Caramelizing- or better put, scorching- white chocolate is something many have probably done by accident. I recall years ago a container of white spraying mixture beginning to brown from the heat of the oven upon which it was stored, to keep it fluid. Around the same time I noticed Cacao Barry had for a while marketed, at least in Europe, a caramel-milk chocolate couverture. The thought of harnessing that process crossed my mind, but then I quickly forgot about it.
Several months ago we began to revisit the idea, after giving brown butter a second look, and then after seeing a Valrhona demo, where Philippe Givre and team had presented a controlled process to caramelize the sugar and mik solids to produce a flavor and color not unlike dulce de leche. Simply 'roasting' the white chocolate in a low oven does the trick, and allows for a range of complex flavor and deep color. One of the best applications came from those demo notes, a simple cream that allows the flavor to come through quite nicely. Not a bad result for what many consider a throw-away ingredient.
Download: Caramelized White Chocolate/Workbook 1.1.09
We pulled together three possible ideas, shown above, clockwise:
Dark Chocolate Shell, Caramelized White Chocolate Cream, Pomegranate Pearls, Pistachio Powder
Caramelized White Chocolate Cream, Sweet Potato Pearls, Red Wine Caramel, Vanilla Salt
Caramelized White Chocolate Cream, Pistachio Pain de Genes, Caramelized Almond, Lemon Cream
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