Hearts of Passion

Ingredients

• 2 pounds milk chocolate, tempered
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 1 cup fresh passion fruit juice
• 18 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• 5 tablespoons passion fruit liqueur (reccomended: Alize)
• 2 tablespoons butter

Special Equipment, see source link for information:

• Heart-shaped molds

Directions

Using a ladle, fill the mold with milk chocolate. When it is full, empty the excess chocolate back into the bowl. The inside of the molds should be evenly coated. Wipe the lip of the mold clean and place it upside down on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Once the chocolate starts to harden, about 5 minutes, use a wide pastry scraper to clean the edges of each cavity clean. (When the chocolate sets, it shrinks or retracts from the sides of the mold. A clean edge will keep it from sticking and cracking as it shrinks). You can place the mold in the refrigerator for several minutes to help the chocolate to harden.

Place the cream, corn syrup and passion fruit juice in a pan and scald the mixture. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chopped chocolate and blend until smooth with an immersion hand blender. Add the passion fruit liqueur and the butter and blend until smooth with an immersion hand blender. Allow the mixture to come to 85 degrees F. Place the mixture in a piping bag and pipe it into the chocolate filled molds. Let set overnight. Apply milk chocolate the bottoms of each cavity with an offset spatula in order to seal them. Scrape clean and allow to set. When the chocolate has set, invert the mold over a clean dry surface. It may be necessary to rap the mold against the counter to encourage the chocolates to release.

How to Temper Chocolate(From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres):

Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.

One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.

Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.

The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.

A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.