Caramelised white chocolate, or blonde chocolate, is essentially plain white chocolate that’s been gently roasted until it’s a light toffee colour, which gives it a lovely toasty, malty flavour. I love white chocolate, but it can be a bit one-note compared to its dark and milk cousins, so this technique really helps to elevate the flavour. You can pick up blonde chocolate in most major supermarkets (our favourite is Cadbury Caramilk), but we think making your own is so much tastier.
What type of chocolate can you use?
You can use a roughly chopped bar of white chocolate, or a bag of chocolate buttons. Just make sure you use a good-quality chocolate, as it will be more stable and have a better flavour profile. Avoid using chocolate chips where possible, as they are designed to hold their shape when baked, so therefore won't melt as easily.
What recipes can you use it in?
You can use it in any recipe that calls for white chocolate, or melted white chocolate. We used ours for the caramelised white chocolate custard filling in these chocolate doughnuts.
If your recipe calls for solid chocolate, scrape your melted caramelised white chocolate onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking parchment and leave to set at room temperature. Once solid, you can store it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
How to make it
You can use as much or as little chocolate as you like, just make sure it fits in a single layer on your baking tray. For this recipe, we used 100g white chocolate buttons.
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 140°C (120°C fan) mark 1. Scatter the white chocolate on to a small, non-stick baking tray, making sure it fits in a single layer.
- Bake for 50min, removing from oven every 10min and stirring well (this will stop the chocolate catching), until a deep golden-brown colour. Don’t worry if your chocolate goes lumpy or looks grainy, just keep going until smooth and caramelised.
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Alice Shields is Senior Cookery Writer for Good Housekeeping. A trained pastry chef, you’ll find her food styling on photo shoots, developing delicious recipes and writing about all things food. She loves to bake and her favourite pudding will always be a chocolate fondant. Originally hailing from Lancashire, she finally achieved her goal of getting a butter pie recipe into the magazine.
