Making my own coffee flavoring for couverture chocolate

[DJ Silverchild]

How can i make a coffee flavoring from scratch that won't seize chocolate?

[pastrygirl]

Do you have a melanger?  Add actual coffee beans or freeze dried/instant.

[DJ Silverchild]

No i do not. 

[pastrygirl]

Then here are a couple of ideas:

 

Mix whole or crushed coffee beans into melted chocolate, let it infuse for awhile, then strain it out.  Or infuse cocoa butter?

 

Puree coffee beans in a food processor or blender (with added CB?) until liquefied then strain out any grit and add to chocolate.  Coffee is pretty oily, like nuts or cacao, will liquefy eventually if you keep going. I tried making something like this once, it was super intense, a little goes a long way https://www.gratuitousfoodity.com/2016/02/27/dark-matter-coffee-bean-chocolate/

 

Also look into Felchlin coffee OSA.  Their OSA line is fat-based fillings that will soften cocoa butter when mixed with chocolate but supposedly you can still add a small amount to a molded bar. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by pastrygirl (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, DJ Silverchild said:

No i do not. 

 

Buy one!

 

My melanger is seldom used but it will do what nothing else will do.

 

[MikanPotatos]

Is it not enough to add instant expresso powder to melted chocolate?

[Drewman]

I would infuse melted cocoa butter with ground coffee. Like a cold brew process but kept in a warm area overnight to keep the cocoa butter melted. Strain the grounds and cross your fingers. It should work but I haven't tried it.

[DJ Silverchild]

My first plan is to make a flavoring that will not seize the chocolate. I have cold brew i will distill until all the moisture is gone.

 

My second plan is to seep cocoa butter in coffee beans. Drewman i love that idea.

 

MikanPotatoes: i am collaborating with a local coffee roaster.

 

Question about the melanger. Im not making bean to bar. Can i use any chocolate in the machine?

[pastrygirl]

9 hours ago, MikanPotatos said:

Is it not enough to add instant espresso powder to melted chocolate?

Since it's water-soluble it would probably not dissolve in fat-based chocolate but if the powder is fine enough it might not matter.

 

 

1 hour ago, DJ Silverchild said:

Question about the melanger. Im not making bean to bar. Can i use any chocolate in the machine?

Yes, you can use whatever, the stone wheels provide a different motion of smashing and smearing to make small pieces into smooth paste instead of endless chopping (like a food processor).  I mostly use mine to make hazelnut butter.

Edited January 19, 2022 by pastrygirl (log)

[paulraphael]

14 hours ago, Drewman said:

I would infuse melted cocoa butter with ground coffee. Like a cold brew process but kept in a warm area overnight to keep the cocoa butter melted. Strain the grounds and cross your fingers. It should work but I haven't tried it.

 

I'd experiment in small quantities. The solubility of stuff will be way different in fat than in water. You might get flavors you didn't bargain for. I had to do many experiments just to figure out how to get good flavors infusing coffee into dairy ... about 12% fat content.

[DJ Silverchild]

I want to make sure i understand this correctly:  A melanger will crush coffee beans so fine theirtexture will be imperceptible in the final product. 

Whats the average capacity for a small unit?

How long does this process take for 10 pounds at time? 

 

Thanks!

Edited January 21, 2022 by DJ Silverchild (log)

[beesknees]

On 1/21/2022 at 2:20 PM, DJ Silverchild said:

I want to make sure i understand this correctly:  A melanger will crush coffee beans so fine theirtexture will be imperceptible in the final product. 

Whats the average capacity for a small unit?

How long does this process take for 10 pounds at time? 

 

Thanks!

Yes that’s correct.  The go-to countertop unit from DCM has a 4kg capacity I believe but I personally keep it to 3.5kg or lower.  Depending on a lot of things I’d say 18-36hrs for a perfectly smooth product.  When I made dark matter I ground the coffee first, heated everything up to about 120F and I don’t think I ground it for more than 24 hours.  
 

As pastrygirl said, it is VERY intense.  Most staff wasn’t a fan as it made them quite jittery despite having the same or less caffeine content according to our coffee roaster nerd friends.  We eventually settled on 7% max coffee grounds for a dark choc bar.  Still divisive but IMO quite tasty.