White Chocolate Bananas Foster Candies

By Texaschef11

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of high quality white chocolate (do not use white chocolate chips)
• 1 bananas foster swiss meringue buttercream recipe, see below
• 1/2 of salted caramel recipe, see below

Preparation

Step 1

Coat the molds with chocolate; there are a few ways to do this. While holding mold over bowl of tempered chocolate, take a nice ladle of the chocolate and pour over the mold, making sure it cover and fills every well. Knock the mold a few times against a flat surface to get rid of air bubbles, then turn the mold upside down over the bowl of chocolate, and knock out the excess chocolate. Turn right side up and drag a bench or plastic scraper across so all the chocolate in between the wells is scraped off cleanly, leaving you with only chocolate filled wells. Put in the fridge to set, about 5 to 10 minutes. Alternatively, you could take a small brush and paint the tempered chocolate into each mold, or spoon it in if you’d like.

Remove from refrigerator and fill each well with some of the bananas foster buttercream, leaving a little room for a layer of caramel. Squeeze a thin layer of caramel on top of the buttercream (make sure the caramel is cool, or else it will melt the buttercream).

Again take a ladle of chocolate and pour it on top of the filled chocolate wells, knocking against a flat surface to settle it in. Scrape excess chocolate off the mold with the bench scraper then refrigerate until set.

Once fully set, carefully knock the chocolates out of the mold.

Bananas Foster Swiss Meringue Buttercream
from Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats, adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg white
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 bananas foster recipe, see below
1 tsp rum

Put the sugar and egg white in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth.

Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes (during this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again).

On medium speed, gradually beat in the bananas foster, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then add in the rum.

You should have a shiny smooth, velvety buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

Bananas Foster Recipe (for the buttercream filling)
1 tbsp tightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tbsp rum
1/2 banana, sliced

Add the brown sugar and rum to a small saucepan over medium heat until the brown sugar melts. Add the banana slices and cook for a few minutes on each side, until the bananas are soft and cooked through. Remove from heat and mash well with a fork, or puree in a food processor. Allow to cool completely before adding to the buttercream recipe.

Salted Caramel
from CandyBarLab.com

1 cup (225g / 8oz) Granulated White Sugar
1/2 cup (125ml / 4 fluid oz) Light Corn Syrup
1/2 cup (125ml / 4 fluid oz) Water
4 Tbsp (60g / 2 oz) Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp (30ml / 1 fluid oz) Heavy Cream
1/2 Tbsp salt
Place the sugar, corn syrup and water in a medium saucepan.

Set over medium-high heat and stir to combine.

Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until dark amber in color 310°F-315°F / 155°C-158°C, about 5 minutes.

Use a pastry brush, dipped in water, to wash down sides of pan to prevent crystallization as the mixture boils.

Remove saucepan from the heat and gradually whisk in the heavy cream, butter, and sea salt.

Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool.

Transfer cooled caramel to a pastry bag fitted with a medium plain tip or a squeeze bottle.