Valrhona's Caramelized White Chocolate
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Author Notes: Pale, sweet, arguably boring white chocolate is made of three ingredients with a lot of potential -- sugar, milk, and fat (in the form of cocoa butter). When you heat them, they turn to caramel. Some call the result the "Toffee of Milk". The cocoa butter amount matters -- the higher it is, the more willingly melty it gets. Recipe adapted from L'Ecole du Grand Chocolat Valrhona. - Genius Recipes
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
- 1 pound white chocolate
- Sea salt, to taste
- Heat oven to 266°F (130°C). If the white chocolate isn't already in small chunks or fêves, chop it coarsely. Scatter it on a clean, dry rimmed baking sheet.
- Roast chocolate in the oven for about 45 minutes, stirring and smearing the chocolate around with a spatula every 5 to 10 minutes (make sure the spatula is clean and dry when you start). Don't worry if it looks lumpy and crumbly at times -- it will smooth out as you stir.
- Continue cooking until the chocolate is as dark as you like (we like a rich toffee color). Stir in sea salt to taste.
- Pour into a jar to store -- it will harden as it cools, and may look mottled (this is normal for untempered chocolate). Store at room temperature, and warm it in a pot of barely simmering water when you're ready to use it. It should keep for several months.
- Alternately: If you keep roasting until it seizes into crumbles, don't worry. It is completely salvageable and, in fact, it may be a handier form to keep around for baking. That way, you can freely toss handfuls into cookies or scones, brownies or banana bread. You can also force it to become completely smooth with the aid of a blender or a fine mesh strainer if you wish -- just warm with a little cream or neutral oil in a double boiler, then either blend or strain.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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about 1 month ago marika
Hello Kristen,
Is it possible to make this in a sauce pan or frying pan? I am just too lazy to keep opening and closing the oven door every 5 min lol
about 1 month ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Hi marika! Yes, it just takes a little more attention and stirring, but it goes much faster. Check out Rivka's post for more tips and photos: http://www.notderbypie...
about 1 month ago marika
Hello Kristen,
Thank you so much for the info! I am very excited about this recipe. Once I overheated vanilla baking bars in a microwave by mistake and ended up with a delicious surprise of caramelized sauce. I drizzled it on popcorns and it was great! I am sure white chocolate will taste amazing. Now off to the store to get some white chocolate...
2 months ago saltandserenity
I bookmarked this when it first came out and kept meaning to try it, and then I discovered that Valrhona is selling this caramelized white chocolate commercially under the name of Dulcey Blonde Chocolate in callet form. I bought 2 kilos and made Blonde Chocolate Ganache to fill macarons with! Blonde chocolate has rocked my world.
3 months ago Phrynosoma
After 3 hours, with 5-minute stirring intervals at 265 degrees F, I still did not have the color shown in the photo above. A ton of work, but I sandwiched some of this between pecan shortbread cookies modified from http://food52.com/recipes.... This process tested my patience, but luckily the end result was a tasty treat.
3 months ago Aliwaks
Used Callebaut White Chocolate and I think my oven was at 266 but I can;t be 100% certain, so 45 minutes in still no color so I raised the temp a fraction...well 1 phone call later and I have crumbles which I'm kinda sad about but I will get over it. AND yes Joannajw I too have a burnt tongue due to impatience :)
3 months ago Indrani
Has anyone experimented with making this into the just chocolate and water Hervé This chocolate mousse? (http://food52.com/recipes...) Would that work, do you think?
3 months ago Sarah Kosikowski
As the Valrhona Corporate Pastry Chef for the US, I would like to mention that this recipe was created with Ivoire, our white chocolate. Using other brands of chocolate may deliver other, less desirable, finished products. It is possible to temper the finished product, though cocoa butter may have to be added as the product is quite thick. Lastly, we have created a new product on the market called Dulcey, which was inspired by the roasted Ivoire. Dulcey is much more consistent though, less sweet and much easier as you only have to open the bag:)
3 months ago ELCookie
Invited to a Women Only Chocolate Party this afternoon and thought this would be perfect to use as part of what I contribute. Since I had some homemade ginger shortbread cookies I decided to half dip them in the melted chocolate. Turned out terrifically. Wish I could share the picture.
Meanwhile while roasting my chocolate also seized and so I remelted it over a double boiler with cream and then used an immersion blender. Still a little gritty but delicious. I used Callebaut White Chocolate and I wonder if this made a difference?
3 months ago joannajw
oops, don't shove the crumbles (yes mine went to crumbles) right into your mouth as they come out of the oven.....
3 months ago Rima
Yummmmmm! I'm trying this today!
3 months ago Quinn Bautista
Kristen, once solidified it can be still bought back to temper correct?
3 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Quinn, that's a great question -- I haven't tried it, but check out what Aki and Alex at Ideas in Food were able to do: http://blog.ideasinfood...
3 months ago daisybrain
OK. This sounds amazing. If I had some white chocolate in the house I would make some right this very minute. Alas I do not.
3 months ago kay.yan3
Does this stick to the pan? Should i use parchment or silpat?
3 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
We never did -- Silpat or parchment might slide around too much as you stir, and the chocolate will get on the sides of the pan anyway. Just use a sturdy spatula so you can really stir the chocolate well (and scrape it out when it's done). Anything that's left in the pan should wash off easily.
3 months ago LASGarcia
130ºC cannot be correct... ???
3 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
Why is that? I do believe it is!
3 months ago lisina
wowwwwwwwwwwwww.
3 months ago reniciera
I'm going to use this for my friend's belated birthday banana cream pie.
3 months ago nogaga
OMG!
3 months ago sanurjim
I'll have to check if my oven can be set to 266 degrees, I'm guessing not. How critical is temperature?
3 months ago Kristen Miglore
Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52
It's not terribly critical -- some recipes go with 250, some go with 300. Just remember that the higher you go (and the lower your cocoa butter content) the closer you need to watch it.
3 months ago Samantha Angela
This would be awesome as a macaron filling