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Bonbons with cheese?


pastryani

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Are you cringing yet?!  I was looking for interesting flavor combinations to use as fillings for bonbons, and came across a goat cheese and pear bonbon.  I'm actually not sure what I think of this pairing - while it's delicious in a salad, I'm not sure how I'd feel about it in a bonbon (and who knows, it might work really well!).  But moving on, does anyone know how to put cheese inside a truffle and have it be shelf stable?

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Oh my, I would love to taste this! Also, I now think of roquefort and fig preserve in a white a chocolate shell.

I can not help about much about shelf stability, but I think you might need to pasteurize it, which can affect the flavor.

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~ Shai N.

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Paul Young (Adventures in chocolate) has a couple of recipes with cheese.  I can reccomend the lemon and goats cheese (it tastes like lemon cheesecake) and the port and Stilton (strain the Stilton mixture before adding to chocolate or it will be all kinds of grainy).

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Sian

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy chocolate, and that's kinda the same thing really."

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While on vacation this summer, my family and I had lunch at San Juan Island Cheese and our dessert included a pair of chocolate and cheese truffles, one a blue and the other goat cheese. I was skeptical, almost passing on them in favor of something else, but I said screw it why not, and they were both amazing. The cheese was not the star of the show, but each type added it's own character to the chocolate taking it from great to spectacular. The blue was so so creamy and a touch salty, while the goat added salt and a slight funkiness that married perfectly to the sweetness of the chocolate. Some of the best chocolates I have ever had, even thinking about them now I want to get in the kitchen and experiment with the cheese/chocolate thing. 

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Last year I made a 2-layered one with gorgonzola and mace (here is the page of my blog if interested, it's in Italian). For gorgonzola I used a white chocolate ganache (Valrhona Ivoire), for mace I used a dark chocolate ganache (Valrhona Guanaya 70%).

 

The recipe for the gorgonzola ganache is:

30 g   milk

50 g    gorgonzola (traditional type, not the "sweet" one)

10 g    honey

180 g    white chocolate

Melt white chocolate.

Boil milk with gorgonzola and honey.

Add to the white chocolate.

Mix, then temper the ganache.

 

I thought it was good and was expecting mixed feedback since it's a weird combination, but I've been surprised, all comments ranged from "good" to "great". I would have been less surprised if everyone said they didn't like it.

About shelf life, the last one was eaten after 3 weeks and was fine. Can't say how much more time they can last.

 

 

 

Teo

 

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Teo

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I made a cheddar and red pepper jelly bonbon for the workshop. If available water is low enough then the shelf life will not be an issue.

Edited by Kerry Beal (log)
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Heston Blumenthal told us quite a number of years ago that chocolate and blue cheese get along very nicely... I think it's just taken a while for what he already knew to be widely accepted. No idea on the shelf life part but all of the suggested combos sound tasty to me.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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20 hours ago, pastryani said:

Thanks @AnythingButPlainChocolate - I'll have to try this.  Have you made it?  I'd really like to know the shelf life on these.  Even though it's been boiled I worry that they'd spoil after a day or two.

I make the port and Stilton every year for Christmas, they last at least a month (the alcohol is a good preserver in these) and the goats cheese I make as a summer chocolate, they tend to get eaten pretty quickly, but I've managed to have them around for several weeks without problems.

 

Let me know if you want recipes or advice on them.

Edited by AnythingButPlainChocolate (log)
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Sian

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy chocolate, and that's kinda the same thing really."

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19 hours ago, AnythingButPlainChocolate said:

Let me know if you want recipes or advice on them.

18 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Yes, please!

 

Seconded!

 

It sounds like shelf life isn't an issue here as long as water content is controlled (and booze is added!).  Now I just have to try it and see what side of the cheese/chocolate fence I land on. xD

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On 9/17/2016 at 7:43 AM, AnythingButPlainChocolate said:

I make the port and Stilton every year for Christmas, they last at least a month (the alcohol is a good preserver in these) and the goats cheese I make as a summer chocolate, they tend to get eaten pretty quickly, but I've managed to have them around for several weeks without problems.

 

Let me know if you want recipes or advice on them.

 

 

I would also like to have the recipes that you offered.  At first I found the idea totally repulsive, but Stilton and port in dark chocolate is intriguing.  If you post that recipe, I'll give it a try and see what the water activity is (although the port will make a difference in shelf life that is, as far as I know, not measurable).  Do you use an aged Stilton with a strong aroma or something less so?  Tawny port or dark (purple)?

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1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

 

... I'll give it a try and see what the water activity is (although the port will make a difference in shelf life that is, as far as I know, not measurable).  

 

How do you measure water activity?  Besides cutting into a bonbon every day to see if it has spoiled?  Is there some device that can test your ganache?

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Yes, there is something called an Aw (activity of water) meter.  You put a small amount of the substance to be tested (such as ganache) in a small cup and fit the meter over it (or insert the cup into the meter for the more expensive models).  In a couple of minutes the machine beeps and gives you a reading somewhere between 0 and 1 (why scientists chose such a narrow range escapes me).  According to Wybauw, a reading greater than 0.85 means the filling can be kept for a maximum of 3 weeks, a reading between 0.70 and 0.85 = max. of 3 months, between 0.65 and 0.70 = 6-9 months.  I test all my recipes at least once, and if the reading is above 0.85, I reformulate or (if there is purée involved) reduce it more.  In my recent experimentation (discussed elsewhere) with pâte de fruit made with Pomona's pectin (and much less sugar than usual) I tested repeatedly because I did not believe the low readings at first.  I would never sell (or give away) anything with a reading in the 0.90 range.

 

Next you are going to ask how much an Aw meter costs.  I have what I think is the least expensive one that has a good reputation, the Pawkit by Decagon Devices.  New it cost me $2,260 with shipping and a lot of supplies included.  It is the meter that some others on eGullet have (Kerry Beal and Ruth of Chocolot, I think), and I have read that Kerry got hers used for a lot less money (she seems to have a genius for finding such bargains all the time!).

 

As I said in this thread, everyone says that alcohol increases the shelf life of a ganache, but I don't know of any way of calculating this (perhaps someone else on eGullet will know).  Wybauw says that adding 15% alcohol to the moisture quantity of a ganache increases its shelf life.

 

I fully expect the Aw reading of the Stilton filling to be high, but we'll see how much port it contains.

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There might be a cheaper way to find the aW. As Jim D stated, I have a Pawkit and love it. (Kerry found it for me for $500:) Our land grant university, Utah State, offers testing in the Food Science department. The charge varies, but it was about $10 per sample when I used them. My guess is that other Land Grant colleges would offer this service, too. There is a Land Grant college in every state. In Utah, I can't sell a chocolate that has an aW of .85 or higher. The rationale is that at that level any microorganism present could potentially kill you. Below that level, they would only make you sick:). I like to keep my ganaches in the .6-.70 levels.

Ruth Kendrick

Chocolot
Artisan Chocolates and Toffees
www.chocolot.com

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1 hour ago, AnythingButPlainChocolate said:

@Jim D. Hopefully you have received the link to the message, please let me know if not and I will send it separately.

I received nothing.  Did you send it in a PM?  According to my understanding of eGullet rules, it's OK to post ingredient lists (as they cannot be copyrighted), but instructions have to be paraphrased.

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7 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

Ruth,

That is really low.  Are you making mostly caramels, toffees, etc.?  I can't see how you do that with cream ganache.  Any secrets?

 

Jim

 

All my cream ganaches are in that range. You just have to balance your formulas. I don't even test caramels or toffees.

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Ruth Kendrick

Chocolot
Artisan Chocolates and Toffees
www.chocolot.com

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On 21/09/2016 at 2:34 PM, Jim D. said:

I received nothing.  Did you send it in a PM?  According to my understanding of eGullet rules, it's OK to post ingredient lists (as they cannot be copyrighted), but instructions have to be paraphrased.

@Jim D.That makes life easier (legal toes don't like to be stepped on and such).

 

Port & Stilton

200ml double (heavy) cream

75g golden caster sugar

100g very mature Stilton (Colston Bassett is suggested) roughly chopped (or smeared depending on the texture of the cheese and it's maturity, include the blue veins as you will sieve these out)

500g plain chocolate

75ml port (tawny is suggested, however I tend to use vintage as I prefer the smoother taste)

200ml water (I feel this is just added to reduce the shelf life of the chocolate by the author, several of his recipes call for added water)

 

put water, cream, sugar and cheese in a pan and bring to the simmer. Strain through on to the chocolate.  Incorporate then add the port. If you've used extra water as suggested the ganache is quite runny and a bit less creamy in flavour, have a play with it and make small batches, it's a love or hate chocolate.

 

Goat's cheese and lemon (lemon cheese cake!)

250g goat's cheese (Cerney suggested)

100g goat's curd (or just a full-fat cream cheese)

Juice & zest of 2 lemons

200g golden caster sugar

400g white chocolate

150g water (again with the water...)

 

Put water, goat's cheese, cream cheese, lemon juice (you can have the zest either in the ganache or removed, if removing it add it now to be strained out, otherwise add after straining) and simmer until smooth (or simmer until lumps are gone then sieve). Put back on the heat and dissolve the sugar into the mixture (don't boil). cool slightly and add to the chocolate.  Taste!  If the goat's cheese is too "twangy" add sugar to balance it out.  I tend to use glucose at this point as I don't want to over heat the chocolate.  Cool and then pipe, it won't set-up hard.

 

The port & stilton makes a great Christmas option and the goat's cheese is lovely in summer, I tend to get people to taste before telling them there is real cheese in them

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Sian

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy chocolate, and that's kinda the same thing really."

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Thanks for posting the recipes.  I am quite puzzled by the added water.  Why would one wish to reduce the shelf life?  Most us seek just the opposite.  I appreciate the details about the types of cheese and port (now to the challenge of finding the proper cheese).  What is meant by "plain chocolate"?  I assume it's not unsweetened, but dark chocolate.  Correct?

 

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3 hours ago, Jim D. said:

Thanks for posting the recipes.  I am quite puzzled by the added water.  Why would one wish to reduce the shelf life?  Most us seek just the opposite.  I appreciate the details about the types of cheese and port (now to the challenge of finding the proper cheese).  What is meant by "plain chocolate"?  I assume it's not unsweetened, but dark chocolate.  Correct?

 

Yup - dark chocolate is plain chocolate in Britain.

 

 

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On 26/09/2016 at 5:03 PM, Kerry Beal said:

Yup - dark chocolate is plain chocolate in Britain.

 

 

Thanks @Kerry Beal

I'm not convinced by all the added water either @Jim D., the book is more aimed at the  home market rather than professionals, and Paul A Young does still sell all of these chocolates in his store, mayne it is to change the taste/texture/shelf life of the products so his competitors do not also start to sell these flavours?  I'm not sure...

Sian

"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy chocolate, and that's kinda the same thing really."

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