Gaïa Candies
- By Charlotte Brown
- October 07, 2025
BY JUSTINE GUERNÉ
Makes 42 candies
DARK GIANDUJA
(120g total)
INGREDIENTS:
375 g hazelnuts
190 g icing sugar
160 g 66% dark chocolate
30 g cocoa butter
METHOD:
Roast the hazelnuts for 15 minutes at 160°C in a convection oven. Blend the roasted hazelnuts with the icing sugar to form a smooth paste. Add the chocolate and tempered cocoa butter. Strain through a fine sieve and store.
SEMI-LIQUID CARAMEL GIANDUJA
INGREDIENTS:
100 g caster sugar
100 g 35% fat liquid cream
50 g DE40 glucose
60 g water
120 g dark gianduja
20 g hazelnut paste
METHOD:
Dry-cook the sugar to obtain a dark blond caramel. Uncook with the boiling cream-glucose-water mixture. Bake at 103°C/73°Brix. Allow to cool to 40°C, then pour over the gianduja and hazelnut paste. Blend and store.
SPRAYING
INGREDIENTS:
250 g cocoa butter
10 g fat-soluble yellow-orange coloring
250 g cocoa butter
14 g fat-soluble red coloring
90 g 66% dark chocolate couverture
METHOD:
For each spray mixture, mix the melted cocoa butter with the colorings and/or chocolate. Temper spray mixture to 31.5°C. Spray the top half of a leaf-shaped chocolate mold horizontally with a layer of red cocoa butter. Spray the other half with a layer of yellow-orange cocoa butter. Scrape off any excess, then peel.
MOLDING, LINING AND FILLING
INGREDIENTS:
For molding
1000 g 33% milk chocolate
150 g cocoa butter
100 g 33% milk chocolate couverture
METHOD:
Mold the leaves with the 33% milk chocolate in a thin layer. Peel, trim. Fill the molds to within a millimeter of the edge with Gianduja semi-liquid caramel. Leave the filled molds for at least 2 hours at 17°C. To make the spray mixture, mix the melted cocoa butter with the 100 g milk chocolate. Spray this mixture at 31.5°C over the caramel to form a sufficiently hard layer. This step will make filling easier, as without it the chocolate, which is denser than the gianduja caramel, risks mixing and the caramel will leak out the base. Then fill with 33% tempered milk chocolate. Leave to set at 6°C for as long as necessary, then unmold.