This is the milk chocolate you have been looking for. It is nothing short of amazing. The secret are those wonderful chemical reactions called Maillard Reactions. They are browning reactions and are what give baked bread and roast meat those wonderful deep rich hues and succulent depths of flavor.
To get somewhat technical, Maillard reactions occur any time you have amino acids, reducing sugars and heat. Chocolate usually has heat, and does have amino acids (trace protein) but is often made with sucrose which isn't a reducing sugar. Because of that you cannot usually induce this particular class of reactions. But if you add milk, the whole playing field changes. Milk is full of amino acids since it is full of protein and it has lactose that is a reducing sugar.
What this means is that if you add a bit of heat in the right place you can add some amazing complexity to your milk chocolate.
Before we get into this I want to reiterate this is pretty different from other recipes you may have tried. Alchemist Level. If you don't have everything you need to do it, feel free to implement what you can. It will still be above average. Also, this is all about flavor mixing, development and technique. YOU get to pick the beans based on some criteria I'm going to lay out.
Let's do it!.
Ingredients
4 lb Roasted cocoa nibs.
20 oz granulated sugar
16 oz whole milk powder, heated to brown (see below)
8 oz Cocoa butter
Procedure:
Let's talk about the cocoa beans first.
I like a bright acidic cocoa bean here. I've learned over the years that heightened acidity plays amazingly well in milk chocolates. Many of the acids convert to aldehydes and ketones leaning a fruity, rich depth of flavor. Peru Piura and Ucayali are my top picks.
Next you want something that says CHOCOLATE. The list here is large. A solid Forastero or less fruity Trinatario. Ghana is an obvious pick. Uganda, Ivory Coast and many from Guatemala work great too.
I really like two different beans in here, and possibly three if you choose a different bright one.
Since you are going to be picking your own cocoa nibs for this I can’t really give you roasting recommendations. Just follow what I outline in each bean. You of course can get roasted nibs.
Browning the Milk
Contrary to what many people say, you are not caramelizing your milk powder. You are browning it.
Pre-heat your oven to 275 F and in the milk powder goes.
Stir it every 5 minutes or so until it reaches a nice burnt umber color.
It can take about an hour or so .
I find it helpful to pre-heat both the drum to about 150 F along with all your ingredients. It really helps get everything in there in a timely manner.
Melt the cocoa butter and get it in the melanger.
Add the warmed cocoa nibs bit by bit.
Once that is all running smoothly, 15-30 minutes, add the rest of your ingredients
Run the Melanger until the chocolate is of the smoothness you desire. I find 36-48 hours is about right. Your tastes may vary.
Temper as you see fit and enjoy
I find I like resting the chocolate about 24 hours for a nice melding of flavors.
Enjoy!
Two of life's great gifts in one mouthful.