Help Making a Chocolate Spread

[sweetestlorraine]

I'm trying to create a chocolate spread out of Callebaut Milk Chocolate callets- ideally something with pretty good (refrigerated) shelf-life. So I want to stay away from cream or butter. Would it just be a matter of melting the callets down and mixing in some shortening? Or a flavorless oil?

Would love to hear your ideas on this.

[harrysnapperorgans]

I have no real advice apart from : Try it!

Chocolate spread sounds delicious.

[prasantrin]

I wouldn't use shortening if you're trying to create a quality product. Instead, consider using some kind of nut oil, or if you want to avoid nut products, just use a neutral but decent quality oil.

Take a look at David Lebovitz's recipe for Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread and use it as a base from which to experiment. He uses cocoa nibs, not chocolate.

[Sebastian]

Remember that unsaturated oils will oxidize more quickly than saturated ones. However, they are have the lowest melting point, which is what you're after in making a spread. I'd suggest looking for something that has a balance between saturated fat and melting point. You have a few options that I'd consider:

1) a modified, or partially hydrogenated palm oil, coconut oil, or soy oil. obviously hydrogenation has a certain tone to it, and some folks might equate that with trans fat. Keep moisture as low as possible to avoid hydrolytic rancidity problems.

2) a fractionated palm kernel oil. might be your best bet from a functional and label standpoint. Personally i'd start here.

3) anhydrous milk fat would do the trick. you get a cholesterol component with this approach. it can be difficult to find, although land o lakes offers it. your most expensive approach, but arguably your most label friendly.

Obviously there are others you can use. Which one you choose depends really on what you're after. I'd consider starting with option 2 to begin with.

[sweetestlorraine]

Thanks for replying, guys Sebastian, I'm wondering if regular Palm Oil or Sunflower Oil (like from the supermarket) would work?

I wouldn't know where to source a fractionated palm kernel oil, or anhydrous milk fat where I live (the Philippines). Of course, that means that Coconut Oil is very readily available to me- but I worry about the spread taking on a Coconutty flavor.

[lapin d'or]

There are a handful of chocolate spread recipes in Jean-Pierre Wybauw's new book which use a range of different ingredients.

The simplest is based on hazelnut puree, powdered sugar, dark chocolate and coconut fat. But he asks that the mixture is conched to get fine particles which could be difficult.

Liquid honey, sunflower oil, coconut fat, glycerine, sorbitol and condensed milk also appear in the recipes and would all make the product more fluid.

I was a bit put off by how small the amount of chocolate was to the added sugars and fats.

Lapin

[Jenni]

All I can say is pictures please!!

[Sebastian]

Nut oils are notoriously susceptible to oxidation - they are very unsaturated. Many times, because they have not been properly stored or packaged, by the time you get them, they're already gone bad - which doesn't mean good things for the shelf life of your product. While i love the flavor of fresh nut oils, they can be quite difficult to work with if you need any semblance of shelf life.

Sunflower oils will have largely the same issue - if you're able to source what's called a high oleic sunflower oil, do that, as it'll be more stable oxidatively. Is the palm oil you have in your supermarket a liquid, solid, or a combination of both when at room temperature?

If you're just making this for personal consumption, in small quantities, it doesn't much matter, i suppose, which oil you use as long as it's a fresh oil, and you minimize it's exposure to heat and oxygen. If you're making something for other purposes - ie retail - i'd urge you to pay great attention to which oil types you use. Remember, from a shelf life perspective (shelf life here meaning flavor), the more fluid your oil is, the more rapidly it will oxidize and have bad flavors develop. Finding the right balance will depend on how you intent to use it!

[sweetestlorraine]

Thanks so much for all the feedback! If my experiments are a success, I'd love to add the spread to my product line, for sale. I did see some High Oleic Palm Oil at the supermarket- is that similar to the Sunflower variety? It is, however, liquid at room temperature.

What we have an abundance of here is Coconut Oil. There's a local product, called "Nutri-Oil Coconut Oil" that is solid at room temperature, and has been processed to not have any coconutty flavor. I'm thinking of trying that. Here are its properties, from the manufacturer's website:

Nutri-Oil

It is a pure vegetable oil made from coconut oil that is naturally rich in Medium Chain Triglycerides.

Packaging Information:

Fat: 71-72%

Moisture: 24-26%

Salt: 1.7-1.8%

Shelf life: 4 months at 2-10C

[prasantrin]

I think most of the coconut oil sold for consumption in the Philippines is virgin coconut oil, if that makes a difference. Or at least the pasalubong we buy is.

[sweetestlorraine]

I think most of the coconut oil sold for consumption in the Philippines is virgin coconut oil, if that makes a difference. Or at least the pasalubong we buy is.

Rona, yes- it mostly is. However, the oil I posted about- "Nutri-Oil"- is not virgin. The virgin coconut oils they have here all have a VERY strong coconut flavor, so I wouldn't use it unless I was doing something coconut flavored (say, a German Chocolate Spread?...)

[Jenni]

Damn you, this thread made me buy nutella today! Luckily, it sounds tricky to make so at least I won't be making huge batches of it at home. The coconut oil sounds good in theory, if you can get a flavourless one...but then you'd be going against everything I usually try to do!

[sweetestlorraine]

LOL, Jenni

I'll be running a few tests this coming week... will post photos (of successes and failures).