Bouchons

One item that was recently crossed off my wish list was Thomas Keller and Sebastien Ruxiel's Bouchon Bakery (cookbook).  And the first thing I wanted to make was bouchons!

So guess what was for dessert for Valentine's Day dinner?  Yes, bouchons! 

First I had find bouchon molds, or even timbale molds, both of which did not seem to exist in my part of the world.  A couple of bloggers suggested using mini-muffin pans but I couldn't bring myself to do it (not that desperate enough, I guess).  But then I found a blog that indicated use of Ikea's DRÖMMAR muffin pan (again, thank you friend T!)

The pan's cavities were tall and thin, similar to the shape of a bouchon!  (A bouchon, by the way, based on what I've read, is so named because it is shaped like a cork and the word "bouchon" is French for cork!)

The pan was perfect!


The recipe in the book had both weight and cup measures.  For the first time ever, I decided to go by weight.  It was a bit disconcerting not to be using measuring cups and spoons, but it was ok.  One thing for sure, clean up was way faster!

I loved, loved, loved it!  (And again, this from one who is definitely NOT a fan of chocolate!)  As for the little girl, as the bouchons were baking, she ran downstairs, yelling "Mommy!  I smell something really good!  What is it?  What is it?  Can I eat it?"  And she refused to leave the kitchen (she kept sniffing too!) until she could eat one!  No wonder bouchons are bestsellers!

Take a look inside -

Apparently there are 2 versions of the recipe.  The first (original) one from an earlier cookbook Bouchon, and a "revised" one from the newer Bouchon Bakery cookbook.  It is easy to find the "older" recipe on the internet; the newer version, however, is a bit elusive, although not impossible to find.

In any case, I tried to follow his recipe faithfully...  the changes that I made (not intentionally, for once!) is that I used salted butter (because I did not have the unsalted kind) so I used less salt (just a pinch, instead of 1/8 teaspoon), and I used a super jumbo egg, that weighed 72 grams, instead of the 75 specified in the book.  I substituted 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (my own extract) instead of the vanilla paste.  Valrhona was recommended but I am faithful to Bensdorp (or in its absence, Callebaut).  And lastly, I did not dust the finished product with powdered sugar (again, unintentionally because in a "senior" moment, I just forgot!)  The recipe yielded 9 bouchons using the Ikea pan.

The verdict?  Like I said, I loved it.  So did the little girl and hubby.  The little girl was so impressed that she kept saying that I made the best chocolate in the world (with her cute "ever, ever" expression!)  Hubby was likewise impressed, declaring that it was almost as good as my (best) fudge brownies!

What I adore about it the most?  That it really looks like a bouchon!