Orelys blonde chocolate, dates, and Guinness bonbon by Anthony Hart

buy now

We declare ourselves unconditional fans of Anthony Hart, a professional in Australia who is able to masterfully combine two professions: that of pastry chef and that of photographer, making both activities mutually enriching.

Hart, who confesses to being obsessed with chocolate, is one of the chefs we invited to the so good.. magazine 33 bonbon challenge. In response, he presented us with bonbons with unusual and extraordinary shapes such as a chocolate, caramel, and marshmallow tooth; a small aerated chocolate sandwich with all the flavor of toasted sourdough bread and sherry vinegar; a hidden gem within a cloud of sugar; or an extremely beautiful leaf from the exotic Macaranga tree.

Here we share exclusively on www.sogoodmagazine.com the recipe for the Orelys blonde chocolate, date, and Guinness bonbon, with two assembly versions. “I chose this combination for several reasons. One is that there is nothing better than a well-made date pudding, and the Valrhona Orelys flavor presents most of these flavors, at least for me. The other is that it has many similarities in flavor profiles, although sweet, with Guinness beer, which I also like. I made two versions because I couldn’t decide which one I preferred.”

Discover So Good #33

Orelys dates, and Guinness V1 and V2

Guinness, vanilla, and date caramel

240 g sugar
200 g 35% MG cream
5 g Murray River salt
100 g dates (seeded and cut into small pieces)
3 vanilla pods (seeds only)
200 g Guinness beer (reduced to 20 g)
50 g Orelys 35% blond chocolate

Weigh 200 g Guinness beer and slowly reduce the liquid to 20 g.

Separately, caramelize the sugar little by little until everything is liquid (155ºC). Gradually add the cream, mix carefully and let it boil. Add the dates, salt and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Once it cools a little, add the chocolate and vanilla and with a hand mixer emulsify until the mixture is uniform. Add the reduced beer.

Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a piping bag and keep refrigerated.

Medjool dates

100 g Medjool dates (pitted)

Remove the seeds from the dates and cut into coarse 5×5 mm cubes. Set aside.

Mini walnut and Orelys cookies

50 g walnut flours
40 g brown sugar
1 g Murray River salt
50 g unsalted butter
50 g plain flour
40 g Orelys 35% blond chocolate, melted (not hot)

Beat everything except the chocolate at low speed with the paddle attachment until crumbly. Add the melted chocolate and mix until smooth.

Place the mixture between 2 sheets of baking paper, roll out to a thickness of 3-4 mm and cut the sheet into 1 cm discs beforehand. Chill until set.

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Bake the dough for 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked.

Once cooked, remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle a little Mycryo over the hot streusel and allow to melt. Carefully move the cooked cookie pieces around until they are completely covered with the melted cocoa butter. Allow to cool.

Store in an airtight container until use.

Aerated and coated Orelys

300 g Orelys 35% blond chocolate
30 g cocoa butter

Temper the chocolate.

Melt the cocoa butter and allow to cool to 31.5°C.

Mix the chocolate and cocoa butter together and mix until it forms a uniform texture.

Assembly version 1

Coat the mold with tempered Orelys chocolate and allow to harden. Once hardened, place a generous amount of the caramel preparation in the base of the mold. The caramel must be kept cold for the next step. Fill an ISI siphon, with two charges, with the Orelys chocolate and cocoa butter mixture. Dispense the chocolate into the cavities of the chocolate mold and allow the chocolate to harden slowly.

Once hardened, flush scrape off the excess aerated chocolate from the mold.

Finally, cover the mold with more tempered Orelys chocolate. Allow the pralines to harden overnight. Once ready, remove the pralines from the mold and set aside.

Place pieces of dates on the pralines adhered with chocolate and allow this to harden. Temper Orelys and dip only the top of the pralines covering, hiding the pieces of dates. Once ready, decorate with the mini cookies and a gold leaf.

Assembly version 2

Prepare 6.5×3 cm rings with guitar sheets.

Fill an ISI siphon, with two charges, with the Orelys chocolate and cocoa butter mixture.

Dispense a little of this chocolate into the prepared rings and vacuum-seal in the appropriate machine and inside a bag. Place in the cold for at least 4 hours; then in a chocolate or wine cooler overnight.

Once ready, open the vacuum bag, remove the aerated chocolate, and reserve in a chocolate or wine cooler until needed.

Pour a generous amount of the caramel preparation into the cavity made in the mold. The caramel must be kept cold.

Add approximately 8 to 10 pieces of the prepared dates on top of the caramel. Remove the ring and guitar sheet. Temper Orelys and cocoa butter, cover the preparations with this mixture and leave to rest overnight.

Decorate with the mini cookies and gold leaf.

Discover the recipe for these four bonbons by Anthony Hart in so good.. ma gazine 33