Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Making dipped chocolates, part 1

About two months ago, my sister received a cookbook, as a birthday gift, entitled "Chocolate Obsession." One day, out of the blue, she handed it to me and told me that I could have it, saying, "It'll probably be better in your hands than mine." Not really knowing what that meant, I read the first few pages. It had some historical information on chocolate, how to select the right kind, taste it, differences between levels of cocoa, etc...and then it got hardcore. It had in-depth instructions/tips on preparing and infusing chocolate ganaches (more to come on that), tempering chocolate, rolling truffles, and molding chocolates, before any of the recipes! Who knew that making chocolate was so complicated?

So to make a long story short, I read through all the prep work and recently made chocolate ganache squares for dipping and I wish to share my experience with you as well as clarify all of the mystery that's involved in making dipped chocolates.

There are really 2 main steps in making your own chocolates. They are:
1. Preparing the ganache
"Ganache" is a French word for the emulsification of cream, butter, and chocolate. It's essentially the "filling" of a chocolate; the softness inside the crispy outside. Ganaches can be infused with a variety of different flavors. Ganache also involves a magic ingredient called invert sugar. Exactly. What the fuck? Don't ask, just buy it from a specialty candy making shop or order it online like I did. Also, an immersion blender is great for blending the cream, chocolate, and butter. It works much quicker than whisking by hand and not to mention, an immersion blender is great mult-tasker to have in your kitchen.

2. Dipping the ganache in tempered chocolate or rolling them into truffles
After you've made the ganache, allowed it to sit, and cool, the next step is to cut it up into squares and either dip them into melted chocolate (for chocolate candies) or roll them into truffles (for...truffles). If you choose the dipping route, this will require tempering chocolate which will be covered in Part 2.

For my first attempt, I decided to make Earl Grey infused ganache for dipping. So let's begin, shall we? I will try and make this as easy and painless as possible. Essentially, all that's happening is you're brewing the tea in the cream and sugar mixture. After that, you'll strain it and mix it with the melted chocolate. Next, blend, add butter, and pour it into the pan. That's all there is to it! Here's the detailed recipe which looks much more complicated than it really is.

You will need:
- A baking pan lined with plastic wrap. Square preferred, but rectangular is fine
- 1 c heavy cream
- 4 oz. invert sugar
- 1 oz. loose Earl Grey tea leaves (strained to remove fine bits)
- 9 oz. loosely chopped dark chocolate
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature (very important that it is at room temp)
- Cheesecloth
- Instant-read thermometer
- Immersion blender
- Offset spatula

1. Heat cream and invert sugar to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, add tea, cover with plastic wrap. Let steep for 15 minutes or so.
2. Over a double boiler, heat the chocolate to 115 degrees. Remove bowl from pot.
3. Strain cream through a fine-mesh sieve lined with the cheesecloth into a large measuring cup. Use a cup sieve (and a friend) for easier straining. Wring the cheesecloth to get as much liquid as you can. You'll want 10 ounces of this Earl Grey infused goodness. Add cream or discard it to get that volume. Bring cream up to 115 degrees. Microwave is fine.
4. Pour chocolate and cream into a clear vessel and blend with immersion blender. The ganache will thicken, become less shiny, and be like pudding. Add butter. Repeat.
5. Pour ganache into your lined pan and spread as evenly as possible with an offset spatula. Let it sit at room temperature for a few hours, cover it with more plastic, and throw it in the fridge.

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