Box of Chocolates

First of all to make your own filled chocolates  you need to temper the chocolate (heat it up and cool it down) to a certain temperature depending on the type of chocolate you are using.

Type of Chocolate	bittersweet/ dark	milk or white
Melting temperature	55oC -58oC	45oC - 50oC
Cooling temperature	31oC –32oC	30oC –31oC milk 27oC –28oC white

          What you’ll need (~35 filled chocolates) 

 

 

        300 gr dark chocolate

 

        1 digital thermometer

 

1 flexible spatula

 

 Chocolate moulds

 

 

Heat some water in a pan and pop the bowl on top of the pan (bain-marie).

Chop your chocolate evenly and put about two-thirds of it in a heatproof bowl. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Water is the worst enemy of chocolate so try to wipe out the drop of water that possibly forms at the side of the bowl. Allow the chocolate to melt slowly on a very low heat.

 

Check the temperature and remove from the bain-marie when it reaches the desired temperature (58^oC). Now add the remaining chopped chocolate, pop the thermometer in and stir the chocolate until it reaches the desired cooling temperature (32^oC).

This will take a while. You can accelerate the process revolving with a spatula and if you have a surface where to spread the chocolate is even easier. When ready wrap the bowl with a tea towel to help keeping the right temperature.

 

Start to fill the moulds this is the fun part and try to cover all borders of the mould and discard the excess chocolate back in the bowl. Blast chill 5min in freezer.

Now add your fillings of choice. I used glacé cherries, Nutella, homemade dulce the leche (caramel) and chestnut puree. Put the remaining chocolate on top and shake to fill all gaps and remove air bubbles.

 

Blast chill 5-10 minutes and your chocolates are ready.

Enjoy them yourself or wrap them as a nice present for your friends