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Paul A Young
Chocolate Making Feature
We admit it – when offered a home-made chocolate there’s no way we can resist! We’ve been fans of making your own for some time – you don’t need a lot of equipment or years of experience to produce fine confections you’ll be truly proud to share. However, a few hints and tips to help you hone your skills never go amiss, and that’s why we’re over the moon to be working with Paul A. Young.
One of Britain’s Master Chocolatiers and a protégé of Marco Pierre White, Paul has been tempting people into his boutique London chocolate shops since 2006 where his unique creations have been flying off the shelves. A true artisan, he uses only the finest ingredients and creates everything by hand, resulting in simply exquisite chocolates that please the eye as well the taste buds.
Even if you’ve never attempted a truffle before, fear not! Paul has helped us put together a detailed book especially for Lakeland customers, and it’s filled with simple step-by-step guides, hints, tips and inspiration to make it really fun, straight-forward and rewarding. He’s even shared his closely guarded sea-salted caramel recipe that’s been voted the best in the world!
We had the opportunity to spend a day with Paul as he showed us how to temper chocolate (easier than you think!), then mould, fill and decorate his ingenious creations. With a fresh, uncomplicated approach, it was all very easy and enjoyable – and we discovered that there’s so much more to home-made chocolates than melting some of the sweet stuff and setting it in a mould. We thoroughly enjoyed Paul’s recent visit to our Windermere headquarters too. He took over our test kitchen to give our staff a master class in chocolate making so now we can pass on our knowledge in store… and get to eat some fine artisan chocolates too!
Useful Kit:
Californian Prune and Porter Truffles
How to temper chocolate
Our ‘How to Make Chocolates’ book includes recipes from Paul for chocolate delights such as real ale truffles to delectable strawberries and cream ganache. With a little bit of practice and a lot of fun, you'll be tackling these exquisite and unusual treats in no time and, to help you on your way to becoming a master chocolatier, we've included some hints and tips here so you can achieve perfect, glossy results.
WHAT YOU NEED
600g fine quality dark chocolate
What you use
- Saucepan
- Glass or metal mixing bowl
- Thermospatula
- Palette knife
- Chocolate scraper
- Small marble/granite slab
- Place pieces of your chosen chocolate into a bowl.
- Place over a pan of very hot (but not boiling) water, ensuring the bowl is not in direct contact with the water.
- Melt the chocolate slowly, stirring occasionally. The temperature should be 55°C.
- Pour two-thirds of the chocolate onto the slab, ensuring no water drips onto it.
- Scrape the chocolate from the outside of the slab into the middle. Repeat this spreading and mixing movement four or five times.
- When the chocolate reaches 27°C, scrape it back into the bowl with the remaining chocolate and mix well.
- The chocolate will be ready to wrk with when the temperature is 31°C.
Tip: To check the tempering has worked, dip the end of the palette knife in the chocolate and allow to set. If it sets without streaks or grains it’s ready. If not, just melt the chocolate again and repeat the process.
How to make ganache
Our ‘How to Make Chocolates’ book includes recipes from Paul for chocolate delights such as real ale truffles to delectable strawberries and cream ganache. With a little bit of practice and a lot of fun, you'll be tackling these exquisite and unusual treats in no time and, to help you on your way to becoming a master chocolatier, we've included some hints and tips here so you can achieve perfect, glossy results.
What you need:
- 350ml double cream
- 100g unrefined golden caster sugar
- 300g dark chocolate – choose the cocoa percentage and variety you love
What you use:
- Saucepan
- Glass or metal mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Place cream and sugar in the pan, simmer for a minute then allow to settle for 30 seconds.
- Place pieces of your chosen chocolate into the bowl and pour on the cream mixture.
- Whisk well until the chocolate has melted.
- When the mixture is smooth and glossy, allow to cool and refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling by hand.
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