This recipe for lemon ganache lollipops pairs the rich taste of chocolate with the freshness of citrus. The lollipops are perfect served with a coffee after a special dinner.
Lemon ganache lollipops
Adapted from a lemon ganache recipe by Jérôme Landrieu published in the so good… pastry magazine, these lemon ganache lollipops bring together smooth white chocolate lemon ganache, crisp dark chocolate, and crunchy roasted cocoa nibs.
The process of making the lollipops works as follows. A ganache is made out of cream, milk, white couverture, cocoa butter, and lemon juice. This is then frozen and shaped into balls, which in turn are dipped into melted chocolate and topped with cocoa nibs.
There are two key techniques worth understanding before attempting this recipe: how to shape the frozen lemon ganache filling, and how to glaze it with chocolate.
Shaping the lemon ganache
Once all the ingredients for the ganache have been combined, the mixture needs to be shaped. The best technique to shape the ganache into perfectly round balls is to pour the filling into a Silikonmart, Semi-Sphere mold and place it in the freezer for around two hours.
As soon as the ganache is frozen, take one of the half-spheres and, with gloved fingers, warm the flat surface a bit. Take a second half-sphere and stick it to the slightly melted surface of the first, making a ball. All that remains to be done before glazing the lollipops with chocolate is to insert a lollipop stick into each one.
Glazing the lollipops with chocolate
The second step involves glazing the lollipops with chocolate. The standard way of doing this is to temper the chocolate. This involves melting it to 50ºC, then cooling it to 26ºC and finally reheating it to between 31 and 32ºC.
Tempering chocolate makes for silky smooth ‘snapping’ chocolate that doesn’t separate or bloom. The process of tempering realigns the cocoa butter crystals in the chocolate to form so-called ‘beta crystals’ – which are the structures that make chocolate shiny and crisp.
In this recipe, the frozen ganache is glazed with melted chocolate mixed with cocoa butter. Although this technique means the chocolate is tempered in a less stable way, the advantage is that it allows you to glaze the ganache filling with just a very thin layer of chocolate, so as not to overpower the flavor of the ganache.
This approach is also more accessible to anyone less experienced in pâtisserie, as it is faster and requires less experience than tempering chocolate does.
Let’s start …
Lemon Ganache, Dark Chocolate & Roasted Cocoa Nibs Lollipops
Equipment
- Hand blender
- Silikomart-Semi-sphere, mini
- Lollipop sticks
Ingredients
For the white chocolate lemon ganache (adapted from Jérôme Landrieu´s recipe)
- 172 g white couverture, (33% cocoa butter)
- 34 g cocoa butter
- 86 g milk (1.5% fat)
- 86 g cream (30% fat)
- 31 g lemon juice
For the dark chocolate glaze & roasted cocoa nibs
- 125 g dark couverture (56% cocoa solids)
- 12 g cocoa butter
- 40 g roasted cocoa nibs
Instructions
White chocolate lemon ganache
- 1. Combine the white couverture and cocoa butter in the container of the hand blender.2. Combine the milk with the cream and heat it to 80°C.3. Pour the heated liquid a third at a time through a strainer and onto the dry ingredients. Blend. 4. Add the lemon juice and blend the ganache until homogenous.
- 5. Spread the ganache into the silicon mold with a small palette knife.6. Store in the freezer for about two hours until completely frozen.7. Remove half-spheres from the silicon mold.
8. Take one of the half-shperes and gently heat the flat surface with your fingers to "glue" the half-spheres together to form a ball.
- 9. Insert a lollipop stick into each ball. 10. Store in the freezer while preparing the dark chocolate.
Finishing
1. Combine the chocolate couverture with the cocoa butter over a water bath. Heat until just melted and stir it until it is homogenous. Transfer it into a deep container.2. Put the cocoa nibs in a shallow tray.3. Take a couple of lollipops from the freezer and dip each lollipop into the melted chocolate, then into the cocoa nibs. 4. Place the glazed lollipops into another deep container while the chocolate sets.It is important that the lollipops do not thaw too much between taking them out of the freezer and dipping them. The surface of the ganache would start melting and the ganache balls would change their shape getting in contact with the warm chocolate.