Dots bonbon

Bonbon filled with quark („Túró Rudi” bonbon)

A bejegyzés magyarul itt olvasható.

My previous post contained a detailed report about quark and Hungarian „Túró Rudi” (Dots), it’s time to show you the Dots bonbon („Túró Rudi” bonbon)! J This dessert is a miniaturized, bonbon version of Hungarian Dots! Making bonbons is a special art of confectionery; it is well worth a Mass! First I checked the blog page of Bonbon mania and YouTube.

My interest in bonbon making is very fresh, one of my best friends, Viktor showed me his bonbon molds for the first time, which have heart and dragon shape. He didn’t give me his silicone molds not even for my fifth entreaty than he surprised me (as a previous Xmas gift) with that mold and I made these quark filled bonbons with that. Let’s see, how did it happened!

Gift from Viktor: a bonbon mold!

Some special tools were needed to prepare the bonbons:

(1) bonbon mold,

(2) icing comb (to remove the unnecessary chocolate),

(3) chocolate thermometer (optional),

(4) lots of patent, because working with chocolate is a little bit smeary! J

Ingredients: (for 30 pieces average size bonbons)

250 g (1 box) quark

3-5 tablespoon of sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (or seeds of 1 vanilla pod)

peel of 1 lemon and juice of half lemon

peel of 1 orange (optional)

2-3 tablespoon of strawberry jam (optional)

200-250 g dark chocolate (+ 1 tablespoon of oil)

Preparing the bonbons:

It is better to begin the work with preparing the quark filling, because the flavors can mature, while we are working on the walls of the bonbons.

The quark, vanilla aroma, juice and peels of lemon & orange have to be mixed then the sugar have to be added by one tablespoon at a time. It’s better to use first less sugar, because not everyone loves the too sweet deserts and may be this dessert is better, when it’s a little bit sourish. If you make this sweetness in Hungary (or any other part of world), where quark has bigger coagulated parts, it’s worthy to smash it with a mixer or fork before using. If you work with creamier quark, like I had here, in Finland, to do this process is unnecessary.

After making the filling, you have to put it to the fridge to cool (for even a night), where the spices and flavors will mature.

Tempering the chocolate:

Making the bonbon shells is a little bit harder, because in optimal case the chocolate has to be melted and tempered. It has to be heated over steam in a bigger metal bowl, it will start to melt quite fast and become liquid around 37-40°C. We have to heat it approx till 50°C, tempering the chocolate can be started at this point. It means that the chocolate has to be cooled down slowly to reach the shiny and chocolate structure. The process of cooling is quite fast until 35-37°C, but we have to keep on cooling until 30°C. (The professional confectioners effuse the melted chocolate to a cold marble surface, where they mix and shovel until it becomes 30°C, than they add the 20 w/w % of cooled chocolate ( 20 g untempered melted chocolate to100 g tempered chocolate ) to this almost solidified chocolate. This mix of choco, which is 32-33°C, is ready to work. (The good tempered chocolate is shiny and good keeper.)

Tempering the chocolate.

Bonbon shells:

(I didn’t use this official tempering procedure, because the tenability of my bonbons was short due to the quark filling.) I just melted the choco, than I cooled it until 32-34°C using slow mixing. I filled the bonbon mold totally (!) with this almost-cooled melted chocolate. I reversed the mold with one fast movement over the bowl to let the extra choco come out. I put the mold upside-down to a silicone paper, so the unnecessary chocolate could drip out from the mold. Few minutes later I removed the extra choco from the top of the mold with my icing comb, than I waited till the shells dried.

The shells.

Filling and closing:

After the shells become hard, the half of quark cream has to be filled into the shells. I used a little bit of strawberry jam in the middle of the quark filling, because everyone loves here this fruit and one cannot imagine life here without mansikka (strawberry). A little bit of quark have to be placed on the jam, but not so much, because a little bit of space (1 mm) is needed to the pedestal of bonbons. I melted again the rest of choco to cover the bonbons, than I spread the chocolate over the mold. I removed the extra choco with my icing comb, than I let it to cool totally. The quark is perishable, so these bonbons have to be kept in the fridge, but don’t forget, the nice shine of chocolate will disappear in the fridge!

Filling.

Possible errors:

Preparing bonbons is not so hard, but we have to keep attention in case of shells. If the chocolate, which we fill in the molt, is too hot, the wall of the shells will be too thin. In this case we can knap the bonbons, when we remove them from the mold. We can fix it easily: we have to cover the walls of the mold twice with choco, so there will be no problem anymore! You can leave the melted chocolate in the mold for a longer time than the choco will start to dry on the walls; in this case the shells will be thicker, too.

You must not overfill the shells with the filling cream; because you won’t be able to close the bonbons, and the pedestals will fall down from the bonbons… it is not so funny in case of liquid filling!

In summary, I offer to everybody to try making bonbons, because it is quite easy (even with children and a men, too!) This sweetness is very spectacular, but it’s worth to make 2-3 plates of bonbon molds, because the family and friends are able to eat them less than 5 minutes! (Xmas is coming, so you can make it as a gift!)

Bobbons filled with quark!