Ingredients
- 125 gram sugar
- 60 gram cream
- 30 gram butter
- 60 gram glucose
- 400 – 500 gram dark chocolate or milk chocolate *Note
*Note: the most easy way to melt chocolate is using chocolate chips (callets) but you can also use chocolate bars and chop them up in small pieces.
Kitchen equipment needed
- medium-sized pan, preferably with a thicker bottom
- whisk
- thermometer
- chocolate molds
- marble slab
- dough scraper
- silicone spatula
- palette knife
- medium-sized pan & bowl that fits on top (te create bain marie)
- piping-bag (without nozzle)
Preparing the caramel filling — 10 minutes
First we’re going to create an awesome caramel filling. It has to cool off completely before you can fill the chocolates, so keep that in mind and take enough time for this recipe.
ADD sugar to the medium-sized pan and caramelize the sugar on low heat, don’t stir! Wait a few minutes, but don’t leave your pan out of your sight, the sugar will burn very quickly. When the sugar is beautifully brown, add the butter and cream. Be carefully, caramel is very hot! After a few minutes, MIX the caramel with glucose and let it cool off completely. The filling should be smooth and creamy, like in the picture below.
Preparing the chocolate — 15 minutes + waiting time
You can seriously write a book about chocolate, about the temperatures and why that’s so important. But we wanted to keep it simple, so everyone can understand. Melting chocolate is easy when you’re using a bain-marie, a pan filled with a small layer of water with a bowl on top. The steam from the water will slowly melt or cook whatever is inside of the bowl. So no burning and the change of things getting too hot is lower than directly on the stove.
Get your kitchen equipment ready before you start to melt the chocolate, so you can get it going right away.
As previously mentioned, temperature is very important. The reason behind this has to do with crystallization and more, but that’s kind of boring so we’re not going to talk about that. The ideal melting temperature for chocolate is between 40 and 45 degrees celsius (104 – 113 degrees fahrenheit). Now for the right crystallization. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but we’re using the marble method. Pour 2/3rd of the melted chocolate on the marble slab and move it around with a dough scraper to cool it off slightly. It has to cool down until it starts to lightly thicken, that won’t take long! ADD the slightly cooled chocolate to the warmer chocolate, that was left in the bowl, as fast as possible. The temperature of the combined chocolate shouldn’t be lower than 32 degrees celsius (89,6 degrees fahrenheit).
Finishing the caramel filled chocolates — 30 minutes + waiting time
Immediately fill the molds with chocolate and let the excess chocolate run out of it. You can do this by tapping the molds carefully while you flip them over, as seen on the picture below. A chocolate shouldn’t be too thick, so that’s why you want to do this for a thin outside. Tapping also helps to remove any air bubbles. Use a palette knife to get rid of the excess chocolate on the mold and clean it as much as possible by carefully scraping it. Now let the chocolate harden in a room where the temperature is stabile and not too warm, e.g. a basement.
When the chocolate is firm enough and the caramel filling is cooled off completely, you can fill the molds with caramel filling. The easiest way to do this is by using a piping-bag (without nozzle). Don’t fill it all the way to the top, you have to create a chocolate bottom as well. Repeat the step of melting the chocolate and cooling it down on the marble slab, exactly how you did before. Now you use that melted chocolate for the bottom of the chocolates. Use the palette knife to, again, get rid of the excess chocolate and creating a flat and smooth bottom. Clean the molds and let them get firm again.
If you got any melted chocolate left in the bowl, you can create a lovely and very easy chocolate milk with it. Cause why throw it out? Just heat milk and combine with the leftover chocolate, and that’s it!
Now all you have to do is tap the molds on the counter to get the chocolates out. Sometimes the chocolates prefer to stay inside of the molds. There are a lot of reasons for this, such as the crystallization and more. When tapping the molds won’t help, you can place them in the freezer for a short while. That mostly helps, try tapping them again after 10 to 15 minutes!
I love caramel filled chocolates and though my brother, the professional chocolatier, makes all sorts of filled chocolate and truffles, I buy mine. You DO make it seem simple though. :)
He’s a professional, how awesome! I loved to work the dessert station at my previous jobs, so precise and worth it. I was trying to make it seem simple, so that goal is reached, YES!
How long would these chocolates last if kept at room temperature?
Hi Natalie, there are a lot of things that affects how long you can keep them. For example, if the temperature fluctuates, the chocolates will lose their taste and beauty a lot sooner. The most ideal temperature to keep chocolates are between 12-18 degrees (53-65 degrees fahrenheit). Also light and air are a factor in this. But if you keep them for example in a basement of some sort, I would say they’re still very perfect after a week. After that you can still eat them, but they won’t be as pretty as they used to be. Hope this answers your question as detailed as possible :)
Can i use Nutella to make the shells?
Hi Stephenie, Nutella is soft and won’t harden like a chocolate bar. You can use it as a filling, but not for the chocolate shells / bonbons :)