I tempered chocolate!!

[Becky]

My other half has a thing for violet creams (I swear he isn't a little old lady from a Jane Austin novel!) but we've found it difficult to find good ones for a reasonable price. His favourite ones are £13 for 9 chocolates... I think he discovered them when they were on offer, but there's no way we'd pay full price!

I decided to have a go at making them. He is allergic to milk so I wanted to keep them dairy free too. This is the recipe I used:

https://charlotteslivelykitchen.com/fondant-filled-chocolates/

I used dark chocolate (Lindt 70%) and added 5 drops of violet flavouring to the marshmallow filling which was just right.

The thing I was most excited about was that I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO TEMPER THE CHOCOLATE!!

I've tried it before and it has never gone well, so I was thrilled it worked! I think having a good thermometer made all the difference. I melted the chocolate, and finely grated some chocolate too, and I added the grated chocolate to the melted chocolate until the temperature got down to 32C.

Annoyingly my silicone mould must have had a little water on it, so I got a sugar bloom on the chocolates which was annoying. It only seemed to affect how they looked though, the chocolate had a great 'snap'.

I'm so excited to try it again! I want to make all the chocolates now

 

[Norcalbaker59]

My other half has a thing for violet creams (I swear he isn't a little old lady from a Jane Austin novel!) but we've found it difficult to find good ones for a reasonable price. His favourite ones are £13 for 9 chocolates... I think he discovered them when they were on offer, but there's no way we'd pay full price!

I decided to have a go at making them. He is allergic to milk so I wanted to keep them dairy free too. This is the recipe I used:

https://charlotteslivelykitchen.com/fondant-filled-chocolates/

I used dark chocolate (Lindt 70%) and added 5 drops of violet flavouring to the marshmallow filling which was just right.

The thing I was most excited about was that I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO TEMPER THE CHOCOLATE!!

I've tried it before and it has never gone well, so I was thrilled it worked! I think having a good thermometer made all the difference. I melted the chocolate, and finely grated some chocolate too, and I added the grated chocolate to the melted chocolate until the temperature got down to 32C.

Annoyingly my silicone mould must have had a little water on it, so I got a sugar bloom on the chocolates which was annoying. It only seemed to affect how they looked though, the chocolate had a great 'snap'.

I'm so excited to try it again! I want to make all the chocolates now

Woo Hoo! Congratulations on the successful tempering! Chocolate is sooooo intimidating. I always get anxious when I work with chocolate. I’ve gotten bloom at times; and once had a pot full of chocolate that I couldn’t get into temper. So I relate to how excited you are about a successful temper.

Interesting how different cultures like different flavors. As a child I remember violet candies. My grandmother used to buy them in tins. But I rarely see them these days.

My two favorite British imports are Lyle’s Golden Syrup and Elderflower cordial. I love to mix it with sparkling mineral water and lemon juice or orange juice. And it makes an extraordinary chiffon cake. I think it’s my best cake. I’m going to bake an elderflower orange cake with passion fruit curd for my niece’s 6th birthday party.

But it’s hard to find the elderflower cordial here. I have to go to a special market that specializes in imports. I was surprised when the store clerk said, “that’s our most popular flavor.” I thought I was the only one buying it there

 

[Becky]

I actually bought some powdered cocoa butter to help with tempering the chocolate, but the box was damaged in transit and what arrived was unusable. The grated chocolate method seemed to work well though. I received the replacement cocoa butter today, so I'm hoping to try it sometime soon.

The marshmallow centre was nice, but next time I think I might try making a violet liqueur truffle using violet liqueur in a dark chocolate ganache. I've found what looks like a good recipe for using dairy free milk instead of cream, so I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Interesting how different cultures like different flavors. As a child I remember violet candies. My grandmother used to buy them in tins. But I rarely see them these days.

Yeah it is weird... to be honest Ian is an oddity for his love of violet - most people don't like it! You still see sweets called 'parma violets' in the shops, but that's about it really.

My two favorite British imports are Lyle’s Golden Syrup and Elderflower cordial. I love to mix it with sparkling mineral water and lemon juice or orange juice. And it makes an extraordinary chiffon cake. I think it’s my best cake. I’m going to bake an elderflower orange cake with passion fruit curd for my niece’s 6th birthday party.

Mmmm I love elderflower, and that cake sounds divine I really like the cordial too, I sometimes use it to make an alcohol-free mojito with limes, fresh mint, and sparkling water. It's also really good added to a G&T! I want to try elderflower wine sometime too.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I actually bought some powdered cocoa butter to help with tempering the chocolate, but the box was damaged in transit and what arrived was unusable. The grated chocolate method seemed to work well though. I received the replacement cocoa butter today, so I'm hoping to try it sometime soon.

The marshmallow centre was nice, but next time I think I might try making a violet liqueur truffle using violet liqueur in a dark chocolate ganache. I've found what looks like a good recipe for using dairy free milk instead of cream, so I'm looking forward to trying it out.



Yeah it is weird... to be honest Ian is an oddity for his love of violet - most people don't like it! You still see sweets called 'parma violets' in the shops, but that's about it really.



Mmmm I love elderflower, and that cake sounds divine I really like the cordial too, I sometimes use it to make an alcohol-free mojito with limes, fresh mint, and sparkling water. It's also really good added to a G&T! I want to try elderflower wine sometime too.

Let me know how the powdered cocoa butter works. Like you I use the seeding method. I bought some plain cocoa butter to give that a try in tempering, but I haven’t done any chocolate yet.

The elderflower mojito sounds good. The brand i buy, Belvoir, is like the nectar of Gods. I love it best with sparkling. I find when I use plain tap water it needs a spoon of sugar.

I didn’t know they made wine out of the berries. I always associate the berries with medicine. Here the berries are used for alternative health treatments. The natural pharmacies and health food stores sell elderberry elixirs and supplements for flu and allergy treatments.

I once read the European elderberries has much more antioxidants than the American species. But it’s still a very popular and highly valued medicinal plant here.

All I know is the flower makes a delicious cordial. Unlike rose water and orange blossom water which are very floral, elderflower has a wonderful fruit flavor. It reminds me of a mixture of honeysuckle and kumquats. Yummy

 

[Becky]

It reminds me of a mixture of honeysuckle and kumquats. Yummy

I hadn't thought of it like that before, but I see what you mean! That's a good way to describe the flavour for someone who hasn't tried it before.

I think the wine can be made with either the berries or the flowers - the latter being what I've seen in the shops. I have tried Elderflower Liqueur before and it was quite disappointing, I much prefer just adding the cordial to alcoholic drinks.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I hadn't thought of it like that before, but I see what you mean! That's a good way to describe the flavour for someone who hasn't tried it before.

I think the wine can be made with either the berries or the flowers - the latter being what I've seen in the shops. I have tried Elderflower Liqueur before and it was quite disappointing, I much prefer just adding the cordial to alcoholic drinks.

Yes, the flavor is so unique. It’s really more tropical fruity than floral. I’m not a fan of rose water anything. And I will only use orange blossom water to accent foods with an already bold orange flavor. But I’ll drink elderflower cordial mineral water spritzers all day long. The cordial bottle says it’s best to use within 3 weeks of opening—like it will even last a week in my refrigerator