This is a fantastic baking trick to have up your sleeve, and this glorious beauty was stuffed inside Glazed Coffee Donuts and it was magnificent! Pastry cream is one of my favorite custard desserts to whip up because it can be used in a variety of French pastries and desserts. But I often also make regular chocolate pastry cream, I’ve only recently turned my hand to making white chocolate pastry cream. And if you want to take that white chocolate flavor and kick it up a notch, then you have to caramelize it. It turns regular, creamy, sweet white chocolate into a glorious, caramel colored sauce with an incredible caramel-fudge flavor! As someone who doesn’t really like white chocolate (I find it simply too sweet), this completely transforms my opinion of it every time, without fail! I learned how to do this from David Lebovitz. I haven’t changed anything about the way he does it, but I’ll outline it here for you!
How to make caramelized white chocolate
You need to find good quality white chocolate made with cocoa butter (not the other kind). Chop the white chocolate into smaller pieces. Spread this on a tray that’s lined with a silpat (or non stick silicone baking mat). Place the chocolate in an oven on its lowest setting (the lowest setting on my oven is “keep warm”, which is less than 200°F / 90°C. Check every 10 minutes, and using an offset spatula, mix and re-spread the chocolate as it melts and starts to change color. Keep checking every 10 minutes, until the white chocolate has turned (light) golden in color and is smooth. The chocolate may change texture and become a little chalky, which is why its important to mix and spread while it heats, and after it comes out of the oven too. The smallest amount of chocolate I have used is 4 oz (113g) (about 30 minutes) and the largest amount I have used is 12 oz/ 340g (45 – 60 min). The more chocolate you use, it obviously takes longer to caramelize. The yield is 1:1 too. To make a sauce you can thin it out with some cream. OR you can use it as a base for custard and/or cream patisserie (pastry cream). This is so, so versatile! I just cannot tell you enough about how much we love this. We have actually piped this straight into glasses, let it set and then just had it as a pudding! We have filled mini chocolate tarts with this delicious pastry cream (non-salty version) in these Mini Chocolate tarts with Caramelized White Chocolate pastry cream with a boozy raspberry center. And used the salty-sweet pastry cream to fill these delicious Glazed Coffee Donuts! The choices are truly endless. And you’re welcome! 🙂 If you liked this recipe, don’t forget to subscribe for new (and free) recipes and updates by entering your email address below (and get all these recipes delivered straight to your inbox), so you don’t miss out on a thing. You can find me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST and GOOGLE-PLUS too. I share pictures of recipes to come on the blog plus other awesome recipes I find out there that I want to try. So I hope you do stop by and say hi! 🙂
