Not long after the birth of my second child, I received a message from Audrey, a reader with whom I had been conversing via email and comments, who wanted to advise me a prescription taken from the French blog Sleeping Beauty*. It was a recipe for a Sesame chocolate bar topped with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and caramelized sesame, which both she and blog author Nolwenn had found crucial to surviving the first few weeks with a newborn.
I read the recipe and at first the idea of finding the time and brain bandwidth to make something like this seemed ridiculous, but it turns out my appetite for chocolate is strong enough to move mountains: I couldn’t get that recipe out of my head, and within a few days I was actually making a modified version for myself — one with just sesame — taking one small step at a time between mothering duties.
The smooth bitterness of the dark chocolate combined with the crunchy, nutty, caramelized sweetness of the sesame clusters made for a sublime combination, and I already knew that chocolate bar wouldn’t survive until the end of the week.
The sesame chocolate bar project
One morning I toasted sesame seeds. Later, I made caramel, mixed it with sesame and chopped it up (tasty, tasty) sesame bark in small clusters. The next day, I took mine out digital probe thermometer and I tempered the chocolate (yes, tempered the chocolatethat’s how ambitious I was), I mixed it with the caramelized sesame croquettes and poured the mixture into a narrow mold.
A couple of hours later, when the dust had settled and the chocolate had solidified, I unmolded the thick bar of sesame chocolate, tasted it, and my eyes rolled back into their sockets: this was crazy! Well! The smooth bitterness of the dark chocolate** combined with the crunchy, nutty, caramelized sweetness of the sesame clusters made for a sublime combination, and I already knew that chocolate bar wouldn’t survive until the end of the week.
I’ve since made several more batches of that caramelized sesame chocolate bar and even invested in two silicone molds like these with which to make real bars fragile squares (the faint swirls in that photo indicate that I failed to temper the chocolate properly that day; I’m still no pro and the baby was crying). Some of these bars went straight into my belly, others did give yourself away – one of them to a new mother – and I’m happy to say they made a gratifying impression on the recipients.
I will note that if you don’t have the time or inclination to make the actual bars, you should consider making them only the caramelized sesame: It’s extremely easy and a real treat in itself.
Join the conversation!
Have you ever made your own chocolate bars? What recipe did you use and did you like the results?
PS: Make this gorgeous slab of chocolate with cinnamon granola or these easy Ginger Almond Chocolate Clusters and make sure you know how to taste chocolate!
*Let me explain the pun: Sleeping Beauty (literally, “sleeping beauty”) is French for Sleeping Beauty, and the author of this allergy blog has substituted bois (forest) of grain (grain).
** [sc:chocolate]
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Caramelized sesame chocolate bar recipe
ingredients
- 50 grams (1/3 cup) unroasted sesame seeds
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) white sugar (don’t use unrefined brown sugar here as it doesn’t caramelize well)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea saltplus more for dusting
- 200 grams (7 ounces) of high quality sweet and sour chocolatepreferably couverture chocolate, finely chopped [sc:chocolate]
Instructions
- Prepare a silicone bread mold, a normal bread mold carefully lined with baking paper, or silicone molds for chocolate bars. Have a ready silicone baking mat or a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, toast the sesame seeds until golden and fragrant. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- In the same saucepan, combine the sugar with 2 teaspoons of water and place over medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt and caramelize without stirring, just gently stirring the pan occasionally, until it turns an amber hue.
- Add the sesame seeds and salt, mix quickly and well with a silicone spatula and pour onto the prepared baking tray, spreading it as best you can.
- Leave to cool completely, then crush in a mortar or with a knife until small clusters form, similar to large chocolate chips.
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water and a food thermometer with probe.
- Place the finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water over low heat.
- Slowly melt the chocolate, stirring frequently to ensure even melting, until the chocolate reaches 50-55°C (122-131°F). Do not let it exceed 55°C (131°F).
- Place the top bowl containing the chocolate over the bowl of ice water and, scraping the bottom of the bowl and stirring constantly, bring the chocolate to 28-29°C (82-84°F).
- Place the bowl of chocolate back on the saucepan with the barely boiling water and, stirring constantly, let the chocolate reach the temperature of 31-32°C (88-90°F). Don’t exceed that temperature or you will have to start the tempering process from the beginning.
- Slowly melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, stirring often to ensure even melting, and remove from the heat as soon as it is completely melted.
- Add the sesame clusters to the chocolate (tempered or simply melted), mix well and pour into the prepared or old pan. Level the surface with a spatula, sprinkle with another pinch of salt and leave to rest at room temperature for a few hours. Cut into bars or squares.
- Store at cool room temperature in an airtight container.
If you choose to temper the chocolate (recommended):
If you prefer not to temper the chocolate:
Finish:
3.1
https://cnz.to/recipes/candy-mignardises/caramellized-sesame-chocolate-bar-recipe/
Unless otherwise indicated, all recipes are copyright Clotilde Dusoulier.
