Crunchy Chocolate Candy

Praliné can be made with 100% hazelnut. Toast nuts in a 350ºF (180ºC) oven for about 10 min. Cook sugar to amber caramel stage (without water). Toss in nuts, turn heat off and transfer onto a silicone baking mat to cool. In a running food processor, blend the room temperature caramelized nuts with a pinch of salt until it turns into paste. Save leftovers praliné for later use.

Chop chocolate and carefully microwave it with butter (temperature should not exceed 86ºF (30ºC). Mix with the room temperature praliné along with the corn flakes. Spread crunchy praliné mixture in a baking tray lined with silicone mat or parchment paper. Caramel rulers are a must for this type of confectionery; it makes things perfectly squared and clean.

Spread gianduja evenly over the crunchy praliné, tap over the countertop and cool. Gianduja should not be refrigerated but rather kept in cool and low humidity storage ≈ 60/65ºF (16/18ºC). In warm days and households environment though, it can be refrigerated to set. Run a spatula around the edges of the tray and flip to unmold. At this juncture both sides of the slab can be coated with a thin layer of tempered dark chocolate to strengthen the slab. Let set and cut into 32 bite size portions.

Use a large amount of dark chocolate couverture for tempering, not only it will remain tempered longer but it makes the job easier. Once done, leftover of chocolate can be spread onto a baking tray lined with silicone mat, chilled to set and broken into pieces for later use. Couverture chocolate is a very high-quality chocolate that contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter ≈ 35% than baking or eating chocolate. This additional cocoa butter, combined with proper tempering, gives the chocolate more viscosity and sheen, a firmer "snap" when broken. Extra cocoa butter can always being added to the chocolate as well. Melt chocolate over water bath (bain-marie) on low heat to ≈ 122ºF (50ºC). Chill to drop temp to 77/79ºF (25/26ºC) and rewarm to 84/86ºF (30/31ºC). Hot water should not touch the bottom of the bowl – wipe off bottom each time when removing bowl from water bath. Chocolate worse enemy is water and heat!. Use a 3 tooth chocolate fork. Ready to be enrobed bonbon should not be refrigerated prior dipping or the chocolate will set too fast, creating a thicker coating and dull aspect. So, leave them out 30 min prior dipping or so – best room temperature ≈ 64/68ºF (18/20ºC). Drop one candy at the time into the tempered dark chocolate; crunchy side up and flip over into the chocolate once and quicly, remove excess dripping chocolate and lay over a clean silicone mat or an acetate plastic sheet, wait about 5 sec and mark with the fork or top with a nut. Maintain chocolate temperature by doing a quick rewarm over water bath every so often. Like most confectioneries, chocolate candies are best stored between 57/61ºF (14/16ºC) and low humidity for about 3 months. Though, for household uses the refrigerator remains an option during warm days. Just leave chocolate candies out for about 30 min before eating. Enjoy!