Milk/Cream flavoured bon bon filling

[CazG]

Hi folks, long time lurker here.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how I can produce a filling for my bonbons that is fresh cream or milk flavoured? 

I've tried a couple of experiments using white chocolate or coconut oil meltaway style bases but it always just ends up tasting like white chocolate and not the more distinctly dairy flavour I'm hoping for. I considered fondant but I'm worried at how sweet it will be. I'd love to find a relatively neutral base to use for this sort of flavour but my google-fu has failed me on this occasion and I just end up overrun with results for ganache that contain the word "milk" or "cream" which is...a lot.

 

For context this is to use for flavours like latte, trifle, tiramisu etc

 

Hopefully someone has come across something suitable before 🤞

 

[gap]

OK - just thinking out loud here ... never tried this. But what if you made a milk jelly with water and plain gelatine (rather than flavoured jelly) and then blitzed it when set so that it was pipeable?

https://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/milk-jelly-like-your-nan-used-to-make/

or with cream

https://3catsfoodie.com/flummery/

 

For both, just trying using water/gelatine instead of a packet of jelly. I'd imagine you'd need to play around with it a bit.

 

No idea if it would work or taste any good but it's a thought ...

 

[pastrygirl]

Hmm, maybe try mascarpone as the "liquid" instead of cream with a smaller proportion of white chocolate?

 

What white are you using?  Felchlin has one that is supposed to be very 'milky' with Swiss mountain milk.

[Jim D.]

pastrygirl beat me to it, but I was going to mention the Felchlin Opus Blanc white chocolate.  I have not used it in making bonbons but have tasted it, and it is very milky.

 

@CazG,  I'm not sure I fully understand what you are looking for.  A basic filling that can be flavored for various bonbons?  In the case of something like tiramisu, once you add the coffee flavoring, you are not going to taste much milk/cream or even white chocolate (I use coffee ganache made with a mix of white and dark chocolate plus mascarpone). 

 

A couple of other ideas:  You can substitute plain cocoa butter for some of the white chocolate and reduce the white chocolate taste (though there is a limit at which the texture of the ganache is ruined).  You can use a white chocolate with less taste of its own:  Cacao Barry's Zephyr perhaps?  But I think Felchlin's Opus Blanc is still your best bet (if you can find it).

 

Another more radical idea is to use a butter ganache:  Mix soft butter with some sort of sweetener (glucose or fondant) plus flavoring and chocolate.  There isn't any cream, but the butter (depending on the brand) can add a lot of dairy flavor.  The Peter Greweling book has lots of recipes for butter ganache.  Again, however, the flavoring can end up masking any strong dairy taste.

[CazG]

Thanks for the suggestions, they're really helpful. 

 

@gap that's an interesting idea. I wonder if I could try making a Panna cotta then blitzing. It could certainly give that creamy taste I'm looking for but not sure what the shelf life and texture would be like. I'll make a batch up and see how long it lasts. At the least, I get to eat delicious panna cotta 😀 

 

@pastrygirl ooh, I hadn't considered mascarpone, I'll have to give it a go to see what the difference is like. I've heard great things about Felchin but I've never had any luck finding it here in the UK. When I try and search for it I only get import sellers.

 

@Jim D. Felchin isn't an option for me in the UK atm but I should be able to get hold of the Cacao Barry Zephyr. I'll put some on order and see what it's like. I'm currently using Callebaut W2 for my white due to being more easily available but I do find it too sweet and would prefer to find something more creamy.

 

For the neutral base, I'm looking for something that I can use more delicate flavours with that won't become lost in a bonbon. I may be chasing the impossible for some things without throwing shelf life out the window but I'll keep running experiments to satisfy my curiosity.

 

I have Greweling here so I'll take a look through and see how he uses the butter ganache for his flavours.