Chocolate Pumpkin Candy Dish
32 ounces white chocolate, tempered
Powdered food colors
8 ounces cocoa butter, melted
16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, tempered
Special equipment, See source link for information:
Halloween transfer sheet
3-dimensional pumpkin dish mold
Make the pumpkin candies: Fill a piping bag with tempered white
chocolate. Fill each pumpkin cavity with the chocolate and allow it
to set. You can place the mold in the refrigerator for 10 to 15
minutes to help the chocolate to harden. When set, the pumpkin
candies should pop out of the mold. You can serve them as they are
or you can sandwich 2 together. To sandwich them together, pipe a
little of the white chocolate on the back of 1 piece and press
another candy back-to-back. Let the chocolate harden.
Make the pumpkin candy dish: Place some powdered orange food color
in a small bowl. Add a few tablespoons of cocoa butter to the food
color and stir until well combined. Use a pastry brush (or a clean
pastry brush used only for food, not for paint) to paint the inside
of the mold (top and bottom) with the color. Make sure the inside is
completely coated. You can use a hairdryer to warm up the cocoa
butter paint if it begins to cool. Place the mold in the
refrigerator for a few minutes until the cocoa butter sets.
Use a cornet filled with bittersweet chocolate to pipe the chocolate
into the stem at the top of the mold. Allow the chocolate to set.
When the painted mold has set, use a ladle to completely fill each
piece (the top and the bottom) of the mold with white chocolate. Tap
the mold on the counter to encourage the air bubbles to depart. When
the mold is full, empty it into the bowl of chocolate. The inside of
the mold should be evenly coated with chocolate. Scrape the mold
clean with an offset spatula and place it upside down on a wire rack
placed over a baking sheet. It may be necessary to give each mold
more than one coat. This will make the candy dish stronger.
Once the chocolate starts to harden, about 5 minutes, scrape the
edge clean with a chef's knife. When the chocolate sets, it shrinks
or retracts from the sides of the mold. A clean edge will keep it
from sticking and cracking as it shrinks. You can place the mold in
the refrigerator for several minutes to help the chocolate to
harden. Repeat with as many molds as you would like to make.
Unmold the pumpkin candy dish. It should pop out of the mold. Fill
the bottom of the mold with pumpkin candies. Place the top of the
mold in place.
Whenever I use cocoa butter mixed with food color, I like to use an
electric yogurt maker. The yogurt maker will keep the cocoa butter
melted. Leave the "paints" in the yogurt maker at the end of your
project. When you are ready for the next project, just plug in the
yogurt maker and, in 60 minutes, you are ready to go.
The pumpkin candies are made with a special Halloween transfer
sheet. It is 3-dimensional and you will need to purchase it before
you begin. You will also need to purchase the 3-dimensional pumpkin
dish mold.
Source of Recipe: Jacques Torres |