because you seem to be masters of caramelized white chocolate. I tried it today and wound up with dried out powder! Weird.

 

I am using good couverture chocolate (Eitienne Guittard 31% Creme Francais). I baked it on a sheet at 250 F for about 30 minutes, it came out as a wonderful amber brown color, but when I tried to stir it it was dry and crumbly. I let it cool and now it is a sand/pebble consistency. I tried to melt it again and it wont melt, it gets hot (120F+) but stays solid. And the worst part is...it tastes amazing!

 

Help! What am I doing wrong? Do I need to add cocoa butter? if so how much and when?

 

Thank you!

 

Well the cocoa butter shouldn't have gone anywhere, I think you could smooth it out mechanically.  If you don't have a melanger, try a food processor.

 

[Avachocolate]

9 hours ago, sbain said:

Hi folks. asking on this old thread because you seem to be masters of caramelized white chocolate. I tried it today and wound up with dried out powder! Weird.

 

I am using good couverture chocolate (Eitienne Guittard 31% Creme Francais). I baked it on a sheet at 250 F for about 30 minutes, it came out as a wonderful amber brown color, but when I tried to stir it it was dry and crumbly. I let it cool and now it is a sand/pebble consistency. I tried to melt it again and it wont melt, it gets hot (120F+) but stays solid. And the worst part is...it tastes amazing!

 

Help! What am I doing wrong? Do I need to add cocoa butter? if so how much and when?

 

Thank you!

If you have access to a sous vide machine you can do it that way....much easier and more foolproof than in an oven...vacuumpack the white chocolate in small bags (around 300 grams per bag or so) and sous vide them for 6 hours at 90 degrees Celsius.....may have to play with the time/ temperature a bit depending on your specific couverture but those numbers work fine for me

[patris]

10 hours ago, sbain said:

Hi folks. asking on this old thread because you seem to be masters of caramelized white chocolate. I tried it today and wound up with dried out powder! Weird.

 

I am using good couverture chocolate (Eitienne Guittard 31% Creme Francais). I baked it on a sheet at 250 F for about 30 minutes, it came out as a wonderful amber brown color, but when I tried to stir it it was dry and crumbly. I let it cool and now it is a sand/pebble consistency. I tried to melt it again and it wont melt, it gets hot (120F+) but stays solid. And the worst part is...it tastes amazing!

 

Help! What am I doing wrong? Do I need to add cocoa butter? if so how much and when?

 

Thank you!

 

I have made it many, many times and it always needs a good whack of cocoa butter to thin it out - sometimes up to 20% - and I always end up blitzing it with an immersion blender to get it totally smooth. I make mine in vacuum sealed bags in the pressure cooker. If I don’t need it right away I dry off the bags and store them with my other chocolate and when I want to use it I put it in a melter with about 10% cocoa butter, then add more as needed as it all melts. If I need it right away I take it out of the bags and add the cocoa butter to the hot mess while it’s cooling. Both ways work equally well for me.

 

Edited to add that I use @Chocolot“s pressure cooker method, which can be found here: 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2019 by patris (log)

[sbain]

UPDATE: Success! thanks for your help everyone. I used your advice and added in some melted cocoa butter to my "chalky sand" (about 20% by weight) and then blended with immersion blender and got it so a nice creamy consistency. used it for the bottom layer of some 2-layer bars (blonde & milk) with feuilletine (note: they were a little too sweet for me. next time will use blonde and dark, and add some crushed almonds)