Homemade Harry Potter Chocolate Frogs

Directions

• Beginning with tempering our chocolate, first, make sure that your frog mold is clean, has no smudges, and is 100% clear from any water droplets. Set aside.
• Place a pot filled with at least 2 inches of water over medium heat then place about 2/3 of the chopped chocolate in a large bowl. Place this bowl over the pot to make our double boiler. Stir the chocolate with a silicone spatula as it begins to melt.
• Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature and remove the chocolate from the heat as soon as it reaches 115 degrees F. Do not let this get over 120 degrees F. Once you’ve removed the 115 degrees F. chocolate from the heat, slowly and gradually add the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate while stirring constantly with a silicone spatula. This chocolate will melt in the already melted chocolate. Be sure not to get any water involved or it will cause our chocolate to seize.
• Continue to stir the chocolate together until the temperature falls down to 84 degrees F. This will take longer in a glass bowl since the glass will retain the heat longer. You can always place your bowl over another bowl filled with water and ice to make an ice bath, but again – do not get any water into our chocolate mixture.
• Once our chocolate is fully combined and is reading 84 degrees F. place it back over the double boiler for a few seconds at a time while constantly mixing to get the temperature up to 89 degrees F. Once it hits this point, remove it from the heat and do not let it exceed 91 degrees. This is the ideal working temperature.
• Use a ladle to pour and fill our completely dry frog molds. Fill the mold up to the very top. Once each mold is filled, tap the mold up and down on the counter to release any air bubbles and make sure that every part of the mold is filled.
• Tip the mold upside down over the bowl of chocolate to release the extra chocolate in the mold – in this step, we are just creating the chocolate shell.
• Use a cake scraper or bench scraper to scrape off the excess chocolate from the top of the mold.
• Place our mold in the fridge to chill while we make the caramel. Set the chocolate aside at room temperature and we can reheat it to 89 degrees later on.
• Caramel Filling
• In a large pan, heat the sugar over medium heat. Try to avoid using a non-stick pan. Stir the sugar constantly using a wooden spoon. The sugar will eventually melt after about 8-10 minutes into a darker amber color. Do not increase the heat level to speed up this process – it will burn the sugar. The sugar will form large and small clumps – don’t worry! Continue to heat and mix.
• Once the sugar has turned a darker amber color and melted down, stir in the butter over low heat. This will begin to bubble so be careful. Continue to mix over low to medium heat until the butter is fully combined with the sugar. This can take some time. Allow the mixture to sit for 15 seconds at a time and bubble a bit then mix. Repeat this until it’s fully combined. This process could take 5-10 minutes so don’t worry. Take your time and be patient.
• Once the butter has fully combined with the sugar remove it from the heat then pour in the heavy cream. The cream will bubble rapidly, so be ready, aware, and careful.
• Once the heavy cream is nicely combined with the caramel, stir in the salt and mix until it has fully dissolved and is fully distributed into the caramel.
• Place the caramel in a heat-proof glass jar then let sit in the fridge to cool for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Once our caramel has cooled, pour it into a piping bag then remove our chocolate frog molds from the fridge. Pipe a generous amount of caramel filling filling it to the top. Use the same cake scraper or bench scraper to smooth out the caramel in the filling. Once the caramel has been filled and smoothed, place in the fridge while we reheat the remaining chocolate.
• Place the chocolate back over the double boiler while stirring until it reaches 89 degrees F. again then ladle the chocolate over the caramel-filled molds. Use a scraper to remove excess chocolate until it is nice and smooth.
• Place our frog mold in the fridge for about 1 hour or longer.
• flip the mold upside down and one at a time, release each frog. The longer the frogs have chilled, the thicker the caramel will be. The longer they sit out at room temperature, the softer the caramel will become.
• Enjoy!