Saltychoc

Spring Collection - Pink - Miso/Mirabelle plum, Green - Hazelnut/blackberry, Purple - Passion fruit, Yellow - Meyer lemon/almond shortbread/dark chocolate.

Has anyone tried these new cocoa butter colors from Luis Amado/Chef Rubber? I'm intrigued but can't find much online. No info sheet on the Chef Rubber site either, I might email them to ask. https://shop.chefrubber.com/products/320/Luis-Amado-Collection/

I list the cocoa butter coloring as this "Less than 2% of cocoa butter coloring (blue 1&2, yellow 5&6, red 40, titanium dioxide.)" I just had this label approved a few months ago when I started at a new location. I did weigh a ton of molds before and after spraying and then after capping to ensure that my math was right. Each chocolate (CW2295 mold) contains a max of 1.36% of colored cocoa butter by weight. That is the entire weight of the cocoa butter, including the carrier cocoa butter. If I actually knew the proportions in Chef Rubber, etc then I could probably get away with the "less than 0.5%" labeling but better to be safe. I also have the colors listed in the smallest font size allowed to save space on the label. I do wish the chef rubber didn't use red 40 because a lot of people report sensitivity. The blues also seem to be an issue. I'm not a huge fan of the natural colors available but I am considering using them at least for the vegan bonbons I am testing. For tracking single ingredients I have a spreadsheet on my computer where I enter all of my current ingredients. I add each lot number that uses those ingredients into the title. When I replace something with a new package I duplicate the document and add in the new package serial number or whatever. Then I track the lot numbers on my website by changing the barcodes each time I switch out ingredients. It's ridiculous and takes way too much time but beyond saving labels and taking photos I haven't come up with another system. I keep the spreadsheets, inclusion cards, and back labels in separate folders for each month on my computer. Not sure what will happen when I run out of storage space. There are a bunch of options for software available but I couldn't justify the price. Fillet is good for pricing though.

Oh of course! I haven’t ordered anything yet anyway. I really just wish there was a plain cocoa butter (no coloring at all) that was less yellow. I’ve tried a bunch of them though without luck. I’ll have to see what they have and go from there.

Thanks! I did not know about that brand. I’m going to get the white and see if I can make it work.

I'm not really sure where this belongs - I'm trying to attempt a new technique and I need a cocoa butter that is not as opaque. If that even exists. I'm currently using cocoa barry and it has a very yellow finish. Any recommendations for a cocoa butter that is not as opaque? I know clear is impossible but maybe there is one that is a little closer to what I'm looking for.

It was my first Valentine's day too! Finally posting on here. I didn't take cross sections of many of them because the time really got away from me. Just started selling professionally and the packaging takes more energy than making the chocolates. For the lychee & Almond I ended up doing my regular lychee white chocolate ganache and then making an almond shortbread with sifted almond flour and no egg and then slightly crushing that and mixing with some dulcey chocolate. It was pretty easy to pipe though I wish I had left more room in the shell so that I had a thicker "cookie" layer. I used reduced apple cider syrup in the apple one, framboise liqueur in the raspberry caramel, reduced pomegranate juice (this REALLY tasted like pom. And if only they all actually looked like the first photo - that's the amazing sunset light at our kitchen.

I was looking at these two for Easter: https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=62457&categoryid=347 https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=62459&categoryid=347 Only 14mm deep though, still good for stronger flavors.

I had not tried it before. I ended up purchasing it. I was so low on raw Italian pistachios I had to get something. The pistachio flavor does not compare to the the raw pistachios that I was toasted and grinding (or the Giannetti concentrate I purchased for comparison) but now I have a kg to get through. I'm considering adding some non-bonbon items to my shop so that could be an opportunity to use quite a bit of it. It does have an incredibly smooth texture and it's very easy to mix the oil back in so those are two positives. I have looked at a lot of supplier catalogues over the last few weeks and I haven't seen anyone with the Cocao Barry pistachio praline paste. It looks fantastic, that's a real shame you can't get it. Berries/red fruits seem to go really well with pistachio. Growing black currant is banned here in RI so you rarely see them in local desserts. Not sure why as it's still legal to purchase the processed fruit.

Staff note: this post has been moved from Chestnut Sweets and Desserts. Have you tried the corsiglia pistachio paste? I live near L'Epicerie and the price is very enticing especially when I can pick up instead of getting it delivered. I'm looking to replace raw italian pistachios (I low roast them) from a local place, unfortunately they can't source the quantity I need right now. It is for a raspberry dark choc ganache/pistachio white choc ganache if that helps. I'm concerned the flavor could overwhelm.