pattyc

We give away a lot of samples at events and cut them into quarters or sixths, so it's just a taste and not an entire bite. We don't charge for samples and see it as a way to promote our chocolate by using our seconds, which inevitably leads people into buying them.

I would think that by tabling your ganache on granite you're also introducing air into your ganache, which will shorten your shelf life considerably. That is one specific reason why we use an immersion blender when emulsifying ganache so as not to introduce air into the mix.

Where was his presentation and how did you hear about it?

Chocolate, Cocoa, and Confectionery by Bernanrd Minifie, which looks at the science behind chocolate.

I have taken three classes from Jean Pierre Wybauw and in each class he has given us the recipe for Black Devils, although in actuality he refers to it as Rework. I’ll include the recipes with my notes for those who are interested, including his quotations, and as you’ll see he never mentioned sodium bicarbonate. November 2003 ~ 2000 G rework (such as ganache and chocolate) 600 G water 500 G sugar 500 G glucose “Bring rework and water to boil, sieve it. Put in clean bowl. Next add sugar and mix. Lastly, add glucose. If you have ‘rework’ there is a little trick. They put everything in a pan, cover with water, and heat until boiling, then pour through a sieve. May not use marzipan in rework because of the nuts. Whatever the most in the pan you cannot go wrong so we use enough glucose (corn syrup). Can make a soft caramel from all of this. Or the second thing is to heat to 115°C, and make a product out of it like a paste (like marzipan). Can roll out and make bottoms out of and top with ganache.” November 2004~ 2000 G rework 600 G water 500 G sugar (sucrose) 500 G glucose “Rework can be leftover samples or from your work, which works well with everything except for marzipan. Melt everything down and we can do two things: make a caramel or make a dough. This dough can be rolled out like marzipan but it looks brown. Put all in a pot and add enough water to melt everything. Once boiled, put through sieve, then add glucose, if there is a lot of sugar in it (like fondant), or if not then you need to add sugar. To make caramel you need to add glucose. You cannot miss, you can add too much but not too little. When 112°C then pour on silpat or marble and use metal bars to shape. To use rework as dough pour on marble, then flatten, let rest, roll, let rest one to two hours. You can add a flavor like vanilla or a little bit of ginger. Roll it out like marzipan on surface dusted with powdered sugar, can also use a pasta machine roller. Cut circles out and pipe a butter cream on top.” November 2005~ 2000 G rework 600 g water 500 g sugar (if you have a lot of chocolates with fondant then use less sugar) 500 g glucose “Boil to 115°C. Can use flavor, butter, etc. you be the judge based on what rework you’re using. If adding butter add at end so it keeps its flavor. Use Silpat, almost looks like a caramel. This is the Black Devils recipe in my book.”

You might be thinking of Cap'Fruit, purees from France.

Try Murnane Specialties in Illinois (708) 449-1200. They really are the candy pad specialists and will do orders as small as 1000 in a lot. They don't take credit cards though so you'll need to send a check prior to them shipping your order. The ones I've ordered through them are 5-ply white on one side and chocolate on the other.

I've found a URL that translates websites for free. Check out http://www.appliedlanguage.com/free_translation.shtml and you'll be able to translate the text from Japanese to English from this particular link. pattyc

Great Lakes Gourmet (800) 625-4591 carries three different types: Noel Cocoa Butter, 2.2 lbs for $19.40; Barry Mycryo Cocoa B, 3.3 lbs for $27.25, and Schokinag Cocoa Butter Chips, 2.2 lbs for $128.62. My Noel Cocoa Butter order just arrived yesterday, and they have a wealth of other products for pastry and chocolate too. While they don't have a website they do have email: glg@voyager.net

I took a class with Wybauw this past November and his book arrived on our last day of class, which we all promptly purchased, after he was kind enough to autograph them for us. We paid him directly by cash/check and our cost was $77.00, and when I mentioned that I was used to paying over a hundred dollars for most of my books on chocolate, he responded that his intent was to keep it affordable so that more people would be able to buy it. I'm sure he would be surprised to see how much more it is being sold for in the States. He said that his reason for writing the book was that he gets many calls while working for Callebaut that are all very similar, so he felt it important that his answers and information on the hows and whys of chocolate be in print since he knew they were common questions. He said that it was not his idea to include recipes in a book that he envisioned to cover the more technical aspects of chocolate, but that the publisher felt the recipes should be added. His book covers technical aspects of the ingredients used in chocolate and their characteristics: cocoa, milk products, nuts, fats, sugars, other sweeteners, additives, thickeners and whipping agents, spice mixtures, flavours. There is a chapter on chocolate processing: precrystallising, over/under crystallising, temperature, cooling, undesireable defects and what can be done. One chapter is devoted to shelf life and factors that extend shelf life and is very comprehensive. He included a chapter on sugar: boiling, sugar syrups, Brix conversion, recognizing cooking points. He includes a chapter on tools and advanced equipment for working with chocolate, candying fruits and vegetables, liqueur chocolates, caramel syrups and creams, fondant, fudge, sugar panning, flavours in caramel creams. That would be the first 82 pages of the book, and the remaining 146 contain beautiful photographs of chocolates, as well as recipes covering pralines, caramels, nougat, ganaches, fruit in liqueur chocolates, marzipan, truffles, and fruit dough. The information is invaluable and not in many other books on chocolate, and the photographic images are amazing.

I use E. Guittard 58% to enrobe all my hand-dipped ganache, and I have never had a problem with it. I use the 38%, 58%, 61% and 72% in my ganache and couldn't be happier with the taste.

Wendy, Another source to consider is Gift Box Corporation (www.800giftbox.com). They are more than willing to send samples as well as a catalog if requested. I was also looking for a 1-piece box and found quite a few boxes that I am quite happy with. They also sell 3x3" and 4x4" different colored foil sheets, as well as candy cups. Happy looking.

We used a refractometer in my confections class with Sebastien Canonne when we talked about making jam. Just a tip we learned was that we were told to use a spatula to clean the refractometer, which doesn't like humidity, so rinse under water, and leave it in the open to dry.

Neil & Steve, thanks for your insight on the plastic base guitar. I am reconsidering the additional expense of purchasing one with a metal base, especially because I'll be the only one using it, so it certainly won't be misused and abused. I have the Spring & Summer 2004 PCB catalog and noted on pg 119 they have something called a "cutting plate". It is described as being a tool to cut chocolates in a precise and even way. They have two models, one with 3 cm spacing and another with 4 cm spacing. It looks similar to plexiglass (although perhaps it's made of metal; it's difficult to tell from the photo), and it measures 40 x 60 cm. It has straight lines that have been deep-grooved into the 3 cm or 4 cm size, marked across the plate from end to end. From their example it looks as though you would pour the ganache on the cutting plate and use the deep-grooved lines as a cutting guide. I am wondering if anyone has experience in working with this and if it does what it is supposed to. Any ideas about this?

Just wondering if anyone has tried the very intense flavorings found from Amoretti's? Perhaps that will give you the flavor you're looking for.

First of all, I am now convinced that the look I will want for my chocolates will necessitate having a guitar. I have taken everyone's ideas on companies and websites to check out and have done my homework. My idea is to go with a guitar with a metal base, because I'm thinking it might ultimately be more durable for the amount of use it will get. J.B. Prince sells a metal base guitar for $1996, with 3 metal frames, which at this point seems to be the best price, as opposed to one with a plastic base Somewhere there must be retired chocolatiers who have all of this chocolate equipment sitting in storage.

Thank-you to everyone for your ideas. Thus far I've found only a few places that carry guitars in the States, and what I'm noticing is that there are those with plastic bases and those with metal bases. Of course the price seems to reflect the number of frames ordered as well as the composition of the base. I just called Previn after reading your last post Steve, because I couldn't locate a guitar in their latest catalog. Apparently, it is special order and the specs are being faxed to me. I was quoted $1,609.00 for the plastic base and approx $2600-$2700 for the metal base, which is quite a price difference. Has anyone out there had negative experiences with either of these bases that would influence which one would be best to purchase? Patty

Somehow use a router to cut channels on some sort of plexiglass material for the base? It's too bad there isn't a website devoted to selling used equipment to those of us in the pasty, baking, and confectionery business.

Thanks Neil I wasn't aware of www.culinarycookware.com and it's less expensive than the two I found on the internet: www.villagekitchen.com for $1950; and www.pastrychef.com for $1799. The prices seem inflated for this particular equipment but perhaps it's because they're all imported from Europe and the cost probably includes export/import tax as well as middleman costs. Steve, I think someone could probably come up with an American made alternative for a whole lot less. Any takers?

I am starting up a small chocolate business and have begun my search for a guitar to cut chocolates involving ganaches, etc. prior to enrobing. Knowing how expensive they are is somewhat daunting in that I'd like to think there are alternatives to cutting the perfect and standard shapes one gets with a guitar. Are there any alternative ideas out there that have proven successful, or ideas on where to purchase new or used guitars? Patty

That's wonderful news, and at one of the top rated hotels in Las Vegas too! Enjoyed looking at all of your website photos, thanks for sharing your work with all of us.

Thanks for your reply, it's always helpful to know the "why" of something, and as a result I just put some additions in my notes. One of the problems in a class where each group is off working on their own recipe is that you might not hear all of the information that will be helpful in pulling off your recipe successfully when you're on your own. When I first started out I was unfamilar with the techniques, which aren't typcially explained in a recipe. Now I'm getting better at looking at a recipe and reading between the lines, and am able to figure out the steps that aren't listed. It certainly is a learning process!

I've taken a couple of three day classes at the French Pastry School to learn more about chocolates, specifically. My last class was with Sebastien and on "Old and New World Sugar Confectionaries", which was extremely informative, and a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time learning about the hows and whys of what we were being taught. I can't say enough positive things about the instruction at the school. Our lollipop recipe called for sucrose, glucose (to retard crystalization), water, as well as oil based essence and water-based food coloring, which was used "as needed." I know some of the other pastry chefs in my class were commenting that it would be nice to have metal molds, but that wasn't always feasible. We used metal molds and plastic molds, and I couldn't tell the difference but ours was I believe a licorice sucker, so rather dark in color. I can't speak to the type of oils and coloring we used because I didn't check the labels closely, and now wish I had. And as for silpat, I discovered it's useful for more than just baking cookies on it, we used it under pots on induction burners - an amazing product. I've been trying to figure out how to post for the past month, and was completely confounded by the process. I finally emailed egullet and discovered that by not posting over the course of several months I let my account lapse. So I'm happy to be reactivated once again to posting status. After reading nearly every thread since egullets conception I'm feeling more confident about posting. In my notes I had written that a smaller pot that is full of ingredients was preferable to a large pot. We were also told that once the mixture came to a boil we could brush the inside of the bowl, and to use a paintbrush rather than a spoon. What I didn't write down was the rationale, any idea? Does it cook more evenly if this is done?

We covered lollipops in my class with Sebastien Canonne and some of his recommendations were that after cooking the sucrose, glucose and water that you skim the top with a tea strainer to remove the impurities before it boils, and use distilled water to avoid impurities in your product. Then add the flavor and color. If you do this in the beginning it washes out the color and becomes too pale. Also, don't put it in at the very end because the color and the flavor need time to cook. The metal molds make the lollipop shiny, and pouring it out on Silpat with a stick will tend to make it cloudy.