Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School is set to launch panning classes this year, with award-winning pastry chef Kirsten Tibballs saying the technique has travelled from Europe to Australian shores, and is a trend to watch in 2015.
Panning is an art form in itself, where an ingredient with a crunchy centre, such as a nut, is coated with even layers of chocolate and finished with a mirror shine.
Chocolate-coated nuts, jelly beans, Smarties, M&M’s, Jaffas, Malteasers, Crispearls, Bullets and hundreds-and-thousands are all commercially-available products made with a panning machine.
Of course, Savour’s cooking classes are a little more refined.
“Our classes will focus on coating coffee beans, puffed quinoa, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts and caramels, all with an exceptionally shiny finish,” she says.
“Chocolate-coated nuts are a good recipe for panning novices.
A panning machine is required to create these products, but here are the basic steps needed to master this on-trend technique.
what to do
• The quantity of nuts required is determined by the size of your panning machine.
• Roast the nuts at 160°C until golden brown and remove the skins if required.
• Cool the nuts and place them in the panning machine and turn the machine on a slow rotation.
• Your room temperature should not exceed 21°C, or you will require refrigerated cooling.
• Melt the couverture chocolate.
• Ladle small amounts of the chocolate at a time into the panning machine while it is rotating.
• Continue adding chocolate with a ladle to build up the chocolate coating around the nut.
• Once you are satisfied with the thickness of chocolate surrounding the nut, remove the nuts from the panning machine and sit overnight.
• Place the chocolate-coated nuts back into the panning machine and coat with a sealant or cocoa powder, metallic etc.
• You can achieve a natural shine with efficient refrigeration on your panning machine.
Savour is offering three hands-on panning classes. Visit www.savourschool.com.au for more information and to book.
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