Butterscotch magic shell

[Catherine Iino]

My daughter would like to make butterscotch-flavored magic shell (you know, the sauce that hardens on ice cream to form a crisp coating) without using butterscotch chips, which don't have a terrific flavor. Does anyone have a recipe, or an idea? Maybe caramelize sugar, add butter, then coconut oil? Thanks for any help . . .

Edited September 1, 2013 by Catherine Iino (log)

[Lisa Shock]

The easiest ting to do would be to get some butterscotch flavoring and add it to melted and tempered white chocolate.

[Catherine Iino]

Thank you for that super speedy reply, Lisa. I should have said that she wants to use coconut oil. Are you suggesting adding the white chocolate and the butterscotch flavoring to the coconut oil? I mistakenly wrote "coconut milk" before but have corrected it.

[minas6907]

I'm not really sure if you'd be to get the results you want with coconut oil. Like what Lisa said, flavoring tempered white chocolate will give the effect because the tempered chocolate will set up pretty quickly on the cold ice cream. When you mention coconut oil, something along the lines of a chocolate meltaway comes to mind, but inclined to say that it wouldnt really set up the way you'd hope it would, not to mention it would be very thin while its in a liquid form, but really, there arent too many alternatives here, aside from tempered chocolate. It's hard to mimic that quick forming magic shell that you get from those dessert toppings, they do that because they have hydrogenated oils that solidify immediately on a cold surface, coconut fat just wont do that.

[Darienne]

I've been making plain chocolate magic shell for a few years now...can't recall where I got the recipe, but it's very simple.

Basically 100 grams melted coconut oil and 150 grams melted chocolate. Add a dash of salt. (I also add chile pepper sometimes.)

That's it. So starting from there to make butterscotch...

[Lisa Shock]

I'm not really sure if you'd be to get the results you want with coconut oil. Like what Lisa said, flavoring tempered white chocolate will give the effect because the tempered chocolate will set up pretty quickly on the cold ice cream. When you mention coconut oil, something along the lines of a chocolate meltaway comes to mind, but inclined to say that it wouldnt really set up the way you'd hope it would, not to mention it would be very thin while its in a liquid form, but really, there arent too many alternatives here, aside from tempered chocolate. It's hard to mimic that quick forming magic shell that you get from those dessert toppings, they do that because they have hydrogenated oils that solidify immediately on a cold surface, coconut fat just wont do that.

Yeah, exactly. You need to start with an ingredient that has the properties you are seeking. I have never seen coconut oil turn into a crisp solid, I have no idea what would need to be done to it to make it change into one. Cocoa butter naturally crystallizes when properly tempered, one of the few pastry ingredients that will do that without cooking. If you are seeking a vegan product, you can experiment with pure cocoa butter, or Mycro, but, you'll need to add something with more flavor than coconut oil to simulate white chocolate, and, something that won't interfere with the cocoa butter crystalline structure. I am not sure what the 'secret' is to meltaways, I do know that they have a soft, non-crispy texture and rplicating them would give you a soft coating not a crisp shell.

[Lisa Shock]

Sorry, same time post as Darienne. I haven't made magic shell before. The big issue with subbing pure cocoa butter in her recipe would be flavor and some texture. Without cocoa solids, you lose some of the solidity of the final product. And, obviously, flavor. Butterscotch flavor might make it work, might need some creamy background flavor to prevent it from tasting like flavored oil.

[Kerry Beal]

How about caramelized white chocolate with coconut oil? The coconut oil would give the shell part, the caramelized white chocolate would make a lovely butterscotch flavour.

[Alleguede]

You could use caramelized chocolate (caramelia, dulcey) and add 5% oil at 40 degrees. It works perfect just like pare a glacer

[Catherine Iino]

Caramelized white chocolate--brilliant. I just looked up David Liebovitz's recipe, and now that I've stopped hyperventilating, I can reply. This sounds like the way to go--thanks!

[pastrygirl]

A little brown butter in place of some of the coconut oil would be nice flavor-wise.

[Alleguede]

The problem with butter is that it doesn't let the fluidity of the chocolate.