Lavender and Earl Grey Home Molded Chocolates
Another of the four home molded chocolates I made for the holiday season was this lavender and Earl Grey ganache in a 70% Valrhona shell. I'd made lavender ganache chocolates before and decided to pump them up a bit with some Earl Grey, but the Earl Grey flavor was mostly overshadowed by the lavender. The chocolates were still great, I think, but they didn't taste a whole lot different than the lavender chocolates I'd made before. In the end, I think Earl Grey is too delicate a flavor to share the stage with lavender. But this ganache recipe can be made with or without the Earl Grey tea . . . and you could also increase the amount of Earl Grey and see if that works. Here's a link to an instructional post on how to mold chocolate. This recipe makes enough ganache for about 80 pieces.
- 260g heavy cream
- whole milk
- 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
- 2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea (about 4 tea bags)
- 74g light corn syrup
- 30g butter, softened
- 376g dark chocolate, tempered at 90°F
- Combine the heavy cream, lavender and tea in a saucepan; bring to a boil; remove from heat; cover and allow to steep for 5 minutes.
- Strain out the lavender and tea using cheesecloth, wringing the cheesecloth to ensure maximum extraction.
- Return the cream to its original weight using whole milk.
- Add the corn syrup to the cream and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and allow to cool to 105°F.
- Combine the butter and tempered chocolate, making sure no lumps remain.
- Gradually pour the cream into the butter/chocolate mixture stirring constantly to form an emulsified ganache.
- Allow to cool to room temperature and then pipe into molded chocolates using a pastry bag as shown here.
Just a suggestion because I have no clue how to make chocolates, and your product is among the best I've ever had. How about using Bergamot instead of Earl Grey tea? Or candied orange?
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Great idea . . . go straight to the flavor source. I wonder where I can find Bergamont. I'll have to do a little research.
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I thought that this chocolate was my favorite, but I have managed to say that about each of the four kinds you gave me. By asking me my favorite is to ask me what kind I last ate. Mmmmmmmmm.
The chocolate gods have been good to me.
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There is a Lavender Earl Grey tea that I get from a tea shop in Annapolis. It may just be the perfect melding of lavender and Earl Grey for chocolates. I may have to give it a whirl.
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Do it! Do it! And let me know how it goes.
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Those look and sound awesome. We made some chocolates for Christmas, but they were strictly the "melt the chocolate wafers, pour it in the molds" variety. Printing this out to maybe try this weekend - thanks!
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My roommates and I LOVE the chocolates. They are yummy!
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That is one gorgeous little work of art! Really perfect!
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