Pairing savory ingredients with dark chocolate can always lead to pleasant surprises. Chef Melissa’s Black Truffle Bonbons create a sophisticated balance around this prized ingredient, with the bitterness of black chocolate and a dollop of honey for a drop of intense sweetness. These bonbons stand out immediately, have a long-shelf life, and can be easily turned into a plant-based recipe! The recipe includes step-by-step instructions on how to make your own cocoa butter colors, pre-crystallize them, and spray-paint them to get perfectly glossy shells.
Course Category: On-Demand Class
Plant-Based Chocolate Hazelnut Tart by Lauren Haas
A beautifully rich and nutty tart, this plant-based recipe by Chef Lauren Haas carefully layers hazelnut and chocolate elements in each component to highlight the complementary notes of both ingredients. A chocolate caramel crémeux, chocolate sablée, hazelnut cocoa crumble, and vanilla hazelnut praliné set this full-bodied tart in motion. Chef Haas’ eye for detail shines through in this recipe, ensuring that the flavor profile of each element is showcased through perfectly balanced salty, earthy, and indulgent notes. This is hazelnut heaven!
Honey, Pecan and Blueberry Granola
Our School’s Special Granola by Melissa Coppel
Did you know that at the Melissa Coppel Chocolate and Confectionery School we make a mean granola? So good, in fact, that some people don’t even stop by to try our chocolates: they come all the way to our store for our Piemonte, Piña Colada, Rose and Lychee, or Plain Honey Granola. We also give this hearty granola to our students for breakfast in all of our Hands-On classes. 9 times out of 10, they end up asking for the recipe – so here it is! This simple and flavorful granola with hints of cinnamon, honey, blueberry and cherry can be made in 5 minutes and is the best companion to any yogurt bowl in sight. Or a real asset to your shop. Forget store-bought granola (which is insanely sweet or, at best, kinda okay): this is truly one of the prides and joys of our school!
Decadent Vegan Cookies by Lauren Haas
Cookies are an endless source of inspiration and joy. Chef Lauren V. Haas knows this well, so she brings you two of her signature plant-based cookies: a decadent double chocolate cookie topped with a thin chocolate coin and a warm roasted peanut cookie. In her first recipe, cookies and praliné create a wonderful combination brimming with texture, richness, and warmth. Made with a luscious dark chocolate batter and dark chocolate hazelnut ganache, the nuttiness of the praliné is perfectly complemented by the gooey, chocolatey wonder of these plant-based cookies. In her second recipe, Chef Haas highlights peanuts by roasting them and then making a vegan chewy caramel sauce that adds a new dimension to this American classic.
Passion Fruit and Coconut Enrobed Bonbons
Coconut and passion fruit have to be one of those duos that always stands out, creating a tangy, nutty and texture-rich flavor profile worthy of the most delicious bonbons. This two-layer enrobed piece plays with a toasted coconut almond marzipan (one of Chef Melissa’s favorite confections) and a milk and dark chocolate passion fruit ganache for a tropical and milky touch. In her easygoing style, Chef Melissa provides detailed instructions for making the top and bottom chablon for these production-friendly bonbons inspired by her childhood flavors, as well as all the essential steps for creating sophisticated enrobed pieces with just a few steps and key techniques.
Tiramisù Molded Bonbons
When it comes to comfort, nothing beats two essentials: chocolate and Tiramisù. So why not combine them? In this On-Demand recipe, Chef Melissa plays with a Marsala custard for a fragrant ganache that recalls the mascarpone layers of this sweet Italian wonder. Then, for the coffee element, the bonbons come with a hint of crunch with her almond coffee praliné. All of these flavors and textures are soaked by a small insert of biscuit joconde instead of the traditional ladyfingers.
In this class, Chef Melissa will also share with you all the essential steps you need to take when spray-painting and decorating your molded bonbons: from a spray chart detailing how to prepare your colors and pre-crystallize them, to how the temperature of the room you’re working in and of the molds affect the gloss and finish of your shells!
English Toffee
Relaxed and rustic, English toffee is characterized by its rich and chewy traditional caramel notes. Chef Andrés brings you his version, this time with some peanuts to add texture and flavor to this crowd-pleasing British confection. Perfection or symmetry is not the goal here: we are looking for organic pieces of toffee bark dipped in dark chocolate, made to bring a moment of joy to your customers and loved ones!
PB & Jelly Tarts and Rochers
In this class, Chef Melissa Coppel brings you her crunchy, peanut-rich, and slightly tangy Peanut Butter and Jelly Tarts. These milk chocolate-based treats layer a raspberry compote instead of the traditional grape PB&J jam, a rich peanut butter ganache, and crunchy pillows of Rice Krispies Peanut Butter Crisp.
The best part? No leftovers! The class will provide a quick, delicious, and waste-free Peanut Butter Crisp Rocher recipe that you can wrap, sell, or share to brighten anyone’s day. A sophisticated and fun pair of treats with the nostalgic touch of all the recipes that make us feel warm and comforted! And if you’re still perfecting your chocolate shells, Chef Melissa gives you a rundown of all the steps and tricks to consider when making this essential piece of any chocolate confection.
Recipe Versatility Class
A great recipe can go a long way. Nothing beats taking our favorite confections and seeing how many new products we can make with them. In this Smart Production class, Chef Melissa Coppel mixes and matches three of her favorite preparations –ganaches, marshmallows, and caramels– and rearranges them into 5 distinctive and flavorful recipes. Expect to learn how to create a wonderful spread of “Twix” chocolate bars, a caramel macchiato tart, a caramel tart, a tea caramel and cookie chocolate bar, and an Oreo whoopie pie with just these three components. A few base recipes, a thousand possibilities!
Recipe: Raspberry Gummies
These raspberry gummies from Andrés Lara are the perfect addition to any petit four, but they’re also fantastic when you’re craving a tart, fruity candy that reminds you of the Sour Patch Kids we love to have at the movies! This gummy recipe is made with raspberry purée and extract, giving it a vibrant color and fresh flavor that pairs really well with either a sweeter taste (if you roll them in sugar) or an extra sour punch (if you roll them in citric acid!). These gummies are easy and fun to make, making them the perfect way to start your confectionery journey!