I am in a research frenzy and inspiration comes pouring in. The motivation that kicked off Candy Week is to develop my own line up of handmade candies. My project is still in early stage of planning but I am laying down the groundwork to make it happen in 2014. The excitement of recipe development stems from the creative process. I have the freedom to make something that is uniquely mine. On the flip side, the experience is also humbling. There are so many things to learn and I am learning from many mistakes.
I love coconut chocolate bar. You may know it as Mounds, Almond Joy, Bounty, Cherry Ripe, or Quality Street Coconut Éclair. I tried them all and love them equally well. What can I do to improve on something that I already enjoy so much? I tried adding in some of my favourite things! That was how my Tangelo Coconut Bar with Candied Ginger and Cashew came to be.
My starting point was The Liddabit Sweets Cookbook’s Coconut-Lime Bars (recipe is available here). I am learning so much from this cookbook that I cannot recommend it enough. To create the gooey filling, desiccated coconut and nuts are bind together with firm ball stage syrup and commercial marshmallow cream. That is the key to the moist and chewy texture that makes my favourite coconut chocolate bar so addictive. Although I enjoy the original combination of lime and macadamia nuts, I go crazy for the classic orange and dark chocolate pairing. With that in mind, I went shopping.
Citrus season is winding down but there is still wonderful selection to be had. I chose to use sweet and juicy tangelo (hybrid of tangerine and pomelo). To account for the lack of tang, I added some heat with Australian candied ginger. Cashews have a similarly rich taste as macadamia but slightly more affordable. The taste profile is spot on.
Unfortunately, I still need to work on this recipe before it is ready. What makes the filling so gooey was also my big nemesis. The coconut filling was easy to cut and firm enough to hold itself together. But it could not stand up to any fork dipping action. It bent and draped over my dipping fork much to my dismay. According to the recipe, I should pour tempered chocolate over the bars and let the excess drip off. I agree with the enrobing method in theory except it requires a large amount of extra chocolate. 5lb of couverture chocolate is A LOT. My less-than-perfect solution involved spreading a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom of each naked bar to lend some structure. Once set, I used a small offset spatula for dipping. I was not too happy with the rustic result.
There was another issue with my experiment. Tempered chocolate shrinks when it sets. That little bit of squeezing spelled trouble to my coconut filling. If a bar is not coated thick enough with chocolate, droplets of filling breaks free from that weak point and oozes out. That is a huge issue because over half of my finished bars are affected. I want a higher yield of quality standard.
What I created is a good starting point. The recipe will evolve as my confectionery skill improves and I come up with solutions to address these problems. This is not the last time you hear of my Tangelo Coconut Bar with Candied Ginger and Cashew. I am excited to see where it grows from here.
