Dark couverture filled with layers of goat milk caramel and cheese ganache, make these Cajeta Chevre Chocolate Bonbons irresistible.
OK, did I miss something? The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), or the Ex, to which it is more commonly referred opens this week. That is basically the beginning of the end - the unofficial end to summer that is. Queue the ugly cry...
Don't get me wrong, I love fall - the crisp air, the fashion, nature's beautiful display of colours. What I don't like is the cold, stark death that follows....SHUDDER. But enough weather talk - who's in the mood for chocolate?
These colourful little pods are Cajeta Chevre Chocolate Bonbons - layers of goat's milk caramel and goat cheese ganache, piped into almost paper-thin, molded dark chocolate.
You may remember a few posts back I shared with you that I was a bona-fide Chocolatier! I get a little chuckle saying that. 🙂 The certificate is tucked away on a book shelf and I still have a full-time career that I am not yet ready to walk away from. The Dude, however, thinks I should 'start building a sweet empire'. He clearly believes in me more that I do. Story of my life.
After such an announcement, one would expect to see my blog flooded with chocolate. Right? The thing is, I am constantly second-guessing myself, which usually translates into a sometimes lengthy delay in pushing the publish button.
In the meantime, let's dissect these little gems. Ignore the purple ones for now, I'll share in a future post. This post is all about the goat - goat's milk and cheese, that is. I seem to have a thing with cheesy sweets lately.
This recipe is a take on one we covered in school. Now I love messing with pairing flavours, but goat cheese ganache, at first, had me like WHAT? I was already familiar with cajeta, so I knew that portion of the recipe would be great. Goat cheese ganache, however, had me instantly intrigued. I was pleasantly surprised, but wasn't completely thrilled with all the elements used in class.
I thought I would switch things up a bit. I molded dark instead of white chocolate, which made a huge difference in the overall taste of the end product. My taste testers felt my version was by far better (no, they were not paid). I also adjusted some of the ingredients for a more balanced taste and added a shit load of vanilla beans. Cuz I be(eans) like that. 🙂
These photos are from an earlier batch when I was playing around with a few techniques for layering colour. These are a combination of finger painting and airbrushing. I was not completely satisfied with the look, however.
That aside, doesn't that caramel drip make you want to lick the screen? Go ahead...I dare you to! 😉
Ingredients
Cajeta (caramel):
- 500 grams goat's milk
- 250 grams sugar
- 5 grams baking soda
- pinch kosher salt
- 1 vanilla bean scraped, we'll use the pod for the cajeta and seeds for the ganache
Ganache:
- 60 grams butter unsalted and at room temperature
- 75 grams chevre
- 250 grams white chocolate I used Valrhona Opalys
- 1 vanilla bean seeds from above
Chocolate:
- 500 grams dark couverture 70% Valrhona Guanaja
- cocoa butter colours of your choosing
Instructions
Caramel:
- In a medium, deep heavy pot combine the milk, sugar and baking soda and salt and vanilla pod.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar melts and the mixture is foamy in appearance. Keep a close eye on it, as it can foam up and overflow rather quickly.
- Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until it changes to a golden brown and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Be patient, it takes a while for the mixture to reduce and thicken.
- Remove from heat and remove the vanilla pod. Allow to cool, then transfer to a piping bag.
Ganache:
- Melt the white chocolate in a stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water.
- Place the chevre, vanilla beans and butter in a stainless steel bowl and cream, using a wooden spoon.
- Add the melted white chocolate to the chevre mixture and stir until smooth and fully incorporated.
- Allow to cool, then transfer to a piping bag.
Chocolate:
- Prepare molds by coating with your choice of cocoa colours in your preferred method. I used a combination of finger painting and airbrushing.
- Temper the dark chocolate according to the manufacturer's instruction. Check my post here.
- Allow to set, then pipe the cajeta into the molded shell, filling about one-third of the way. Top up with the chevre ganache, leaving enough room at the top to cap. Allow to set, then apply a thing layer of dark chocolate to cap.
- Allow to set for about 10-15 minutes, then place in the fridge for an additional 10 minutes.
- Unmold the bonbons by inverting the mold and tapping firmly onto a clean, even surface. The bonbons should fall out effortlessly.
- Enjoy!
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Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
Wow I never would have thought of goat cheese + chocolate but it sounds yummy!
I Sugar Coat It! says
So yummy!!
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
These are incredible - so professional as well!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Why, thank you! Putting my training to work.;)
Lisa Ho says
These looks delicate to execute. Bravo to you, your mentor would have been proud of your delicate work.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Maybe I should send my instructors a photo! 😉 thx
Noor says
This is so pretty! And I LOVE the colors!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thx.
Noel Lizotte says
So pretty! Shared! Not sure I'm up for making these ... fancy chocolates make me nervous. But I wouldn't mind eating my share of these!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks, Noel! A box is headed your way... 😉
Anne Murphy says
Those are lovely!
I'm fascinated by the cheese in the ganache. Now I"m terribly curious about the taste. (I've never made chocolate, but I used to rep chocolate companies, and learned quite a bit about the process along the way.)
I Sugar Coat It! says
This is based on a recipe we covered in school and at the time I was quite skeptical, but it was so good, especially paired with caramel. Of course, you have to be a fan of goat cheese, which I am. Thx!
Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts says
These are SO pretty!!!!!!! I love the airbrushing!!!
And goats cheese!!! Such a cool idea!
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks! I'm still shaky with my airbrush (although I've had it for a few years...).
Tina Jui | The Worktop says
Oh is it really the end of summer?! It's true.. This morning I woke up and had to throw on my vest since it was feeling a bit chilly. So with that, it's time for chocolate 😉
I Sugar Coat It! says
Always time for chocolate! 😉
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry says
Wow, I thought these were shop bought, beautiful presentation, and goats cheese, brilliant idea
I Sugar Coat It! says
Why, thank you Bintu! I see all the ways in which I could have improved, so it's nice to hear you see them in the way you do!
peter @Feed Your Soul Too says
Such a cool looking treat and a fascinating combination of ingredients.
I Sugar Coat It! says
Thanks!
Bob says
Hi, I just discovered your site and love it! I am going to make the Cajeta Chevere bonbons and as I look at the recipe, I see a step under the caramel where it says to stir in the vanilla paste. Do I just scrape out the vanilla bean inside now and mix into the caramel or is there something else that I need to do? It looks like the vanilla bean is for the ganache, so I just want to double check.
Thanks for sharing the great recipes!
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hi Bob, sorry I missed your comment - it landed in spam. There's vanilla in both the caramel and the ganache. You can use vanilla paste, extract or beans. Yes, you would scrape the beans from its pod and add. I'll update for better clarity. Thanks for pointing that out! And I am so pleased you found my site - welcome!!
Bob says
Thanks for such a great site! I am going to make the bonbons and I see that there is a step to add vanilla paste to the caramel. Is this just the inside of the vanilla bean or something else?
Thanks again,
Bob
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Hi Bob - you can use paste or the scraped beans!
Ana says
These look amazing! They remind me of a Colombian home-made dessert combination: Arequipa con Queso. It’s our version on a more milky caramel with our, also milkier, cheese.
I wonder if using Colombian cheese (which we commonly place in our hot chocolate) would also work in this recipe in terms of maintaining balance of tastes and textures.
Any advice on how to properly adapt your recipe while not losing the structural base?
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Thank you! They are just the right balance of tangy, sweet and creamy. I've had Queso Fresco, but not familiar with Arequipa con Queso - at least not by that name - sounds YUMMMMM! I don't know enough about the ingredients you are using, except to pay attention to the fat and water activity of the ingredients. It won't hurt to give it a try - that's how I learn best. I would love to hear how it turns out!
Jessica Davis says
Is there an American version to this?
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
Sorry, what do you mean by American version?
Naz says
How long will these last?
Cori says
From the comments it doesn’t seem like anyone has made these chocolates, but I did!
Apologies that this is a bit long, but as a novice chocolate maker who was looking for a challenge I hope some of this feedback will help others like me have the courage to try this recipe.
First, these chocolates are absolutely delicious. Sweet with a little tang. Way less of a goat cheese taste than I expected and the caramel is divine. Making them had given me added confidence and inspired me to get more creative with my flavours!
A few observations from my experience:
1. This recipe makes A LOT. The number of chocolates isn’t included and I only have one mold so I can make 24 at a time. By the time I made the caramel I realized I had way too much of it so I cut the chèvre ganache in half and still had enough to make two trays. Good thing in the end, as I overfilled a bunch of them the first time, but I digress…
2. Use a bigger pot than you think you need for the caramel. I started with my medium-sized (2 quart) pot and had to dump everything into a 3 quart pot (my biggest, next to a stock pot) as soon as it started foaming. It still almost overflowed the bigger pot so I had to turn down the heat to medium low to keep it in the pot. All worked out in the end.
3. I made the elements in the order they were listed but next time I think I will make the chèvre ganache after the molds are painted and have the first layer of chocolate in them. I found that by the time I had painted two colours and let each set, then tempered the chocolate (without a tempering machine), made and filled the shell, and let the caramel sit, the ganache had thickened up so much that piping it was a nightmare, even though I warmed the piping bag with my hands. The ganache slid around on top of the caramel and I couldn’t get it to flatten out. I ended up flattening it a bit after it set, but pressing down on it forced some of the caramel to move around, which interfered with setting the cap. The ganache cooled quickly so the 30ish minutes to set the shell and fill/set the caramel should hopefully be enough time to cool the ganache but still be able to pipe it more evenly.
Other than that, the only change I made was using Mexican vanilla extract in the caramel and vanilla bean paste in the ganache because I made it on a holiday and didn’t have a vanilla bean handy.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe - and for the inspiration to branch out!