The first time we went to NYC we stayed at the Harold Square Hotel and right next door was Ayza Wine & Chocolate Bar. On the menu they had an assortment of chocolates by Jacques Torres. If you're not familiar, which I wasn't either at the time, Jacques is Mr. Chocolate. I was transformed from the first bite of his incredible filled truffles. Thankfully, Jacques is doing instructional videos on YouTube for OpenSky on working with chocolate. You can learn anything on YouTube! I love it. Five minutes and you'll understand how to make filled chocolates.
After learning from the master I went and bought some red, orange, yellow and bakers semi-sweet chocolates. I started by melting each of the colored chocolates in a glass bowl over simmering water. It worked best to let the chocolate set and melt for about 5 minutes and then stir. Next I went to my chocolate bar molds (I got my molds at Madi Gras, but you could find at Pat Catan's, B.A. Sweetie and just about any other stores selling candy supplies). I dripped a abstract fire pattern onto the molds and let that dry. After letting that cool I melted the semi-sweet and followed with Jacques instructed in the video (poured it in and dumped it out). I left that to cool in the fridge while making the sriracha caramel.
Sriracha Caramel
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 tablespoons butter
- pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons of Sriracha
DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar, heavy whipping cream, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for about 4 minutes, whisking occasionally.
Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the Sriracha and stir. Let cool to room temperature.
Fill your molds, but try not to overfill and pop them back in the fridge. Melt a little more chocolate and pour it in the molds to close up your bar. Once they've cool and solidifed they'll pop right out!