There is something to be said to have chocolates in your repertoire which hold a long shelf life. It can make your work schedule a lot easier since you can make these types of chocolates well in advance of busy holidays. One type of filling which will certainly keep fresh for at least 6 months is a Confiserie fondant type. Often used in economy chocolate selections since it is an inexpensive type of filling with the additional benefit of long conservation. They are frequently flavored with liquors and or flavoring compounds to mask its sweetness and of course to give flavor. Using chocolate with higher cocoa mass content is another way to balance the high sugariness. Fondant type of fillings tend to work best in rather low depth chocolate molds where it is easier to achieve a good balance between the sweet filling and bittersweet chocolate.
Confiserie fondant mixed with peppermint oil is a classic and well liked in many parts of our world. The cooling sensation of peppermint combined with good bittersweet chocolate is a delicious pleasure indeed. Few of us make our own confiserie fondant but for our pastry students who cannot readily purchase this fondant you can find the recipe on my site here.
Mint Chocolates
| 17 oz | Confiserie fondant | 500 g | |
| As needed | Peppermint oil or extract | As needed | |
| Optional | Mint liquor | optional | |
| As needed | Bittersweet chocolate 58-65% | As needed | |
- Line chocolate molds with tempered chocolate and place upside down in a refrigerator until the chocolate starts to contract.
- Warm fondant in a microwave oven to 85F (cccccccccc) add peppermint oil or extract to taste. Add a very small amount of water or liquor to bring to a thick but pipeable consistency. Keep well covered to prevent a skin from forming.
- Fill the molds 2 mm from edge. If desired sprinkle with cocoa nibs. Allow the fondant to “crust”.
- Cover with tempered chocolate and place in the refrigerator.
- Unmold.
Chef, these chocolates were easily the best chocolates I’ve ever had. The cocoa nibs were a stunning touch. I loved how you could make the American “York Peppermint Patty” or “Junior Mints” so much more sophisticated. Your temper was perfect and the sheen was flawless. I seriously went on for days about how elegant and delicious they were! Thank you for sharing! Merry Christmas!
Like a “york peppermint patty” hun, than i might make some for christmas!
They remind me of candies that i used to buy but not as good looking. From now on, I’ll just make them instead of buying them.
Oh yeah, my sister is a fan so I’ll make some for her too.
Beautiful!
Guess I need to ask for chocolate molds for Christmas!! ;0)
This is a perfect holiday recipe, not to dificult and something that i think will wow the family. Thanks for the awesome, yet simple recipe. Its going to keep my families breath very fresh during this holiday season. Lol!
Your tips about using a more shallow mold with the fondant and using a chocolate with higher cocoa mass were great advice. These were the perfect combination of mint and chocolate when you shared them with us and I plan on making them for my family for Christmas.
Hi, Chef Eddy. First, happy holidays! 🙂
Second: i have commented once before about not being able to unmold chocolates. At the time i had silicone molds, then i purchased polycarbonate ones and on the first go they unmolded beautifully, but ever since then i am once again having trouble getting them out. I temper the chocolate and it is shiny and it does crack, when it’s cooled, so i know i’m doing that right. I let them sit on the counter for 3 minutes to get a thicker shell (for both your liquer filled chocolates and these peppermint ones), put them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, then to the freezer for 7. It worked like a charm the first time, but then never again. I washed the molds both in the washing machine and in warm water by hand. Should i use cooking spray? What am i doing wrong? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, it’s really getting frustrating to have all these wonderful ingredients and not being able to put them together.
Thank you for these wonderful recipes, i hope i get to recreate them with success soon. 🙂
Maja
P.S.: i forgot to mention, i also clean the praline molds with cotton, a tip i got from keylink website.
Eddy, these are killer. I love the addition of the cocoa nibs. Instill have not made my home made ‘York’ peppermint parties and I’ll do so for NY Eve. Thanks so much for making my way so easy. All th best and happy new year!
Thank you Priscilla, Happy New Year to you as well.
Eddy.
Hi Maja,
Happy Holidays to you as well.
Washing chocolate molds is best done by hand using a mild detergent. After using you do not have to wash the molds to use them again (Unless the chocolates did not release.) Placing the molds in the freezer is a bad idea, this practice creates condensation and will make chocolates stick. Certainly do not use cooking spray. Make sure that your molds are not cold, they should be at room temperature or slightly higher. Your chocolate should be in temper and near the high end of the the tempered temperature.
My best, Eddy
Thank you, chef Eddy! I’ll do all that you say and will report back, hopefully with great news of yummy chocolate success. 🙂 Good to know about the freezer no-no, i thought i was fixing the problem by putting the chocolates in the freezer, but alas i was making it worse.
Happy new year, all the best,
Maja
Hallo Chef
The combination choclate and mint, nice.
In the 80′ a Holland Brand makes chocolte/mint candies.
Sorry for my bad Englisch,
Chef een smaakvol en gezond 2012
Thank you Rudolf,
Happy New Year!
Eddy
I am going to make this soon! Love it!
Is there a way to put the mint flavor in the chocolate? Say if you don’t like the peppermint flavored fondant in the middle?
Mint Chocolate is my favorite but I don’t like the filling too much
What is the roll the fondant play.
I dont believe I/we made these, but I wish we had. I’m not a very big fan of mint and chocolate because sometimes the mint to chocolate ratio is overbearing, but these look delicious as everything else you make. I’d give these a try and probably would like them!
These call to mind a certain candy that I enjoyed as a child, but I know these here(your recipe) would knock those(the ones I liked way back when) out of the ball park.
Christmas is just around the corner, and these are perfect for just such occasion. Only for decorative purposes, I want to sprinkle bits of hard candy mints on top, but I fear that may put the mint flavor over the top. These would be a fun match with hot cocoa on a nice morning or just sitting around a warm fire. I want to also try to mix in fruity creams with the mint liquor. It’s great that you point out tips like using chocolate with higher cocoa mass content to counter high sugariness too. Thank, Chef Eddy!