This is a deliciously awesome trick to have up your sleeve. This is, How to make Caramelized White chocolate, and then how to make custard and Caramelized White Chocolate Creme Patissiere from it! (This glorious beauty was stuffed inside a Glazed Coffee Doughnut and it was magnificent!)
If you want to take that white chocolate flavour and kick it up a notch, then you have to caramelize it. It turns regular, creamy, sweet white chocolate into a glorious, caramel coloured sauce with an incredible caramel-fudge flavour! As someone who doesn’t really like white chocolate (I find it simply too sweet), this completely transforms my opinion of it every time, without fail!
I learnt how to do this from David Lebovitz. I haven’t changed anything about the way he does it, but I’ll outline it here for you!
How to make caramelized white chocolate.
⇒You need to find good quality white chocolate made with cocoa butter (not the other kind). Chop the white chocolate into smaller pieces.
⇒Spread this on a tray that’s lined with a silpat (or non stick silicone baking mat).
Place the chocolate in an oven on its lowest setting (the lowest setting on my oven is “keep warm”, which is less than 200°F / 90°C.
⇒Check every 10 minutes, and using an offset spatula, mix and re-spread the chocolate as it melts and starts to change colour.
⇒Keep checking every 10 minutes, until the white chocolate has turned (light) golden in colour and is smooth. The chocolate may change texture and become a little chalky, which is why its important to mix and spread while it heats, and after it comes out of the oven too.
The smallest amount of chocolate I have used is 4 oz (113g) (about 30 minutes) and the largest amount I have used is 12 oz/ 340g (45 – 60 min). The more chocolate you use, it obviously takes longer to caramelize. The yield is 1:1 too.
To make a sauce you can thin it out with some cream. OR you can use it as a base for custard and/or cream patisserie (pastry cream).
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Ingredients:
- 4 oz / 113g caramelized white chocolate or substitute with regular melted white chocolate
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 whole egg
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp of sugar optional, if making pastry cream with whipped cream
- 1/2 tsp salt OR 2 tsp salt if you want a salty-sweet combination
- 2 tsp vanilla extract/ vanilla bean paste
- 2 tbsp bourbon optional
- 1 ½ cups full-fat milk or half and half
- ⅓ cup whipping cream whipped to stiff peaks, optional
Instructions:
- Place the caramelized white chocolate, milk, vanilla bean paste, bourbon, salt and sugar (if using), and heat on medium heat. Stir to ensure that the chocolate and white sugar melt properly.
- In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, cornstarch with a whisk until smooth and the eggs are pale in colour.
- When the milk starts to steam, drizzle the hot milk into the eggs slowly, while whisking the egg mix (tempering the eggs to prevent them from curdling). After drizzling in about 3/4 cup of the milk and the eggs are warm, pour it back into the milk saucepan and stir to combine.
- If using vanilla extract - add this at this stage. Keep stirring or whisking consistently to prevent the custard from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan, or curdling. Heat the custard (lower the heat if needed) until it thickens to a pudding-like consistency (when the first bubbles break the surface of the custard).
- Pour the custard into a bowl and place a sheet of plastic wrap over the custard (touching the surface of the custard) to prevent a skin from forming on top. Let it cool down to room temperature and chill for a few hours.
- When the custard is chilled, use as is, OR, fold the whipped cream through the custard until just mixed. Cover and leave it in the fridge until ready to use.
Tips & Tricks
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
This is so, so versatile! I just cannot tell you enough about how much we love this. We have actually piped this straight into glasses, let it set and then just had it as a pudding!
We have filled mini chocolate tarts with this delicious pastry cream (non-salty version) in these Mini Chocolate tarts with Caramelized White Chocolate pastry cream with a boozy raspberry center.
And used the salty-sweet pastry cream to fill these delicious Coffee glazed Coffee Doughnuts!
The choices are truly endless. And you’re welcome! 🙂
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Carly F says
Is there a dairy free option for this recipe? I really appreciate the dairy-free options in your other crème pâtisserie recipes since I have a new dairy sensitivity
Dini says
Hi Carly
Unfortunately I don’t know if dairy free white chocolate will caramelize the same way as regular white chocolate in this recipe. You can add dairy free white chocolate to pastry cream, but it’s the caramelizing part that I have not tried.
Lauren says
Hi Dini. I’m excited to try your recipe, but have a quick question first. I’d love to add banana flavour to this – if that’s even possible. At what stage of the recipe would you recommend adding the fruit? I’d planned to use fresh, ripe banana.
Dini says
Hi Lauren
I do make a banana custard in this recipe here. You can use the technique I used in the recipe to infuse banana to make banana pastry cream.
The pastry cream in the recipe is thicker than regular because I folded in whipped cream afterwards. So you if you want a less thick version, you can use the banana milk to make pastry cream according to the recipe here.
I don’t recommend adding whole fruits, as it can thicken and change the consistency too much. Infusing the milk with bananas will give you great banana flavor!
Hope that helps!
Lauren says
Thank you very much, Dini!
Amanda says
How many cups of pastry cream does this yield without the whipped cream and with it?
sogol noein says
It was brilliant
Sogol noein says
I love this beautiful detailed recipe
Ian Krassner says
I made this once with regular store white chocolate chips and it was great. The second time I made it, I used a specialty chocolate store’s 36% cocoa butter white chocolate bar that they make in house. It didn’t caramelize smoothly at all but even in its grainy state I tried it in the pastry cream.
When I made the pastry cream somehow it never really thickened up when cooking on the stove after tempering and re-combining. Is it possible the specialty white chocolate with the high cocoa butter percentage was to blame? Also it came out a bit too salty. Any tricks for cutting the salt flavor? Perhaps adding more whipped cream?
Nesrin Degirmenci says
Can i put this pastry cream on a meringue nest? And eat it right away ofcourse.
Dini says
Hi Nesrin!
Yes you can 🙂 It might be quite sweet though (meringue topped with caramelized white chocolate).
Nesrin Degirmenci says
Thank you very much for the reply. I did it today with Milka white chocolate (although you told not to use other kind 🙂 ). I failed after 1 hour passed for 150 grams of chocolate. I am going to buy Callebaut white chocolate which has 28% Cocoa tomorrow.
Nesrin Degirmenci says
Hello again. I bought Callebaut white chocolate and tried again. After 1.5 hour passed it didn’t change in color. I re-read and re-read the recipe and the comments as well . So ,i looked at David Lebovitz recipe and it says 120 degree celsius not the lowest setting! Now i have non-liquid caramelized white chocolate. I didnt understand how it worked for you .
Dini says
Hi Nesrin!
Thank you for letting me know. I will have to reword my recipe as I’ve realized from your comment that ovens do vary greatly. In my oven, the lowest setting is about 200°F (which is 90°C), and that’s why it worked for me, it likely doesn’t work at lower temperatures than that. I went lower than David Lebovitz’s temperature, because it caused the chocolate to burn if you’re not careful. But I am glad that you were finally able to get the chocolate caramelized for your recipe! But thank you again for letting me know, I will retest this recipe as soon as I get a chance.
Cheers,
Dini