Desserts
Caramel and Chocolate Simply Wonderfuls
No-cook Simply Wonderfuls made with brown butter, toasted milk powder and caramel treat, set in chocolate.
This is the third and final version in my Simply Wonderfuls series! If the original and the coconut and sesame version lean on cardamom, this one is all about caramel.
Rather than relying on sugar alone, I have built the caramel flavour up in layers. Browning the butter gives it a nutty depth, toasting the milk powder brings a lovely, almost biscuity flavour, and a good dollop of caramel treat ties it all together. As the caramel treat brings plenty of sweetness of its own, I have halved the icing sugar from the original, so these stay just as tempered.
For the finish, I lined a Diwali chocolate mould with chocolate and filled it with the caramel mixture, so that each one becomes a little chocolate with a diya or paisley on top, brushed with gold. If you do not have a mould, do not let that stop you! Simply roll the mixture into balls and dip them in chocolate instead.
I hope you enjoy 🙂
Other Simply Wonderfuls recipes
Simply Wonderfuls
No-cook, flower-shaped sweetmeats, tempered so they're less sweet than the usual version.
View recipe
Coconut Simply Wonderfuls
No-cook Simply Wonderfuls with coconut, sesame and cardamom, rolled in toasted coconut and sesame.
View recipe
The recipe
Caramel and Chocolate Simply Wonderfuls
Makes about 25 Simply WonderfulsPrep 1 hrCook 15 minTotal 2 hr 30 min
adventureswithsugar.com/caramel-and-chocolate-simply-wonderfuls/
Method
Method: caramel Simply Wonderfuls
- Brown the butter: Melt the butter in a light-coloured saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan often. It will foam, and then the milk solids at the bottom will turn golden brown and smell nutty, around 5 – 8 minutes. Pour it into a bowl straight away, scraping in all the browned bits.
- Let it set: Place the brown butter in the fridge, stirring every so often, until it firms up to the consistency of soft, room-temperature butter, around 1 hour. You want it soft enough to cream, but not liquid.
- Toast the milk powder: Whilst the butter is setting, toast the 150g milk powder in a dry pan over low heat, stirring constantly, until evenly golden, around 5 – 8 minutes. You want to watch it carefully, as it goes from golden to burnt very quickly! Tip it into a bowl and let it cool completely.
- Cream the butter and sugar: Using a hand mixer, cream the brown butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy, around 3 minutes.
- Add the caramel treat and flavourings: Then add the caramel treat, caramel essence and nutmeg, and beat until smooth.
- Add the milk powder: Gradually add the toasted milk powder and the 75g plain milk powder, a bit at a time. You can begin with the hand mixer, but the mixture eventually gets quite stiff, and I find kneading it by hand works best. If it still feels a bit wet, add a little extra milk powder until it comes together. Finally, knead in the chopped almonds.
- Chill: Place it in the fridge to chill for about 30 – 40 minutes, where it will firm up a bit.
Method: chocolate shells
- Coat the mould: Fill each cavity of the mould with tempered chocolate, then turn the mould over and tap out the excess, leaving a thin shell. Scrape the top of the mould clean and let the shells set in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
- Fill: Press the chilled caramel mixture into each shell, leaving about 2mm at the top.
- Seal: Spread more chocolate over the top, scrape it level, and chill until fully set, around 20 – 30 minutes.
- Finish: Pop the Simply Wonderfuls out of the mould and brush the raised designs with gold glitter dust. Serve and enjoy!
What should I know about making this recipe?
What if I do not have a chocolate mould?
Roll the chilled mixture into balls of about 22g each and chill them until firm. Then dip each one in melted chocolate and let them set on baking paper.
Do I have to toast the milk powder?
It is what gives these their deep caramel flavour, so I would not skip it. Just keep the heat low and keep stirring.
What if the mixture is too wet or soft?
Add a little extra milk powder, a bit at a time. The mixture will be quite soft initially, but don't worry – as the milk powder is exposed to the air, it does dry.
How should I store them?
In an airtight container in the fridge, for up to a week.
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