Having a pass to Disneyland certainly has its perks. Especially when it comes to the discounts on food. I personally don’t have one yet… But, my son does!
Every time he ventures out there he makes sure to bring back home beignets from the Jazz Kitchen. They are deep-fried to a light golden brown, they are fluffy and have a satiny dusting of powdered sugar that makes them look almost like little jewels.
The Jazz Kitchen is apparently reminiscent of New Orleans’ sights and smells. The brick buildings and ornate verandas of the French Quarter are definitely a sight to revel in he tells me. I wouldn’t know, because I have yet to visit Disney’s California Adventure where the famous Jazz Kitchen is located.
As I was thinking of a dessert to make for the upcoming Mardi Gras celebration I immediately thought of those delicate yet crunchy beignets. However, the more I thought about the French Quarter, the more I began thinking about France and its fine chocolates; in particular its delicate chocolate bonbons. Thoughts of down home cookin’ such as crawfish boils and bananas foster came to mind, so here you go… I eventually came up with an extremely decadent bonbon covered with a sinfully sultry coating of rich dark chocolate.
- 7½ ounces Nestle’s white chocolate chips
- 3 ounces heavy cream
- 1 ounce glucose
- ½ ounce butter, softened
- ½ ounce rum
- ½ teaspoon banana extract
- 16 ounces Nestle’s dark chocolate chips
- powdered food coloring (yellow, green, purple)
- gel food coloring (yellow, green, purple)
- Place white chocolate chips in medium sized heat-proof bowl.
- Bring heavy cream and glucose to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over white chocolate, gently tap a few times on the counter then let it sit for one minute.
- Stir mixture with a spatula working your way from the center out in small circles, gradually increasing size of circles until chocolate has completely melted.
- Stir in softened butter until incorporated.
- Stir in rum and banana extract in a slow stream while continuing to stir ganache. Stir until completely incorporated.
- Cover ganache with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and allow to cool at room temperature for one hour.
- In a double broiler melt 12 ounces of dark chocolate until it comes to 109-110 degrees F.
- Remove from heat and add remaining 4 ounces of dark chocolate chips. Stir chocolate until completely melted.
- Dust chocolate molds with green, yellow, or purple powdered food coloring. (optional)
- Pour melted dark chocolate into chocolate molds, tap on counter a few times to prevent air bubbles from forming then turn over and let chocolate run back into the bowl. Scrape top of molds with a pastry bench scraper to remove excess chocolate. You just want to line the molds with chocolate.
- Transfer molds to refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to allow chocolate to harden.
- Place a medium sized piping bag inside a tall glass so that it stands straight up.
- Dip a thin paint brush in the yellow gel food coloring and draw a vertical line from the bottom up one of the sides of the pastry bag. Repeat with the green and purple gels.
- Pour ¼ of the ganache into the prepared piping bag, make a small cut to the tip of the piping bag.
- Remove chocolate molds from refrigerator and fill each bonbon ¾ of the way up.
- Repeat gel coloring process once you’ve gone through the ganache.
- Reheat remaining previously melted dark chocolate in a double broiler until it reaches 90 degrees.
- Spoon dark chocolate over ganache filled bonbons, scrape off excess dark chocolate with a pastry bench scraper then transfer bonbons to refrigerator and allow to chill for 1-2 hours.
- Reverse molds and gently push tops down to release chocolates.
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Those bonbons are stunning! They look like they came straight from a chocolate shop. Disneyland sounds so cool. Hope I get to go one day.