Dark Chocolate Hazelnut BonBon Spiders
- 1 pound dark chocolate couverture
- 10 ounces heavy cream
- 2 ounces butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon hazelnut extract
- 80 polycarbonate chocolate molds
- Red cocoa butter, for treating mold
- Tempered Dark Chocolate Couverture, recipe follows
- 80 whole hazelnuts
- 1 pound 6 ounces dark chocolate couverture, divided
- For the hazelnut ganache: Put the chocolate couverture in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, scald the heavy cream.
- Pour the scalded heavy cream over the chocolate couveture and set aside for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the scalded milk to melt the chocolate.
- With a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate and heavy cream until fully blended and smooth.
- Add the butter and stir with a rubber spatula to incorporate.
- Add the hazelnut extract and stir to incorporate.
- Pour the mixture into a large pastry bag and set aside.
- Pre-treat the polycarbonate chocolate mold with red (or any color desired) cocoa butter.
- Once the cocoa butter is set, brush each mold with a thin layer of tempered chocolate.
- Fill the entire mold with the fluid tempered chocolate and tap on work surface to release air bubbles.
- Quickly invert the mold and tap out excess chocolate.
- With a putty knife, scrape off the rest of the chocolate, let the mold rest upside down for 1 minute, and then scrape off surface of mold again.
- Let the chocolate set.
- Fill each mold with hazelnut ganache, 3/4 of the way full.
- Let the hazelnut ganache set.
- Pour the fluid tempered chocolate over the mold and spread thin, scraping off any excess.
- Tap mold on surface to release any air bubbles, and then scrape excess chocolate again.
- Transfer the finished mold to the freezer and let set for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Pull out the mold, invert, and tap on clean work surface to release finished bonbon.
- To assemble: Dip the hazelnuts in fluid tempered chocolate and let set.
- Attach to finished bonbons with a small dab of tempered chocolate.
- With a small pastry bag, pipe the tempered chocolate on parchment paper in a 1 1/2-inch upside-down V-shape.
- Repeat to make 80.
- Once set, lift the piped tempered chocolate and attach to the bonbons with a small dab of tempered chocolate to look like the legs of a spider.
- This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant.
- The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.
- Over a double boiler, melt 1 pound 4 ounces chocolate to 115 to 120 degrees F. Bring the bowl with the melted chocolate to a flat, clean work surface (preferably marble or stainless steel ), wiping away any access water or steam from the bowl.
- With a rubber spatula, fully incorporate the remaining 2 ounces chocolate.
- Bring down the temperature of the chocolate to 80 to 84 degrees F by either stirring constantly in a figure 8 motion, or tabling (see Cook's Note).
- Once cooled, test the chocolate by dipping a small strip of parchment paper into the melted chocolate, and then lay it down on a clean work surface.
- If tempered, the chocolate on the parchment paper should be dry, hard, shiny, and without any streaks in 3 to 5 minutes.
- If any of these occur, keep stirring (agitating) the chocolate, or table it again, until a parchment paper test shows that the chocolate is tempered.
- When tempered, bring the chocolate back to the double boiler and reheat to NO HIGHER than 89 degrees F. (Bringing the temperature back up aids in a more fluid working consistency.)
- Transfer the chocolate to a chocolate warmer or set the bowl on top of a heating pad (at medium setting) to keep in temper.
- Cook's Note: To table, pour 2/3 of the chocolate onto a marble slab, quickly spread with a thin metal spatula, scrape into a pile with a putty knife, and then spread thin again.
- Repeat until the right consistency is reached.
- Add back to the warm chocolate.
chocolate couverture, heavy cream, butter, hazelnut, polycarbonate, red cocoa butter, chocolate, hazelnuts, chocolate couverture
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/dark-chocolate-hazelnut-bonbon-spiders-recipe.html (may not work)