This is the Aero chocolate taken to the next level. It has the same airiness but with high-quality chocolate and enhanced hazelnut flavour.

This recipe doesn’t use other oils, which is common in other aerated chocolate recipes which is mainly used to thin out the chocolate and make it easier to incorporate air and use in the siphon. Adding other oils dilutes the flavour or could also impart and off-putting taste. This recipe uses cocoa butter instead, which has the same effect but with a more compatible flavour to the chocolate. It tastes delicious!

It’s perfectly delicious on it’s own but can also be piped into moulds, used as a layer in a cake, used to decorate a cake or as an element in a plated dessert.

Ingredients

• 360 g couverture milk chocolate (40%)
• 45 g cocoa butter
• 45 g hazelnut paste

Tools used for this Recipe

This recipe uses some specialised tools and we highly recommend them to help you get the best results!

Cream Whipper / Whipping Siphon

The cream whipper or whipping siphon is used in this recipe to incorporate air into the chocolate. It’s easy to use and incorporates air instantly. I’ve tried a few other techniques to incorporate air into the chocolate, but they never worked, so this tool is really needed if you want to aerate chocolate. We recommend a high-quality cream whipper like this one, which is also used by many professionals.

The cream whipper is a versatile tool! It can be used for many other innovative and fancy techniques such as creating an airy mousse, microwave sponges, foams for hot chocolate, syrups and many more.

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Vacuum Machine and Container

The vacuum container helps to increase the size of the air pockets in the chocolate and helps keeps the chocolate from deflating as it’s setting. This recipe still works without it but for optimal airiness and texture, we highly recommend this tool. Fortunately, there are now domestic machines that are affordable, like this vacuum container that we use.

The vacuum container system can also be used for preserving food, prevent your food from becoming stale or for sous-vide cooking.

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Method

1. (Optional) Line a vacuum container with baking paper.
2. Heat the milk chocolate gently in 20 second intervals in the microwave until melted. Stir well between each interval to distribute the heat. As the chocolate is more melted, use shorter 10 and 5-second intervals.
3. Heat the cocoa butter separately with a similar technique as above, starting with shorter 10-second intervals.
4. Mix all the ingredients together until evenly combined.
5. Mix slowly in a cold environment until the mixture reaches 29°C. If your kitchen is hot, you can put the bowl in the fridge for short 10-second intervals mixing well between each interval.
6. Pour through a sieve and funnel into a siphon or cream whipper and charge with 2 gas cartridges. Shake well.
7. Immediately dispense the chocolate into a vacuum container or other container.
8. (Optional) Pull the air out of the container with a vacuum machine.
9. Store in the fridge to set.
10. Once set, unmould and break into pieces.