209 replies to this topic

[patti_h]

passion fruit honey butter ganache.

[curls]

patti_h, very pretty chocoaltes! What did you do to achieve that effect?

[patti_h]

Thank you Donna! I splattered with Pink Quartz and then yellow topaz, then swirled some bronze with my finger not trying to get even coverage with it- these are my favorites so far. Several other molds did not go so well- the colored cocoa butter stuck to the mold. :(

[confiseur]

Many apologies if this question has beeen answered on the thread, if so please point me to the right page as I cannot find it!

Here goes then: ( sorry, no picture)

I have sprayed cocoa butter into the molds and then have no problem molding the chocolate and releasing the chocolates from the mold:

..however,the cocoa butter finish is really dull and not beautifully shiny as on the pictures on this thread..
Am I using the (PCB)cocoa butter too warm or too cold? I spray it at about 32c as instructed. Do I have to temper the cocoa butter before using?

Any assistance much appreciated!

[rod rock]

Chris this is awesome!!!

[tikidoc]

Never thought I would be able to post something on this thread, but here are today's chocolates!











I also dipped some wonderfully tart dried apricots from Trader Joe's with the tempered chocolate I had left over after capping, but those are considerably more, um, rustic. They sure taste good though!

Edited by tikidoc, 28 April 2012 - 04:39 PM.

[Kerry Beal]

Beautiful!

[Chocolot]

VERY nice!!

[tikidoc]

Thanks! I have some awesome teachers, Ruth and Kerry! Looking forward to learning more from y'all next year!

[Prabha]

Very nice, Jess! What flavors are they?

[tikidoc]

The domes are dark chocolate and blood orange ganache in dark chocolate shell, the tear drops are milk chocolate hazelnut praline in a dark chocolate shell.

[curls]

Beautiful and the flavors sound great too!

[tikidoc]

The blood orange is pretty much the same as what Mette made at the conference - dark chocolate, cream, butter, and the blood orange compound from Amoretti. They were nice enough to send me a few samples to play with.

[lironp]

tikidoc- these are beautiful, I love these colors, it makes the chocolates look like jewels!

I also have a question for whoever works with luster dust- I usually clean each cavity, then smear a thin layer of cocoa butter on the molds, then apply the luster dust with a brush, and then pour in the tempered chocolate. I find that if I don't apply the layer of cocoa butter, the dust doesn't stick well enough to the mold, and the chocolates don't come out as shiny, but on the other hand this process is very time consuming... Does anyone have a better method? Has anyone tried airbrushing the dust with alcohol and found that successful?

[tikidoc]

Thanks, lironp.

I'd love to hear more about use of luster dust too. I have used it on dipped chocolates with good results, but never successfully with molded chocolates.

Jess

[Kerry Beal]

I've always put in on after with a plushy makeup brush. I seem to recall that one of Greweling's Chocolates (Green Fairy) I think used luster dust - do you have that book that you could check how he does it?

[DianaM]

tikidoc- these are beautiful, I love these colors, it makes the chocolates look like jewels!

I also have a question for whoever works with luster dust- I usually clean each cavity, then smear a thin layer of cocoa butter on the molds, then apply the luster dust with a brush, and then pour in the tempered chocolate. I find that if I don't apply the layer of cocoa butter, the dust doesn't stick well enough to the mold, and the chocolates don't come out as shiny, but on the other hand this process is very time consuming... Does anyone have a better method? Has anyone tried airbrushing the dust with alcohol and found that successful?

Hi lironp,

I never brush my mold with cocoa butter. With the mold that I am using, it would pool in corners and at the edges. So I just brush the luster dust into the cavity with a fluffy brush, then mold as usual.

It's true that the first time I've used the luster dust, only little of it stuck to the mold. But I've kept on using the same mold (without washing it, obviously), and now, after a few uses, the cavities have a layer of residual cocoa butter and luster dust which makes the newly-applied dust stick better. I hope this is making sense.

Also, I found that the brand of luster dust makes a difference. I used CK before and was NOT happy with the result. I switched to a different product, and now I'm really happy with the result. It's a Spanish brand called Sosa, I'm using their copper-coloured dust.

Diana

Attached Images

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Edited by DianaM, 14 May 2012 - 07:41 AM.

[Mette]

Diana, those are beautiful.

I've finally got around to playing with the new toy from the conference - the atomizer.

The colours are red, orange and gold, to go with the mandarin orange filling. The red and gold are mixed from cocoa butter and PCB's powdered colours, and they came out nicely. The orange is Wilton colour powder, and it is very, ehmmmmmm, subtle.... Looks like I hit the temper spot on - my normal downfall

My best shot with the mobile camera

[DianaM]

Cool speckles, Mette! The temper really is spot on, the shine on the chocs is awesome.

[lironp]

Thanks Kerry- I have the book, I'll see if he gives an explanation somewhere.
Diana- those are beautiful- I really like the copper on this shape. That, or the picture above (I think this was made by Mette?) are exactly what I'm trying to achieve.
Do you polish the cavities before applying the dust? On the one hand I find that gives a better shine, but on the other when I do that the dust doesn't stick as much...
It might be the brand- I have one dust by CK that barely adheres even when I apply the cocoa butter, I'll just try the others. Where do you get the SOSA brand from?

[DianaM]

Funny you should post Mette's pic, it's what inspired me to try luster dust on my chocs. :-)

I buy the Sosa luster dust from Lentia, together with pretty much all my confectionery ingredients. If you cannot find it at your regular ingredient distributor, try the PCB dusts. I think CK is more for cakes, fondant etc, and in my experience, it does not adhere well to chocolate. However, since PCB specializes in chocolate decorations, I would assume their dusts would work really well.

Polishing molds - I will polish a cavity if it has release marks. Otherwise a quick wipe with a soft non-static-y cloth, just to make sure nothing's in there. The harder I rub, the less dust will adhere, you noticed this as well.

What kind of mold are you using, domes?

[Kerry Beal]

Thanks Kerry- I have the book, I'll see if he gives an explanation somewhere.
Diana- those are beautiful- I really like the copper on this shape. That, or the picture above (I think this was made by Mette?) are exactly what I'm trying to achieve.
Do you polish the cavities before applying the dust? On the one hand I find that gives a better shine, but on the other when I do that the dust doesn't stick as much...
It might be the brand- I have one dust by CK that barely adheres even when I apply the cocoa butter, I'll just try the others. Where do you get the SOSA brand from?

I don't think these ones are done with luster dust - they look like the Jewel series of coloured cocoa butters by chef rubber.

[pastrygirl]

Instead of doing a cocoa butter layer and a luster dust layer, why not just mix the luster dust with the liquid cocoa butter? I feel like I have done that before with fine result, though I don't think I have a photo. Isn't that essentially what the chef rubber jewel colors are, cocoa butter plus color plust luster dust? Why not do clear plus luster dust?

Like others, i just brush it in and it sticks to the mold and is (not amazingly, impossibly shiny but) shiny enough.

[tikidoc]

Hey Mette, those are gorgeous, how did you make them???

Jess

[DianaM]

Jess, Mette explained here technique here:

http://forums.egulle...285#entry918285

[YetiChocolates]

I've used the CK lustre dusts with perfect results. My avatar pic is using the CK rouge flambe and holly green lustre dusts. I've also used others and have had no problem with them sticking to the molds. I just use a paint brush and brush them into the mold, they adhere much better than on hand dipped chocolates I've found. I also don't have any problems with them sticking to the mold, I just brush in a thin layer and it adheres perfectly to the mold. It's less finicky than using colored cocoa butters for me.

However I recently purchased a new batch of lustre dusts by CK from a company and they had these glaring stickers that said "Not approved for edible consumption by the FDA". I know a lot of you guys are from other countries, but those who are from the States, what's your take on using lustre dusts on your chocolates?

I've started swapping over to using colored cocoa butters sadly because I'm afraid of getting sued in the long run for using lustre dusts on my chocolates, even though I prefer to use the lustre dusts for certain chocolates. Thoughts???

[lironp]

Funny you should post Mette's pic, it's what inspired me to try luster dust on my chocs. :-)

I buy the Sosa luster dust from Lentia, together with pretty much all my confectionery ingredients. If you cannot find it at your regular ingredient distributor, try the PCB dusts. I think CK is more for cakes, fondant etc, and in my experience, it does not adhere well to chocolate. However, since PCB specializes in chocolate decorations, I would assume their dusts would work really well.

Polishing molds - I will polish a cavity if it has release marks. Otherwise a quick wipe with a soft non-static-y cloth, just to make sure nothing's in there. The harder I rub, the less dust will adhere, you noticed this as well.

What kind of mold are you using, domes?

I'm using both the dome molds like in Mette's picture, and diamond ones like yours. I tried some of these molds again, this time with a diferent luster dust that did adhere, however without applying a layer of cocoa butter before- they turned out shiny, but definitely not as shiny as before, I guess I need to decide if it's worth the extra effort...

[lebowits]

It's been a while since I've shared photos of my own work so here are a few...


This picture shows the 15 different pieces I'm currently making for my "Spring 2012 Menu".


From Left to Right: Hot Chocolate, Orange Blossom Special, Creme Brulee, Mocha, Tropical Paradise


From Left to Right: Cherry Bomb, Milk Chocolate Truffle, Caramel Apple, Heart of Darkness, Fleur de Sel Caramel


From Left to Right: Passionate Heart, Toasted Hazelnut Cup, Mint Meltaway, Champagne Truffle, Peanut Butter Cup

[Darienne]

Oh my. How lovely, Steve.

[lironp]

Steve- everything looks amazing!!! My favorite is the passion fruit heart, I'm a sucker for pink