Ingredients
Camel milk ganache
- 200 mlcamel milk
- 300 ggood milk chocolate, chopped
- 40 gbutter
- 2 tablespoonsglucose or honey
Date and spice
- 150 gsoft dates, stoned and chopped
- 1/2 teaspoonground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoonsaffron threads
- 1/4 teaspoonground cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- 50 gpistachios, chopped
To coat
- 400 gmilk or dark chocolate, for tempering
- extra chopped pistachio
- edible gold leaf, optional
Equipment
- a thermometer
- chocolate moulds or a lined tray
Directions
- Chop the milk chocolate finely and put it in a bowl. Fine chopping helps it melt evenly. Heat the camel milk in a small pan. Bring it to just below a simmer. Never let it boil, which can split it.
- Add the saffron threads to the hot milk. Let them steep for five minutes off the heat. Combining them takes a careful hand. Pour about a third of it over the chocolate. Wait thirty seconds without stirring at all. Keep stirring and it comes together.
- Add the rest of the milk in two more additions. Stir each one in fully before the next. It should end up smooth and glossy. Stir it hard from the centre to bring it back. Stir in the butter until it melts through. Add the glucose syrup or the honey. Add the cardamom, cinnamon and salt.
- Stir in the chopped dates and pistachios. Setting the filling takes a few hours. Pour it into a lined tray to about two centimetres.
- Cover it and leave it at cool room temperature. Give it at least four hours to set firm. Cut it into small squares or rectangles. Use a knife warmed in hot water and wiped dry. Set the cut pieces out on a tray.
- Melt two thirds of the chocolate to 45C. Take it off the heat entirely. Add the remaining third in small pieces. Stir constantly as it cools down. Bring it to 27C for milk chocolate. Then warm it back gently to 29C. Drop each square into the tempered chocolate.
- Lift it out on a fork and tap off the excess. Set it on a lined tray to set. Scatter chopped pistachio over while still wet. Add gold leaf if you want the luxury look. Let them set at cool room temperature. Cold chocolate tastes of very little. Let them come up before serving. They keep two weeks in a cool dry place.
Technique
- Al Nassma launched the first camel milk chocolate in Dubai in two thousand and eight, using milk from farms in the United Arab Emirates.
- Camel milk has a different protein profile from cow’s milk and contains almost no beta-lactoglobulin, a common cow’s milk allergen.
- True camel milk chocolate requires industrial crumb production, so a home version uses the milk in a ganache filling instead.
Substitutions
- Powdered camel milk reconstituted with water works in place of fresh camel milk.
- Cow’s milk can be used, but the result is then simply a date and spice praline.
Variations
- Commercial bars come plain, with dates, with spices and with nuts.
- Some producers make a dark camel milk chocolate as well.
- Camel milk is also sold fresh, as ice cream and as a powder in the Gulf.
History
Al Nassma launched the first camel-milk chocolate in Dubai in 2008, using milk from local farms.
Frequently asked questions
What is Camel milk chocolate?
Camel milk chocolate is a snack from United Arab Emirates: praline bars made with camel milk, dates and Arabian spices. Al Nassma launched the first camel-milk chocolate in Dubai in 2008, using milk from local farms.
How long does Camel milk chocolate take to make?
Camel milk chocolate takes 40 minutes plus setting of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 20 pieces. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Camel milk chocolate?
Yes, within limits. Powdered camel milk reconstituted with water works in place of fresh camel milk. Cow’s milk can be used, but the result is then simply a date and spice praline.
What is the most important thing to get right in Camel milk chocolate?
Chop the milk chocolate finely and put it in a bowl. Fine chopping helps it melt evenly. Heat the camel milk in a small pan. Bring it to just below a simmer. Never let it boil, which can split it.
