California Prune Valentine Heart Chocolates By Paul A. Young
California Prunes, pecan and orange praline – a special chocolate of textures, layers and long intense flavours.
Ingredients
* You will need a heart shaped mold for making individual chocolates
For the filling – Ganache:
- 325g Valrhona caramelia chocolate
- 125mlL milk
- 87g Valrhona Pecan praline paste
- 35g Light Muscovado sugar
- 15 drops Essential Oil of Orange
Bring the milk, sugar, pecan praline to the simmer and whisk well
Pour it onto the caramelia chocolate and whisk until smooth
Add the orange oil and mix well
Allow the ganache to cool until it is fully cold. This will take about 2 hours
For the California Prune puree:
- Blend together 100g of California Prunes (pitted) with 4 tablespoons of warm water
For the California Prune layer:
- 100g California Prune puree
For the heart shell:
- 400g 66% Valrhona Caraibe couverture
For the decoration:
- Metallic scarlet edible pigment
Directions
- Using an artist’s paint brush apply a small amount of the scarlet powder into the bottom of each of the heart moulds
- 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
- Temper the chocolate and line each mould with tempered chocolate making sure you tap the mould to eliminate any air bubbles
- Tip out all the excess chocolate to leave a chocolate lined cavity
- Place this in the fridge for 15 minutes
- Using a piping bag squeeze a small mount of the puree into each lined heart
- Then fill another piping bag with the cooled ganache and fill the heart just below the top and tap the mould to level
- Leave the mould overnight to set
- 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 puree
- 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
- Keep in a cool dry place and enjoy within seven days
NOTES:
Prunes are now the only natural, whole and dried fruit to achieve an authorised ruling by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Eating 100g California Prunes daily contributes to normal bowel function as part of a healthy, balanced diet and lifestyle. Prunes are naturally fat and saturated fat free, high in vitamin K and potassium and a good source of manganese and vitamin B6
Allergens – Milk, Nuts, Soya
