/food /Chocolate Experiments

02.07.09

For a long time I wanted to try making bonbons. During my stay in Cambridge, MA, I came across vast amounts of delicious chocolate and when my friends asked me to cook for their wedding the path seemed clear. My partner would bring me kilos of the chocolate and I would have a legitimate reason to experiment with making bonbons. Given that I had to make about 200 of them for all the guests, there would be plenty of room for experimenting with different combinations.

Armed with the book ‘BONBON’ by Kees Raat from Unlimited Deliciuous in Amsterdam, I set out to melt, mix shape and solidify again a couple of kilos of exquisite chocolate. The most important succes factor in making bonbons is, according to Raat, good quality chocolate. Second is temperature. And third the ingredients that give each chocolate its unique flavor, the flavors of the ganache.

While I managed the first and the last very well, and the second to a reasonable extent, I found out that there was another crucial aspect to making bonbons that he did not mention in his book, or rather a side effect. Although originally it went quite unnoticed, upon proudly showing the end result of my work to my partner, she noticed that apart from covering the ganache in chocolate, I also manage to cover both myself and the rest of the kitchen.

A kitchen that is easy to clean, or with enough space to line up every tool you need on the counter, and a good shower come in handy too.

Nevertheless the bonbons were simply delicious and well received.