Crafting chocolate bonbons is an exhilarating adventure that brings the entire family together in a delightful and sweet experience!
Ingredients
Chocolate of any kind.
Double cream or soy milk for the vegan option
In case you like to add flavours to your ganache (filling) you will need any flavour liquid or powder. In our class, we used alcohol and espresso.
Additional Requirements
Piping bags
Spatula
Bowls
Food thermometer
Scraper
Microwave to melt our chocolate.
Coffee Mug
Refrigerator
Kitchen scale
Chocolate bonbons mould
Chocolate ganache formula
For a mould of 24 bonbons we need a bit less than 120 grams of ganache
Dark chocolate –
The amount of chocolate in grams divided by 1.5 equals the amount of the liquid in grams.
Milk or white chocolate –
The amount of chocolate in grams divided by 2 equals the amount of liquid in grams.
Liquid quantity = Double cream or soy milk for vegan + liquid flavours like alcohol, orange juice or espresso.
Chocolate Melting:
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a microwave safe bowl. Warm the chocolate in 30-second pulses, stirring in between, until fully melted. Be cautious not to overheat the chocolate, as it can burn.
Chocolate shell creations:
For 24 bonbons mould, you need to temper about 350 grams of chocolate.
Tempering your chocolate – Raise the melted chocolate temperature to 45 degrees, add a bit of the chocolate you did not melt (can be any chocolate from the supermarket) and stir constantly. When you can not find unmelted chocolate in your bowl, add more. Keep doing that until your chocolate gets to 30 degrees. Now your chocolate is tempered and ready.
Transfer your chocolate to a piping bag, and pipe the chocolate into the mould shells. Make sure the chocolate is a bit above the mould surface. When the mould is full, shake it a bit to get bubbles out.
Turn the mould upside down to empty the shells. You may knock the mould with your scraper to help the chocolate come out. To clean the mould surface, scrape it when it is still upside down.
Leave the mould to set.
Ganache preparation:
Add the double cream and liquids you calculated to the melted chocolate. Stir slowly until the mixture is smooth and shiny, forming a creamy ganache.
Transfer the ganache into a piping bag. Pipe the ganache into the bonbon shells, leaving about 5mm gap for the chocolate to seal the bonbon shells.
It is recommended to let the ganache to set in the mould overnight
Seal the mould:
Temper another 120 grams of chocolate.
Using a tablespoon, spread your chocolate over the first line of the mould, skip the next line and cover the 3rd one. Keep doing it over every other line. Using your scraper, scrape the mould surface to seal the shells and clean the mould from extra chocolate.
Let the mould set. It is an option to use the refrigerator to speed up the process. As our refrigerator is full of humidity, don’t leave the mould in it for more than 10 minutes.
Remove the bonbons from the mould:
Place a chopping board on the surface of the mould, and turn it upside down. Pump it on the working table. Carefully lift the mould.
If not all the bonbons got out of the mould shells, pump it again carefully.
Storage:
Keep your bonbons at room temperature or in a sealed box in the refrigerator. For the best eating experience, take it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before eating time.