These chocolate bonbons are made from caramel that is deglazed with cream and butter and combined with dark chocolate and sea salt. Because the sea salt is added at the end of the preparation it does not melt and the crystals add a nice additional consistency. Once the ganache is set it is chopped into small cubes. These are dipped in melted chocolate and dusted with unsweetened cocoa powder.
Preparing and deglazing Caramel
To make sure the caramel browns evenly I added some water to the sugar glucose mixture from the beginning. Don´t stir the caramel before it is creating big bubbles while cooking and let it cook at medium heat. Like this it will evenly brown and it will not burn too quickly at the end of the cooking process.
Caramel is around 170C and adding cold cream to it creates a lot of steam and makes the caramel set partly. To make it easier to blend the caramel and cream together, the cream is heated with the butter before adding it to the caramel.
Enrobing chocolates
Enrobing chocolates with a mixture of melted chocolate and cocoa butter gives the chocolate bonbons a thin coating that does not overpower the ganache filling. To help the chocolate set the chocolates are frozen before dipping.
Dusting chocolates with cocoa powder
Letting the chocolates set for a bit once dropped into the cocoa powder will make them firmer and keep their shape better before tossed and fully covered with cocoa powder.
Equipment
To shape the ganache while setting it need to be poured into a square cake ring. As an alternative you can use a square plastic container. Once set you can carefully warm the bottom of the container with warm water to release the ganache from the container.
I use a chocolate fork for dipping, that I bent to a 90º angle, which I think makes it easier to work with. Alternatively you can use a fork. Disposable gloves avoid melting the chocolates while handling them.
Condensation
Condensation occurs when preparations are moved into different environments with a high difference in temperature and/or humidity. Especially in summer it is best to work quickly, put the chocolates back into the freezer after dipping and dusting. Once fully frozen they can be gently defrosted in the fridge.
Shelf life
The chocolate bonbons can be kept in the fridge for at least 2 weeks. Remove them from the fridge for 10 minutes to let them soften a bit before serving them.
Frozen the chocolate bonbons last up to three months.
Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Bonbons
Equipment
- Small Offset Spatula (optional)
Ingredients
Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Bonbons
- 115 g sugar
- 48 g glucose syrup
- some water to just fully moisten the sugar
- 115 g whipping Cream
- 1 tsp vanilla syrup
- 23 g butter
- 390 g dark chocolate couverture, 56% cocoa
- 3.7 g flaky sea salt
- 300 g dark chocolate couverture, 56% cocoa (for enrobing)
- 60 g cocoa butter
Instructions
Ganache
- - Scale chocolate and salt and keep aside.
- - Moisten the square cake ring on the sides, place on a piece of cling film onto a bakig sheet and attach the cling film to the moistened sides of the the ring.
- - Combine cream, butter and vanilla syrup in a pot and bring to a boil, keep aside.
- - Combine sugar, glucose syrup and water in a pot and cook until golden brown. Don´t stir before it forms big bubbles.
- - Add the cream mixture in three additions stirring constantly. Make sure the cream is well combined into the caramel before adding more.
- - Add the chocolate and salt, stir until homogenous.
Enrobing and dusting
- - Pour the ganache into the frame, level out the ganache to an even surface with a small offset spatula.
- - Let the ganache set in the fridge for one hour.
- - Prepare a container with sifted cocoa powder to dust the chocolates in after dipping. Set aside.
- - Remove the ganache from the fridge and remove the ring.
- - Cut the ganache into 2cm cubes, place on a baking sheet and freeze. If the ganache breaks while cutting, it is too cold, let it rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.
- - Melt the dark chocolate and cocoa butter in a water bath.
- - Prepare a medium sized sieve over a bowl to remove access powder after dusting the chocolates. Set aside.
- - Take a handful of chocolate bonbons from the freezer, dip them one by one into the melted chocolate, remove with the chocolate fork and transfer into the sifted cocoa powder.
- - Roll the chocolate bonbon until it is fully covered with cocoa powder, remove and tranfer into the sieve, remove access powder.
- - Transfer the bonbons back into the freezer.
- - Continue with the rest of the chocolates.
- - Transfer chocolate bonbons into a closed container and let thaw gently in the fridge.