12 replies to this topic

[Baselerd]

Alright so I had a question to any of you chocolate experts:

I am planning on making one of the plated desserts (Chocolate Tile, Shortbread Crumble, Clotted Cream, Peter's Chocolate) out of The Elements of Dessert by Migoya and I have run into a small bump.

The dessert I am making calls for a certain brand of chocolate, Peter's Chocolate. It says it is a special high-fat formulation of chocolate which holds its shape after tempering (rather than running), almost giving the texture of a ganache. It is served on the plated dessert just like this.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to source it from any online retailers in reasonably small quantities (i.e. not for restaurant kitchens). Do any chocolate experts here have any insight into this? Are there any other suitable replacements? I was thinking I could simply make a ganache as a substitute, but only as a last resort...

Edited by Baselerd, 21 January 2013 - 10:07 AM.

[Kerry Beal]

Can you give us the name of the Peter's formula mentioned?

[Baselerd]

It does not mention anything more specific than "Peter's Chocolate." The book has you place a 2 lb block of it on a sheet pan in a dehydrator for 30 mins @ 95F/35C, spoon, and plate. The chocolate is described as "very high-fat, high-viscosity, and low-fluidity."

[Kerry Beal]

Well - Peter's does make a variety of chocolate, I brought back half a dozen different little bars from San Francisco with me yesterday (all now eaten by hubby who didn't realize there were 6 different kinds). I've sent a message to Chef Migoya's facebook page - let's see if we get an answer.

[RobertM]

I can contact Joe Sofia and ask for his help

[Kerry Beal]

Brilliant idea Bob.

[RobertM]

I just requested information from Joe at Peter's Chocolate, once he responds, I will post the answer here

[pastrygirl]

Out of curiosity, other than this particular dessert, what are other applications for such a chocolate? Why do they make this formulation? Is it for stability in warm climates? High fat, low fluidity is the opposite of normal when it comes to chocolate. Assuming the fat is still cocoa butter, how do they do that? Is it like this Cadbury non-melting chocolate I read about recently? http://www.huffingto..._n_2192236.html And would it be good to eat at room temperature? Clearly this is boggling my mind.

[RobertM]

Joe responded with the following:


The high viscosity versions (160-170 McM) of many of our chocolates should hold their shape at 95F/35C. I would guess this will work best with milk chocolate, the milk proteins may help hold the shape. I really wonder though if it will have the consistency of ganache.

[RobertM]

I believe if you contact Peter's they would be willing to provide samples ....

[Baselerd]

Cool, I'll try pinging them - thanks for all the help.

[RobertM]

PM me your email and I will send you his email address

[Sebastian]

High fat and high viscosity don't really go hand in hand. I'm afraid it's simply a variation of a standard formula, processed in a standard fashion. It's a fine chocolate, but won't have magical rheological properties i'm afraid. ALL milk chocolate has milk proteins. While it can be true that higher protein chocolate can have higher yield, it's not always true, and emulsification plays a huge role. It will not have the texture or rheology of a ganache. If it did, Cargill would not be able to pump and mould it. I'm quite familiar with the formulation 8-)

The cadbury's product is more a function of packaging + processing - the processes used by Cadbury are quite different than those used by Cargill, and of course in this instance, the packaging is irrelevant.