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A Beginners Guide To Making Chocolate Bonbons

June 15th, 2021

With so many chocolate desserts and other delectable cocoa treats we truly are spoiled for choice when it comes to customising chocolate according to our palatal preferences. However, when it comes to the best gourmet cocoa treat of all time, the chocolate bonbon recipe is a classic favourite.

Dating back to 17th century France, these delicious sweets have always been a crowd favourite, and for good reason! With their hardened chocolate exterior and a flavoured filling that usually consists of liqueur, they’re absolutely scrumptious. While they’re often mistaken for truffles, bonbons are hardened chocolate with a filling, differing from truffles that have a softer texture and a ganache filling.

With this in mind, if you’re looking to make your own box of delicious chocolate bonbons, we have just the thing for you. At Melt, with our bonbon making class, we know all the right steps and ingredients to make these delicious confections. With our beginner’s guide, you can create delicious bonbons at home.

Let’s take a look!

What Are Bonbons?

A thin yet hard chocolate shell with a delicious filling – that’s what a bonbon is all about. The different textures of this cocoa treat enhance the chocolate experience, thereby making this a unique confection.

Chocolate bonbon recipe; a person dusting cocoa powder on chocolate bonbons

After taking a bite, the chocolate shell gives way to the rich caramel, ganache or perhaps a fruit filling that oozes out. This harmonious amalgamation of different textures makes chocolate bonbons a truly blissful experience.

Chocolate Bonbon Recipe – Here’s How To Get Started

Before you start with your chocolate bonbon recipe, you need to ensure that you have the right equipment and ingredients to create the required amount you’re aiming for. After this, you can start with the creation process.

Ingredients And Equipment

The first main ingredient is, unsurprisingly, chocolate and you’ll need to get some with high-quality cocoa for better flavour and intensity in the bonbon. From single-origin chocolates with rich flavour to simple milk bars, there’s a type of chocolate that suits every taste bud. However, it’s always better to have a little extra so that you don’t run out of ingredients. About 500-600 grams of chocolate will be enough to start with.

A big ladle dripping smooth liquid chocolate

The next thing you need to prioritise is the moulds. While looking for moulds, opt for ones made of a stronger material with a detailed design. With these, your bonbons will look more authentic and elegant, thanks to the intricate detailing. Additionally, make sure to have a pastry scraper or pallet knife as well for ease and better efficiency in scraping the moulds.

Make sure you have the filling ready in a piping bag beforehand so that you can work quickly and prevent the tempered chocolates from hardening.

The Bonbon Making Process

Step 1 – Temper The Chocolate And Prepare The Molds 

For the bonbons to be smooth and shiny, tempering the chocolate is very important. Since this is essentially a process of heating and cooling the chocolate, you need to do it correctly so that your chocolate shell will have a nice snap to it when you bite into the bonbon. To find out more about the right way to temper chocolate, give this a read.

In case you want your bonbons to have additional designs, you can paint the mould with a thin layer of cocoa butter for an aesthetic look. However, make sure to keep it as thin as possible to avoid any lumps.

Step 2 – Fill The Moulds

The next step is to quickly fill the moulds with the tempered chocolate. If the chocolate overflows, it’s not a problem as you need to make sure that there is full coverage. Since you’re going to scrape off the excess later, you need not worry about having chocolate all over.

Once each cavity is full, make sure to tap the mould gently on the table to let the chocolate settle in the grooves of the design and release any air bubbles. Allow the chocolate to stay in the cavity for around 10 seconds then flip the mould to let the excess drip out into a bowl placed below.

Tap the edge gently to remove more chocolate and ensure a thin shell for your bonbon. Use the knife or scraper to get rid of the excess and tap the mould again to let it all smoothen out.

A chef tempering chocolate placed on parchment paper with a pallet knife

Step 3 – Scrape The Top Clean And Pipe In The Filling

Level the top of the mould to make it easier for sealing the chocolate later. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 2-3 minutes for the shells to harden a bit, however, do not exceed this period.

If you want solid ingredients like sea salt or maybe small chunks of fruit inside the bonbon, you can add those. After this, use your piping bag to pipe in the bonbon filling but leave a few centimetres below the edge to avoid any leaking.

Let the filling sit for another 2-3 minutes before you cover it with chocolate.

Step 4 – Cover With Chocolate And Scrape Off Excess

Use a piping bag or spoon to cover the bonbon with tempered chocolate. After this, proceed to remove any excess chocolate with the scraper. The clean scraping will make it much easier for you to take out the bonbons from the mould.

Once the excess has been scraped off, place the mould in the refrigerator for another 2-3 minutes. After it has cooled, flex the mould slightly to loosen the chocolates within and turn it upside down on a dry and clean surface.

Tap the mould on the surface to extract the bonbons and voila, your delicious confections are ready!

Visit Melt For Our World-Class Bonbon Making Course

While these are a few basics of every chocolate bonbon recipe, if you wish to become a bonbon-making pro, Melt is the perfect place for you!

Learn how to make bonbons with world-class chocolatiers at our chocolate boutique like a professional. At the end of the session, you get to take a box of delicious bonbons home – does it get any better?

Get in touch with us to book a chocolate making class with Melt today!