White Chocolate and Lemon Ganache Stones - Chef Recipe by John Demetrios

Ingredients

5 lemons (or 160 g of any flavour)
600 g white chocolate
300 g dark chocolate
40 g cocoa butter
300 g cream
30 g glucose or corn syrup
Additional chocolate for painting

Method

Lemon Reduction:

Begin by zesting five lemons and set aside. Then juice them and in a saucepan on the stove over a low-medium heat, simmer and watch as the liquid reduces to a third.

Be careful not to let the juice burn, it is fine to stir the juice as it reduces.

Set aside and cover, leave to cool in the fridge.

Follow the same method for any other juice or puree of choice. Be aware the thicker the original puree, the higher the chance it might burn, so take extra caution.

White Chocolate Lemon Ganache:

Place a pan half filled with water on the stove, on a low heat. Using a bowl that sits comfortably on the pot, without the base touching the water, as a bain-marie - place all the white chocolate into the bowl and allow to melt slowly, stirring occasionally.

Place cream, glucose syrup and lemon zest into a saucepan and gently heat to just under boiling temperature.

Pour onto chocolate and let sit for a minute, incorporating the two mixtures with a spatula. Focus stirring in the middle and in one direction until it emulsifies, then mix the whole amount.

Once smooth, add the lemon reduction and combine. Cover with plastic wrap and cool completely – overnight in the fridge or quickly in the freezer.

Once the base ganache is completely firm, shape the individual rocks. Line a flat tray with baking paper, using a tablespoon, dig out a nice sized piece of ganache and set onto the tray, shaping it to resemble a stone. Repeat until all the mixture is used and set again in the freezer while preparing the coating.

Coating Chocolate Base:

Combine dark chocolate and cocoa butter in the bain-marie and gently melt.

Using a toothpick to hold the ganache stones, dip them individually in the coating chocolate. It will set rather quickly on the cold stone, leave to sit for a minute and take out the toothpick.

Decorating:

This is where you can get creative, decorating the stones in any style you want. Use a small amount of white or coloured chocolate with a small paintbrush to finish the pieces, try brushing with different types of melted chocolate or edible candies.

Serve as a pile of stones for that extra bit of surprise for your guests.

Recipe provided by Vue de Monde

Photo Credits: Harvard Wang