Fillings for Chocolates

[Jim D.]

If you are sourcing the Geerts book from the UK also look here: http://www.keylink.o...s=23&catCode=33, £45 plus delivery, still expensive mind.

Thanks for that suggestion. It also appears that Keylink ships to the US, so I will pursue this option. I appreciate your help.

[Jim D.]

Here's one of them -

Raspberry Centers

Source: me

(250 servings)

• 333 grams raspberry puree
  
• 300 grams 118 degree fondant
  
• ½ teaspoon citric acid
  
• 300 grams white chocolate
  
• 30 grams butter
  
• 1 ½ tablespoons kirsch
  
• 1 tablespoon raspberry compound
  
• 9 drops raspberry flavour (optional)
  

1.Mix fondant with butter in food processor until smooth. Add melted white chocolate through feed tube, then add puree and flavouring compounds.

2.For molding, make sure that white chocolate is rather thick. Just cool long enough to set, don't let sit in fridge for any length of time or they will crack.

Kerry,

I just tried the raspberry centers. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get the raspberry compound, so I am sure I am lacking the raspberry punch that would provide. The color is beautiful. My concern is that the filling is not yet firming up (just slightly firmer after about 45 minutes). I know some fillings take longer than others. I had not used fondant before, so am not sure I did it correctly. I made my own, and it was quite firm, so I heated it, finally microwaving it to get to the temp. you specified (which, I am assuming, was in Celsius). It finally liquefied, but the second I poured it into the food processor, it got hard again and didn't fully mix with the soft butter. But I persevered and poured in the white chocolate, then added the raspberry purée. With an immersion blender (which has saved my derrière many times) I got it very smooth, and some raspberry eau-de-vie added flavor. The citric acid (my first time for using that) also added a punch and counteracted the sweetness of the fondant. My questions are: did I use the fondant correctly? And, most importantly, since I promised someone raspberry-filled chocolates, what can I do to firm it up enough to use? Add butter? Add white chocolate? White choc. can be so temperamental, but it would certainly make the filling firmer (though it would hide some of the raspberry flavor I now have). Any suggestions would be most welcome. I don't want to fill the shells until I know if the filling will work.

Jim

[Kerry Beal]

Here's one of them -

Raspberry Centers

Source: me

(250 servings)

• 333 grams raspberry puree
  
• 300 grams 118 degree fondant
  
• ½ teaspoon citric acid
  
• 300 grams white chocolate
  
• 30 grams butter
  
• 1 ½ tablespoons kirsch
  
• 1 tablespoon raspberry compound
  
• 9 drops raspberry flavour (optional)
  

1.Mix fondant with butter in food processor until smooth. Add melted white chocolate through feed tube, then add puree and flavouring compounds.

2.For molding, make sure that white chocolate is rather thick. Just cool long enough to set, don't let sit in fridge for any length of time or they will crack.

Kerry,

I just tried the raspberry centers. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get the raspberry compound, so I am sure I am lacking the raspberry punch that would provide. The color is beautiful. My concern is that the filling is not yet firming up (just slightly firmer after about 45 minutes). I know some fillings take longer than others. I had not used fondant before, so am not sure I did it correctly. I made my own, and it was quite firm, so I heated it, finally microwaving it to get to the temp. you specified (which, I am assuming, was in Celsius). It finally liquefied, but the second I poured it into the food processor, it got hard again and didn't fully mix with the soft butter. But I persevered and poured in the white chocolate, then added the raspberry purée. With an immersion blender (which has saved my derrière many times) I got it very smooth, and some raspberry eau-de-vie added flavor. The citric acid (my first time for using that) also added a punch and counteracted the sweetness of the fondant. My questions are: did I use the fondant correctly? And, most importantly, since I promised someone raspberry-filled chocolates, what can I do to firm it up enough to use? Add butter? Add white chocolate? White choc. can be so temperamental, but it would certainly make the filling firmer (though it would hide some of the raspberry flavor I now have). Any suggestions would be most welcome. I don't want to fill the shells until I know if the filling will work.

Jim

I use this one in molded shells - so it's not firm enough to scoop. To make it firmer you could add some cocoa butter +/- more white chocolate. The fondant that I start with is not hard - so it isn't really difficult to get the butter to incorporate.

[Jim D.]

Here's one of them -

Raspberry Centers

Source: me

(250 servings)

• 333 grams raspberry puree
  
• 300 grams 118 degree fondant
  
• ½ teaspoon citric acid
  
• 300 grams white chocolate
  
• 30 grams butter
  
• 1 ½ tablespoons kirsch
  
• 1 tablespoon raspberry compound
  
• 9 drops raspberry flavour (optional)
  

1.Mix fondant with butter in food processor until smooth. Add melted white chocolate through feed tube, then add puree and flavouring compounds.

2.For molding, make sure that white chocolate is rather thick. Just cool long enough to set, don't let sit in fridge for any length of time or they will crack.

Kerry,

I just tried the raspberry centers. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get the raspberry compound, so I am sure I am lacking the raspberry punch that would provide. The color is beautiful. My concern is that the filling is not yet firming up (just slightly firmer after about 45 minutes). I know some fillings take longer than others. I had not used fondant before, so am not sure I did it correctly. I made my own, and it was quite firm, so I heated it, finally microwaving it to get to the temp. you specified (which, I am assuming, was in Celsius). It finally liquefied, but the second I poured it into the food processor, it got hard again and didn't fully mix with the soft butter. But I persevered and poured in the white chocolate, then added the raspberry purée. With an immersion blender (which has saved my derrière many times) I got it very smooth, and some raspberry eau-de-vie added flavor. The citric acid (my first time for using that) also added a punch and counteracted the sweetness of the fondant. My questions are: did I use the fondant correctly? And, most importantly, since I promised someone raspberry-filled chocolates, what can I do to firm it up enough to use? Add butter? Add white chocolate? White choc. can be so temperamental, but it would certainly make the filling firmer (though it would hide some of the raspberry flavor I now have). Any suggestions would be most welcome. I don't want to fill the shells until I know if the filling will work.

Jim

I use this one in molded shells - so it's not firm enough to scoop. To make it firmer you could add some cocoa butter +/- more white chocolate. The fondant that I start with is not hard - so it isn't really difficult to get the butter to incorporate.

Cocoa butter is a great idea (that I should have thought of). Thanks.

[keychris]

My concern is that the filling is not yet firming up (just slightly firmer after about 45 minutes)

I leave *all* of my molded chocolates overnight before capping to allow for setting / evaporation / shrinking. 45 minutes... I can only think of a few recipes I make that would be firm by then that have gone in shells

[Jim D.]

I am reviving this topic (which I started back in 2012) because I have received a request for a specific filling for chocolates. I must start by saying it's a little annoying when one spends countless hours learning how to airbrush the outside of pralines, then collects all sorts of ingredients most people would consider exotic (passion fruit and yuzu purées, pistachio and hazelnut pastes, dozens of liqueurs and flavored brandies, etc.), and assembles chocolates from all this, only to have the recipient ask for the equivalent of chocolate comfort food. But I guess I should be pleased that at least somebody cares enough to make a specific request (and thinks I can do it!).

Anyhow, this person asks for "dark chocolate-covered buttercreams plain or with bourbon or rum." My suspicion is that when people say "buttercream," they mean flavored fondant (as in Russell Stover or Whitman's Sampler). In trying to come up with a recipe (that isn't just fondant), I immediately thought of a vanilla ganache (Ewald Notter has one that is delicious and that I use in combination with a second contrasting ganache). Adding a splash of bourbon or rum would be easy. But I don't think that is what buttercream fans are really thinking of--the texture is a bit different. Perhaps using less chocolate (or more cream) would approach the right soft texture. I also recalled Kerry Beal's raspberry and strawberry buttercreams, which do have fondant but also include white chocolate and butter. Does anyone have additional ideas or a recipe?

[keychris]

you can get a very nice soft buttercream-esque texture by whipping your ganache at the end, particularly if it has a lot of butter - I have a recipe that uses about 22% butter (of the total weight) which when whipped is wonderful. Not a great shelf life, as you've whipped all that air into it, but I think it will have the texture you're looking for.

Might as well put it here, if you're interested.

119g milk

24g sugar (A)

1/3 vanilla bean, scraped

27g egg yolk

12g sugar (B)

72g dark (53%)

36g milk (33%)

90g butter

Heat milk, sugar (A) & vanilla seeds & pod. Whisk together yolks & sugar (B). Add a little hot milk mixture to yolks, whisk together, return to bulk milk and stir over heat until 80-85C. Strain over couvertures and process until smooth. Cool to under 30C. Once under 30C, whisk ganache using stand mixer until fluffy, then in a seperate bowl, whisk the butter until also fluffy. add the ganache into the butter, continue to beat. It will look like it's separated, keep beating it and it should come good, if not, gently warm the bowl until it comes together.

This is particularly good if you infuse cinnamon, citrus zest and spices into the cream. The amounts I have there should make enough for two moulds.

HTH

[Jim D.]

Chris,

That looks delicious, but I suspect you are right about the shelf life--not only the air whipped into it, but the eggs as well. Reminds me of a creme brulee praline from Kee's in New York, which states it should be consumed within two days. I'm surprised your recipe uses milk instead of cream. I don't know if you run a chocolate business, but if you do, how do you deal with the shelf life issue?

Jim

[Kerry Beal]

Try 200 grams fondant, 150 grams butter and 300 grams of white or milk chocolate along with the flavouring you want to add.

[Jim D.]

Try 200 grams fondant, 150 grams butter and 300 grams of white or milk chocolate along with the flavouring you want to add.

Kerry,

I made your buttercream today. I didn't know whether the chocolate was supposed to be tempered or not, so I melted it very slowly so that it (probably) never got out of temper, and I had the fondant and butter around room temp. As I poured the choc. into the food processor, I could tell the same issue I have been having with white choc. (in particular, Valrhona Opalys) was occurring again--the filling separated into a thick part and an oily part yellowish in color. I used the technique I recently learned of pouring a few teaspoons of cold milk into the food processor, and everything came together. I am disturbed that this separation keeps occurring, but I am very glad I found the solution, and I am now beginning to think of cold milk as a necessary and regular ingredient in any white choc. ganache. I don't know why it works, and would like to know.

As for the finished product, it is indeed quite sweet (what else could one expect with white choc. and fondant?), but not as sweet as I expected. I divided the batch into three, flavoring one with lots of vanilla, another with dark rum, and the third with bourbon (as the soon-to-be recipient requested). The flavoring helps a lot, and I especially like the vanilla. The best part is that I think it is exactly the buttercream filling that the recipient asked for, and the dark chocolate coating (Valrhona Caraïbe) will contrast nicely with the sweet fondant. In fact, there will be one piece missing from the gift box as I am going to try one myself.

Thanks for your suggestion for this filling, and I think it would be very good with a citric or other fruit flavoring (as with your raspberry recipe). Orange and Grand Marnier might be nice.

Jim Dutton

[Kerry Beal]

Jim - it's all about having enough liquid to suspend the fat globules in (read Greweling about this) - which is why a broken ganache can be fixed with a bit of milk, or alcohol.

[Jim D.]

Jim - it's all about having enough liquid to suspend the fat globules in (read Greweling about this) - which is why a broken ganache can be fixed with a bit of milk, or alcohol.

But I followed your recipe with the amounts you specified (actually I made 1/3 of a recipe, but I am sure I did the math correctly). In this recipe I'm not sure what the liquid would be: both the butter and the white choc. have the fat globules, and fondant is the sugar. It's not like a cream ganache, where the cream is obviously the liquid. Do you think that Opalys is unusually fatty?

[Kerry Beal]

44% - looks like one of their highest.

[curls]

Yup, Valrhona's Ivoire fat content is 41.1%. That is what I use for my white chocolate and I have not had ganache issues with Grewling's recipes where he specifies using a white chocolate for the ganache.