Known as caramelized white chocolate or blonde chocolate, roasting white chocolate is the fast, simple technique for getting the most flavor out of your white chocolate recipes. This is the perfect way to turn up your restaurant’s dessert game. Let’s talk about why you should be roasting your chocolate.

How to Roast White Chocolate

Be prepared. Though the process is easy it does take close to an hour to roast the chocolate from start to finish. Be sure you have the time to stay in or near the kitchen throughout the entire process before you start.

Begin by preheating your oven to 250F and lining a baking tray or trays, depending on how much chocolate you are making, with parchment paper. Break up your chocolate into small pieces or roughly chop it. If you’re using chips simply spread them out evenly. The most important thing to remember is that you must use good quality white chocolate for this. It must have at least 30% cocoa butter. Low-quality brands or, heaven forbid, white candy coating will simply seize up during the process and not attain the depth of flavors or the same coloring as the “good stuff.” We recommend Vahlrona or Callebaut, but the options don’t stop there so use whatever is available to you as long as it’s quality.

The Importance of Stirring

Once your oven has reached temperature and your chocolate is prepared, slip your pans into the oven for 5 minutes. This should be just enough time for the chocolate to melt. Use a spatula to stir and spread the chocolate, then return it to the oven for another ten minutes, at the end of which you’ll repeat the process again. The stirring in this recipe is critical as the bottom of the chocolate will be cooking much faster than the rest and must be scraped and stirred regularly to achieve an even roast.

The Stages of Chocolate

As the chocolate continues to cook and the moisture evaporates in the oven, it will become lumpy and grainy looking, but never fear, continue cooking and stirring in the same way. By the 45-minute mark the chocolate should have achieved a golden-brown tan hue and the consistency should now be smooth and shiny. If the color or the texture isn’t quite there don’t be afraid to return the chocolate to the oven for an additional ten minutes until you get just the right shade. The smell of the roasted white chocolate is also something to attend to. Throughout the whole process notes of butterscotch and caramel will be emerging and by the end of the process will have filled your kitchen with an unbelievably delicious scent. This beautiful blonde cousin to white chocolate will have you wondering why you ever spent time with its anemic relative to begin with.

Storing + Uses

Once the roasting is finished you have a choice. You can either directly transfer the warm chocolate into a jar to be heated up and spooned over ice cream or cake or you can allow the chocolate to cool and spread out into a thin layer on the pan. Once the chocolate has set, break or chop it into small pieces to be used in your next dessert.

These blonde chips can be used in any way you’d use regular chocolate chips. They can be added to cookie batters and granola bars, or combined with hot cream to make a ganache, added to a buttercream, or cakes. Simple to make and easy to use, blonde chocolate’s uses are seemingly endless. Try replacing white chocolate in your recipes with blonde and taste the difference. Even replace milk or dark chocolate for a surprising and delicious spin on your restaurant’s regular dessert offerings.