California Prune Valentine Heart Chocolates By Paul A. Young
California Prune Valentine Heart Chocolates By Paul A. Young

California Prune Valentine Heart Chocolates

California Prunes, pecan and orange praline – a special chocolate of textures, layers and long intense flavours.

Makes: 12Prep Time: 45 minutes plus overnight cooling and setting
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INGREDIENTS

  •  
  • For the filling – Ganache:
  • 325g Valrhona caramelia chocolate
  • 125mls milk
  • 87g Valrhona pecan praline paste
  • 35g light muscovado sugar
  • 15 drops essential oil of orange
  • For the California Prune purée:
  • 100g of California Prunes (pitted)
  • 4 tablespoons of warm water
  • For the California Prune layer:
  • 100g California Prune purée
  • For the heart shell:
  • 400g 66% Valrhona Caraibe couverture
  • For the decoration:
  • Metallic scarlet edible pigment
  • * You will need a heart shaped mould for making individual chocolates

DIRECTIONS

For the ganache:

  1. Bring the milk, sugar, pecan praline to the simmer and whisk well.
  2. Pour onto the caramelia chocolate and whisk until smooth.
  3. Add the orange oil and mix well.
  4. Allow the ganache to cool until it is fully cold. This will take about 2 hours.

 

For the California Prune purée:

  1. Blend together 100g of California Prunes (pitted) with 4 tablespoons of warm water.

 

To make the chocolates:

  1. Using an artist’s paint brush apply a small amount of the scarlet powder into the bottom of each of the heart moulds.
  2. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie to 55°c and allow to stay warm and melted for a couple of hours. This will ensure a shiny and smooth finish to your chocolates.
  3. Temper the chocolate and line each mould with tempered chocolate making sure you tap the mould to eliminate any air bubbles.
  4. Tip out all the excess chocolate to leave a chocolate lined cavity.
  5. Place this in the fridge for 15 minutes.
  6. Using a piping bag, squeeze a small mount of the purée into each lined heart.
  7. Then fill another piping bag with the cooled ganache and fill the heart to just below the top. Tap the mould to level.
  8. Leave the mould overnight to set.
  9. Now melt and temper the chocolate again and seal the bottoms of the chocolates by scraping along the mould to give a flat surface, sealing in all the ganache and California Prune purée.
  10. Allow to set for 30 minutes then turn the mould carefully to release the chocolates out of their moulds (they will only release if the chocolate has been correctly tempered)
  11. Keep in a cool dry place and enjoy within seven days