This collection of livestream classes will give you a deep dive into all aspects of making all natural, dairy free, refined sugar free bonbons.
If you have learned with me previously, your foundation of knowledge built from focussing on the fundamental techniques and methods of chocolate work will allow you to have fun with the creativity of making bonbons.
My Signature Bonbons
If you have been wanting to express yourself through your chocolate making, bonbons are the perfect canvas for that expression. Artistically speaking, the colouring of the moulds is a great place to your visions come to reality. But then, there’s the internal layering of different flavours, textures and components that can hold your unique perspective and communicate your feelings, thoughts and ideas.
By learning and practicing my tried and tested recipes, you will build the practical, hands on experience needed to execute your own ideas. You’ll learn so many different base components and how versatile they are, that you will have significant wealth of knowledge to draw on in creating your own, unique bonbons.
Peanut & Banana Bonbon
Candied Banana Disc It’s hard to achieve a true banana flavour against dark chocolate and peanut butter as both of those are so intense in flavour. This white chocolate banana disc brims with fresh, ripe banana flavour and balances perfectly against the peanut. The entire bite reminds me of snacking on peanut butter and banana as a kid, but adding in that dark chocolate that only my adult self can appreciate.
Peanut Butter Praline After some extensive testing, this peanut praline was where I settle for this bonbon. For me, this component needed to burst with peanut flavour – mission accomplished. The added texture of sea salt flakes and banana chip pieces gives another rise in the flavour level and some much needed crunch.
Vodka Coffee Bonbon
Caramel Coffee Chocolate For this bonbon, we put the colours to one side and use chocolate dotted with ground coffee as the design element. The flavour of this shell is beautiful. In fact, I sell this chocolate in bar format because it’s so good. It makes for a very creamy, easy to eat bonbon.
Vodka Coffee Caramel Ganache This caramel ganache is so good that I had to create a bonbon for it. I was skeptical about vodka in a chocolate, but it’s so good! It needed something paired against it that complimented it but didn’t overpower or add to the richness too much….
Crunchy Nutmeg Praline …. and this praline was the answer. I tested several ideas here and this one was a clear winner. Cashew is rather neutral, so it gave a creamy vibe without being powerful in flavour. The crunch comes from a sweet oat granola with freshly grated nutmeg – a great flavour pairing with vodka and coffee.
Spice Gin & Hazelnut Bonbon
Spiced Gin Caramel Ganache Last year I was given a bottle of local spiced gin around Christmas. I made it into a spiced gin caramel and people loved it. I was surprised, they sold out in 24 hours. So, I did some work on it and made it into an even better bonbon. The caramel ganache has flavours of orange, cardamom and star anise which bring forth the spiced gin flavour.
Hazelnut Praline So as to not muddle the flavour of the caramel ganache, I settled on a simple, smooth and dark hazelnut praline for this. It’s a great compliment to the gin and spices and offers some creaminess and warmth as well. It’s a perfect pairing.
Mint Crisp Bonbon
Chocolate Caramel Ganache My favourite flavour combo of all time is chocolate and mint. The caramel ganache is creamy and rich, but with low water content. So it makes for a long shelf life bonbon. I like adding some star anise to this caramel as it pairs really nicely with mint, but that’s optional.
Mint Crisp Disc The importance of a long shelf life carries through every element of this bonbon and, in the mint disc element. This bright green, minty disc gives off powerful flavour and creaminess as well. These bonbons remind me of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies from when I was a kid.
Toasted Coconut Bonbon
Toasted Coconut Caramel The ultimate coconut homage starting with a toasted coconut caramel. We use coconut cream as the base for this caramel and coconut sugar, both of which have a lovely coconut flavour. When reduced down together in this way, there’s a sort of warm, nuttiness that comes through the caramel.
‘Milk’ Chocolate Praline Pralines are easy to make and great for adding a neutral layer that will tie all the flavours together. In this bonbon, I wanted to break up the sweetness from the other elements and round it out with some chocolate vibes. This milk praline accomplishes that task, but doesn’t overpower like a dark chocolate praline would. Balance is key here.
Toasted Coconut Feuilletine When creating a bonbon, I always consider the layers, both individually and in terms of the completed bonbon. Typically, I add a crunchy or crispy layer to keep palate alive with different hits of texture and flavour. By doing this, the eating experience is lengthened and heightened.
In this bonbon, I went for a sweet, crispy toasted coconut feuilletine in order to retain the coconut vibes and not introduce more flavours that could muddle up the eating experience. This element is very versatile, no doubt you’ll find dozens of ways to use it by simply changing the shade of chocolate and the crispy element.
Chocolate Cherry Bonbon
Cherry Caramel This caramel is has so much flavour and a beautiful dark red hue. This bonbon has been a bestseller on my market stall and over Christmas in my online shop. People have been bowled over by the flavour and texture of the entire bonbon. This fruit caramel can be made tart by reducing the sweetener added without compromising on the texture.
Chocolate Ganache The caramel is really the star of the show in this bonbon so I paired it with a classic chocolate ganache. This ganache is waterless and therefore has a long shelf as, as does the caramel itself. As such, the completed bonbon is shelf stable for up to 3 months.
Orange Vodka Bonbon
Orange Vodka Caramel Ganache This caramel ganache came off of a beautiful orange caramel recipe for another bonbon in my range. I wanted to use a vodka and honey produced locally to me in a way that those ingredients would really shine through. This combination has been a home-run with the distillery that produces the vodka and on my market stall with customers. As we don’t cook the alcohol out, the warmth of the vodka comes through without it being too ‘raw’ and intense tasting.
When working with alcohols, the challenge is getting the right texture and set point, as alcohol affects the set point dramatically, but it also offers a natural preservative. This bonbon has a long shelf life of 4 months when cased in a well made shell (meaning, no holes in the cap or shell).
Coffee Banana Sambuca Bonbon
Caramelised Bananas In this bonbon we are making caramelised bananas using a slow process which also reduces their natural liquid content in order to extent the overall longevity of this finished chocolate. We keep the bananas somewhat chunky in order to preserve their texture. The caramlised flavour goes beautifully with the coffee. sambuca and dark chocolate.
Coffee Sambuca Dark Chocolate Caramel Ganache This caramel ganache came off of the coffee caramel that I use in my Tiramisu Bonbon. I wanted to use Sambuca because I adore the flavour of anise, which pairs perfectly with coffee. This combination has been a long standing tradition in Denmark where they use liquorice in a wide range of their chocolates. As we don’t cook the alcohol out, the warmth of the Sambuca comes through without it being too ‘raw’ and intense tasting.
When working with alcohols, the challenge is getting the right texture and set point, as alcohol affects the set point dramatically, but it also offers a natural preservative. This bonbon has a long shelf life of 4 months when cased in a well made shell (meaning, no holes in the cap or shell).
