California Prune Valentine Heart Chocolates Paul A. Young

* You will need a heart-shaped mold for making individual chocolates

For the ganache filling:

Bring the milk, sugar, pecan praline to a simmer and whisk well.
Pour it onto the caramel chocolate and whisk until smooth.
Add the orange oil and mix well.
Allow the ganache to cool until it is fully cold. This will take about 2 hours.

For the California Prune puree:

Blend together 100g of California Prunes (pitted) with 4 tablespoons of warm water.

Assembling the chocolates:

Using an artist’s paintbrush, apply a small amount of the scarlet powder into the bottom of each of the heart molds.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie to 55°c and allow to stay warm and melted for a couple of hours. This will ensure a shiny and smooth finish to your chocolates.

Temper the chocolate and line each mold with tempered chocolate making sure you tap the mold to eliminate any air bubbles.

Tip out all the excess chocolate to leave a chocolate-lined cavity.

Place this in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Using a piping bag, squeeze a small amount of the puree into each lined heart.

Then fill another piping bag with the cooled ganache and fill the heart just below the top and tap the mold to level. Leave the mold overnight to set.

Now melt and temper the chocolate again and seal the bottoms of the chocolates by scraping along the mold to give a flat surface, sealing in all the ganache and California Prune puree.

Allow to set for 30 minutes, then turn the mold carefully to release the chocolates out of their molds.

They will only release if the chocolate has been correctly tempered.

Keep in a cool dry place and enjoy within seven days.