These super cute coffee ganache chocolate bonbons are filled with a coffee ganache and crunchy toasted almonds. Surprise your family and friends with a box of homemade chocolate bonbons. Creamy coffee ganache and snapping dark chocolate are the perfect match.
Chocolate bonbons make a perfect gift for any occasion. For instance, birthday parties, baby showers, Christmas, Valentine’s, Mother’s and Father’s Day or simply when visiting someone. And, I can guarantee, that everyone loves homemade chocolate bonbons. But they will love them even more when they look beautiful, too.
I just got my new chocolate bonbon molds. The first one has a sleek and elegant shape, almost like a tear. On the other hand, the second one is half the size and it looks like a mini halved log. There are really hundreds of different bonbon forms that you can choose from. You can find almost any shape you like.
On top, the next great thing about chocolate bonbons is, you can play with flavours as much as you want. For example, you can use fruits, chocolate, and nuts and you can add liqueur and spirits to the filling as well. There is a flavour for every taste.
Golden chocolate shell
Anyway, it is time for another chocolate bonbon. This time I made rich creamy coffee-flavoured chocolate bonbons. Not only do they taste good, they look amazing as well. Just look at this beautiful shell! I am so proud of it. It almost resembles some well-polished wood with a gold shimmer.
How did I achieve that? It just happened. I simply mixed tempered cocoa butter with gold colour and applied it into each mould cavity. No need for any fancy tools. In other words, your finger is your brush.
Nonetheless, how easy it is to work with chocolate, I can’t stress enough how important the temperature of the chocolate is when making chocolate bonbons and other chocolate creations. Get the chocolate to the right temperatures and you’ll succeed. Therefore, a thermometer is your best friend when it comes to chocolate.
In the recipe, you’ll see the word “temper” a couple of times. To temper means bringing the chocolate to a different temperature to modify its crystal structure. For all of you who would like to know why tempering chocolate is so important, I explained it in my last chocolate bonbon post: raspberry cardamom milk chocolate bonbons.
Ingredients for ca 30-40 coffee ganache chocolate bonbons (depending on your moulds):
- 15 g cocoa butter
- edible gold colour (a tip of a toothpick or as desired)
- 420 g dark chocolate chips /couverture (keep 80 g + 60 g on a side)
Coffee ganache
- 130 ml cream
- 15 g coffee beans
- 13 g glucose
- 5 g inverted sugar
- 10 g butter
- 110 g milk chocolate chips/couverture
- 40 g toasted chopped almonds
Shiny golden shimmering shell
In a small heatproof bowl, melt the cocoa butter (using a water bath or microwave). Once it reaches 40-43°C start to cool it down to 26°C by stirring constantly (keep checking the temperature using the thermometer). Then, reheat it back to 29°-30°C, mix in the gold colour and start to “paint” your molds. Create any design you like. Then, flip the mold upside-down onto a paper towel and drag it, to wipe off the excess butter and colour. Allow to set for 5-10 minutes.
Tempering
In the meantime, place two-thirds (ca 280g) of dark chocolate chips into a clean and dry heatproof bowl. Melt it over a water bath or in a microwave. When it reaches 40°-45°C remove it from the heat and stir in 80g of dark chocolate chips until melted and cooled. You can use an ice bath as well. Once it reaches 27°C quickly reheat it back to 31°-32°C. Work fast. Then transfer it into a piping bag, cut a smaller tip to control the flow and fill the mold cavities to the top.
Tap the form a couple of times on the counter to remove all the air bubbles. Then, flip the form upside-down, holding it over a silicone mat, and let the chocolate drip out of the mold cavities. Tap the sides of the mold to remove the excess chocolate.
Once the chocolate stops dripping, use a bench scraper to scrape the surface of the mold (still holding it upside down). Once “clean”, place it on the table (with cavities up) and allow it to set for about 20 minutes or the time you will need to prepare the ganache. Scrape the chocolate in excess and place it back in the bowl for later.
Coffee ganache
In a smaller pot, combine cream and coffee beans. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and cover with foil. Let it infuse for about 20 minutes.
Then, continue with the coffee ganache. Add glucose, inverted sugar and butter to another pot, and sieve the cream over glucose and butter. Heat it until dissolved. At this point, pour everything over the milk chocolate chips. Mix to combine and blend to emulsify. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag and allow to cool down to 28-29°C.
In the meantime, toast the almonds. Place the chopped almonds in a smaller frying pan and toast them until golden, by shaking them from time to time. They should be 3-4 mm large. Put aside to cool down.
After the ganache has cooled down, pipe a bit of it in each chocolate shell (just enough to cover the bottom). Then, add some (4-5) toasted almonds. Now, fill each cavity with the ganache, by stopping 2-3 mm from the top.
Allow to set overnight, in a dry and cool place.
Capping the chocolate bonbons
Repeat the tempering process of the chocolate. Melt it, add the 60 g of chocolate chips, cool it down and then reheat it once again. Once the chocolate has the right working temperature, transfer it into a piping bag. Cut a small tip and pipe it over each cavity. Next, give the mold a couple of taps from the side to remove the air bubbles and scrape clean, using a bench scraper. Allow to set properly.
Unmolding the bonbons
Finally, remove the homemade coffee ganache chocolate bonbons from the mold. Twist the mold to loosen the bonbons and then flip it over onto a clean surface. In case they won’t release easily, place them into the fridge for 5 minutes and try again.
Enjoy.
