Adapting a caramel recipe for a bonbon filling

[tikidoc]

At the recent workshop, I finally got a clue as to how to work with chocolate molds. I have a caramel recipe (also posted in the report thread from the workshop) that I would like to adapt so that it can be a soft, pipe-able filling for a bon bon. I started out with a fleur de sel caramel recipe from the internet (Ina Garten's recipe). I wanted an apple pie flavor, so I decreased the cream from 1 cup to 3/4 cup, then added 1/2 cup of apple cider jelly, which is basically just reduced cider, so a net increase of 1/4 cup liquid (some of which is sugar, obviously) and a small decrease in fat. I also added 1 tsp cinnamon.

The changes were fairly arbitrary, but they worked, although the caramel was a bit softer than the original, it still basically held it's shape but was pretty sticky. Worked fine for dipping.

I would like to play with modifying the recipe to use it as a filling, so more fluid than currently. I am happy with the flavor, so want to make changes that will not have a major impact on the flavor profile.

My thoughts would be to either increase the cream back up to a cup or even more, decrease the final temp (currently 248F) or both. I would like to avoid trying too many batches since I have a limited amount of apple jelly left (need to make another order) so any advice to give me a starting point would be helpful. I have made a fair amount of firm caramels, but never fluid caramel fillings.

The current recipe is as follows:

½ cup apple cider jelly*

¾ cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon fleur de sel or kosher salt

1 ½ cups sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

¼ cup water

Combine jelly, cream, butter, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and heat until jelly melts most of the way.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, water and sugar and heat until it begins to caramelize.

Add the cream mixture to the sugar, stir and heat to 248F. Pour.

*http://woodscidermill.com/PRODUCTS/CiderJelly.html

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks!

Jess

[tmriga]

Awww, gee, now you're going to make us do math! Just kidding.

Is your intention to change the caramel to something more pipeable, without losing flavor? The first thing I thought of, and this is just a guess, but maybe decrease the sugar and add more corn syrup?

Candy Experts, I respectfully ask to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Theresa

[tikidoc]

Yes, candy experts, HELP! If you agree with Theresa above, can you give me suggestions for amounts?

[JenBunk]

While I am no expert, I was in your position just a few days ago. The recipe I used was similar minus the changes you made. I simply cooked the caramel to a lower temp. I cooked it to 230, and It worked perfectly! I still got the good caramel flavor because you caramelize the sugar separately like the recipe you are using. It forms a nice skin so you can still cap them. Hope this helps:)

Jenny

[tikidoc]

That helps a ton, Jen. Barring any more suggestions, I'll try that this weekend. I was thinking that a decrease in final temp made sense but I was not sure what temp to use.

[Tri2Cook]

Yep, as Jenny said, adjust the temp you cook to. I've made caramels that range from a sauce that you can dip fruit in or pour over ice cream all the way up to firm enough to cut into squares and wrap without dipping all with the same recipe just by adjusting the final cooking temp.

[tikidoc]

Tri2Cook, would you go all the way down to 230 with this recipe? It was a softish caramel at 248. I will obviously check texture as I go, but I'm trying to get a ballpark.

[Tri2Cook]

230 with the recipe I use is pretty soft, not liquid, but definitely soft. It's firm enough to bottom but if you bit a bonbon and left the rest on the table, it would eventually run out of the shell. I know you don't want to mess with the flavor balance of your caramel so I think temp adjusting is the way to go but increasing the fat content will give you a softer result for a given temp as well.

[Edward J]

Don't have much time now (I'm at work) but hav you thought of making a regular recipie, cutting it into squares and frezing it, then dropping the frozen cube into a shell, let it thaw out and cap it off?

[Kerry Beal]

Here is my flowing caramel recipe - you can use it as a start.

Caramel for Filling

150 grams glucose

350 grams sugar

250 grams whipping cream

50 grams butter

vanilla

1.Warm the cream in a pot or the microwave until steaming. :

2.Place sugar and glucose in a heavy pot and cook until quite brown. The darker you take it the more bitter it will be. : When the colour is as you like it, add the warm cream carefully. It will splash and sputter so be careful you are not burned.

3. Stir well to get any stuck bits off the pan. Add butter and vanilla extract.

4. Cool completely before piping into molds. This filling has a tendency to leak so it is best to let it sit overnight before backing off the molds.

[Tri2Cook]

That looks pretty close to what I use. I heat the cream, butter and a bit of salt together and don't usually add vanilla but otherwise it's pretty much the same.

[DianaM]

Here is my flowing caramel recipe - you can use it as a start.

Kerry, if I wanted to make a fruity flowing caramel (like raspberry, for instance) how much puree should I add, and at what point in the cooking process?

[Kerry Beal]

Here is my flowing caramel recipe - you can use it as a start.

Kerry, if I wanted to make a fruity flowing caramel (like raspberry, for instance) how much puree should I add, and at what point in the cooking process?

I'd probably start by replacing a lot of the cream by puree.

[Matthew Hayday]

Here is my flowing caramel recipe - you can use it as a start.

Kerry, if I wanted to make a fruity flowing caramel (like raspberry, for instance) how much puree should I add, and at what point in the cooking process?

I'd probably start by replacing a lot of the cream by puree.

Three years ago at the chocolate conference in Niagara, Kerry gave us the following recipe, which works really well for me in bonbons (indeed, I made another batch just yesterday):

200 grams sugar

20 grams glucose

200 grams passion fruit puree

160 grams white chocolate

30 grams cocoa butter

60 grams butter

Caramelize sugar with glucose until browned. Deglaze with puree. Stir well to dissolve the hardened puree (I do this over medium-low heat). Add chocolate and cocoa butter and allow to melt. Cool slightly (to below 130 degrees works) then add butter.

I'm not sure whether the amount of puree would have to vary with fruit type. I tried a blackberry puree at Christmas, and it created a much firmer centre - possibly because of the pectin content?

[IndyRob]

I would like to play with modifying the recipe to use it as a filling, so more fluid than currently. I am happy with the flavor, so want to make changes that will not have a major impact on the flavor profile.

I once had a similar concern with a hot fudge sauce I had made that was dead-on in flavor, but became solid immediately on touching cold ice cream. I fretted a good deal about it as I had made a decent sized batch of the stuff for the freezer. Finally I tried just adding a touch of water to the finished product before heating and the problem was solved. It turned out that adding a bit of water to something that was already so sugary really didn't have nearly the sort of adverse affect that I expected.

[mostlylana]

Don't have much time now (I'm at work) but hav you thought of making a regular recipie, cutting it into squares and frezing it, then dropping the frozen cube into a shell, let it thaw out and cap it off?

Edward, you always have the most clever ideas!

[DianaM]

Three years ago at the chocolate conference in Niagara, Kerry gave us the following recipe, which works really well for me in bonbons (indeed, I made another batch just yesterday):

200 grams sugar

20 grams glucose

200 grams passion fruit puree

160 grams white chocolate

30 grams cocoa butter

60 grams butter

Caramelize sugar with glucose until browned. Deglaze with puree. Stir well to dissolve the hardened puree (I do this over medium-low heat). Add chocolate and cocoa butter and allow to melt. Cool slightly (to below 130 degrees works) then add butter.

I'm not sure whether the amount of puree would have to vary with fruit type. I tried a blackberry puree at Christmas, and it created a much firmer centre - possibly because of the pectin content?

Thank you for the recipe, Matthew, and thank you Kerry for the original recipe! I have a similar issue, in that the Perfect Puree raspberry puree I bought has pectin added to it, and was wondering if that might affect the caramel. I will have to experiment, and will begin with a straight substitution of the passion fruit, and see where that gets me.

Edited April 1, 2012 by DianaM (log)

[lironp]

tikidoc- the teperature I found I like to cook to is 225, it's not too runny, but still pipeable (that's also the temperature Wybauw recommends)

[tikidoc]

I finally got around to trying the caramel today. I had just mixed the liquid ingredients and started warming them when I discovered... no sugar. Yea, I know, get all your stuff out first but I just bought a small bag of sugar recently and I have barely used it... turns out hubby used it in a brine. Oops. So since we live over 20 minutes from the nearest grocery and they are probably closed anyway (Easter in a small town), I made the recipe with brown sugar. Otherwise I followed the usual recipe but just heated to 225. I think the brown sugar flavor was a little stronger than I would like, but it did add a pleasant flavor, just too much of it. So maybe a mix of white and brown next time. The consistency was exactly as I wanted, easy to pipe and oozes into your mouth when you bite into the chocolate.

Edited April 8, 2012 by tikidoc (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Nice! Glad things worked out the way you wanted.

[Prabha]

Beautiful coloring on the molds too!

[curls]

Very nice Tikidoc. Beautiful farm land too!

[Kerry Beal]

Nice job - those look fabulous. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who starts a project and finds out part way through I'm missing one of the key ingredients.

[Chocolot]

Very nice!! You've come a long way in a few short weeks:-)

[lironp]

Very pretty! The background of the picture as well!