We got some excellent chocolate on a grand discount-- 2 kilos for about 8 dollars. So I decided to try me ol' hand at making chocolate bonbons.
Flatly refused to look up the tricks on Google; much better to figure it
out all by myself and make my own mistakes.
My bain-marie arrangement. Two unrelated pots that just happened to fit more or less snugly into each other.
I'll be honest. I originally started out with the intention of making chocolate leaves, not bonbons. Made about 30 leaves, but it was exceedingly tedious work. That's when I noticed the empty ice-cube tray...
Smart me. Dig my rum-raisin-and-almond ice-cube bonbons.
The finished batch. First of many.
I tried coating nuts and raisins by dipping them in the chocolate, but the result was less than satisfactory all around. Visually, I mean, because they actually tasted smashing.
But dipping too many rum-soaked raisins caused the chocolate to "seize" (which means that it gets tough and grainy), so I tossed in the rest of the raisins in one go, added plenty of shredded coconut, and when the mixture was slightly cooled, rolled it into cookie-sized balls, which I then smashed flat, and wrapped in silver foil. They looked pretty vile, but tasted divine.
But dipping too many rum-soaked raisins caused the chocolate to "seize" (which means that it gets tough and grainy), so I tossed in the rest of the raisins in one go, added plenty of shredded coconut, and when the mixture was slightly cooled, rolled it into cookie-sized balls, which I then smashed flat, and wrapped in silver foil. They looked pretty vile, but tasted divine.
A few of my best leaves. My poor husband was completely baffled as to how I got chocolate to look just like a wrinkled leaf. He actually couldn't figure it out until I showed him how, har har.
(Score for Praise)
(Score for Praise)
Speaking of which, it's extremely simple to make chocolate leaves. Gather a variety of tough, well-veined leaves, always ensuring that they are not of a poisonous variety. Wash them with cold water and allow to dry thoroughly.
Melt your chocolate over a double-boiler, and with an artist's paintbrush, gently brush the vein-side of a leaf with a layer of chocolate. Refrigerate, or lay aside until completely cool. Repeat, until desired thickness is achieved. The secret is to do the second/third layer quickly, so that the hot chocolate does not melt the cooled layer beneath.
When the last layer is completely cooled, gently remove the leaf. Preferably, keep leaves refrigerated. Makes awesome decoration on cakes, cream muffins, etc.
More pictures of my latest batch, including attempts at creamy-nut-butter filling, mint filling and stuffed cherry-rum fillings, to follow.
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