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Lysbeth

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Everything posted by Lysbeth

  1. FWED - You're right, shelf life is kind of the whole issue. I can easily make ganache filled chocolates (and I am), but now the shelf life is about 2 weeks. So I thought that in addition to my filled chocolates I would try and make plain milk and dark shapes (hearts for Valentines day and eggies for Easter). Hoping that I can have some of these items out earleir and for a longer period of time. Plus I think kids would prefer the plain chocolates instead of eating something that has alcohol in it or like a tea ganache... These chocolates I can then have on display in the stores and they can sit there for a while before they go bad. I was just trying to think of a way to extend the shelf life and to appeal to another part of the consumer group. Unfortunately not everyone out here will go for something that is filled with a jasmine tea ganache or with an eggnog/walnut mousse. As they say in my country " what the farmer doesn't know, he will not eat"...
  2. Well, I finally managed to find coconut oil today and I noticed how hard it was at room temp, not at all what I expected. It almost looks like *wax*. So then when my friend returned Jean-Pierre Wybauws book today I noticed that he says that "lauric fats such as coconut and palm oil have a very poor compatibility with fats with long fatty acids such as cocoa butter." Now I'm just quoting him here, but that doesn't sound good as far as mixing the two is concerned. However, then he goes on to explain that "fats with long and heavily unsaturated fatty acids, such as nut oils reduce hardness when mixed with cocoa butter." No ratios or applications though. So the question still remains as to how much to use and when to add.... FWED - I am concerned about having ganache without a shell as these items will be sold in bakeries and they get quite warm there as you can imagine. I do use this method for the chocolate letters that I make in december, but then I leave the cream out and I just add the butter. This makes for a nice stiff "ganache" that is still fluid enough to pipe.
  3. I think I have seen these molds in the PCB catalogue. If you follow this link http://www.pcb-creation.fr/2k3/catalogues/...accessories.pdf and scroll to page 122 you will see a few small pictures. In the one picture with the orange colored pastries you will see a small white pillar just by his left hand. It is a little hard to see, and in their 2005 catalgue the pix are a little bigger, but you can enlarge the PDF for more clarity. They now also have a plate that can be used to make little cone shapes, very cool. It must be new for 2005 as I don't see it in their on-line catalogue.
  4. I actually bought one of these a few years ago. At first I really struggled trying to use it, and trying to get a nice product (could have really used a manual then!) As I worked with it more and researched more on the internet, it became easier to use. It is a lot of money to spend, but if you are looking to coat and sell many nuts/dried fruits, it will be worth it. I think someone said it can coat up to 30 lbs in an hour. If you just coat some nuts a few times a year, use the old hand-dipping method, it works fine. As far as cleaning is concerned, If you use it right, you shouldn't need to clean it all the time. The chocolate will build up a little on the inside, but nothing too much. I saw Jaqcues Torres toss powdered sugar in his coating pan to coat the nuts. This step I do by hand, so I can reuse the pan a few times. It is a rather large pan so you'll need a large basin to clean it in. Other than that, it's important to use cool nuts (I freeze mine quickly before coating). It helps with the setting of the chocolate. A fan pointed at the coating pan helps too. Also, you need to use tempered chocolate. This can be hard if you don't have a tempering machine as it takes a while to coat the nuts with all the layers you want to put on. If your chocolate is tempered now and you go to put on layer #9, it might be too thick. I have also found that the more nuts you put in the pan the easier it is, 1 pound just doesn't cut it, you really need to put a good amount of nuts in the pan (preferably caramelized ones, yum!). Lastly, it is important to pour the chocolate onto the nuts slowly and only to have the pan rotate on speed 1, otherwise you get one big clump. It will probably take a you a few times to get the hang of it, but if you follow the rules above you will be much better off than I was when I first started.
  5. I use mine to make nice upscale black forest cakes/pastries. I also use the brandy from the jar in the kirsch mousse that I fill the cakes with.
  6. Lysbeth

    Pate a Choux

    Home made chicken liver mousse and soft herb cheese... YUM! (not together of course each in their own little puff)
  7. Chiantiglace: I agree with the first part of your statement, but once the warm liquid cocoa butter cools and sets it becomes brittle again. So I would think that this would make the chocolate harder, no?
  8. Add the oil before I temper the chocolate? I don't know why but it just sounds scary. I guess I'll just have to try it this weekend. Would the 2 tbsp be for about a lb or so you think?
  9. >>And at what point do you add it<< Whoops, I add the flavoring right as the sugar syrup has cooled to 110F and when I start working in the butter with my bench scrapers.
  10. I think that a compound is much stronger in flavor than a reduced puree. If you want to try using it, call Amoretti 818.718.1239 (or go here http://www.amoretti.com/docs/amoretti_compounds_info.html) and ask for a sample. They are great to work with. They have many flavors and sell them in 2.2 lb tubs, no minimums from what I recall. For a recipe with 3 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water I use about 2 tbsp of compound and add alcohol to taste (depends on which one you are using). This really does provide a good flavor and I get great reviews on these centers.
  11. Chocoartist; I didn't think I would be able to use the same chocolate/butter mixture for molding that I have used for piping in the past, it is too thick. Do you know what the ratio is for adding oil? And do you know if I can still mold the chocolate with the added oil? I am very hesitant to add oil for fear it may cause the chocolate not to set up or stick to my molds. Also, will it affect the taste of the chocolates at all? Thanks for your help
  12. Elizabeth, that is exciting about your chocolate shop, can you tell us more, where is it, what are you making etc.? I know Federal makes display cases for pastries, I don't know if they make anything for chocolates though. You can find Federal cases at bigtray.com. Bakery World also has some chocolate cases, but they may be too large for you http://www.bakeryequipmentworld.com/arctica-ccrseries.html
  13. So adding some Mycryo would make it softer? I thought it helped the crystals grow and would make it harder?
  14. Last year I purchased some 3D egg shape molds in an attempt to make little solid chocolate eggs that I wrapped in foils and presented in hollow chocolate eggs. When I finally got all those little guys wrapped and had my taste testers (the kids next door) try them, they all commented on how "hard" the chocolates were, both the milk (38%) and the dark (64%). This year I wanted to do the same thing with heart shapes, but now I'm worried that perhaps I am not doing it right. I know that the little "eggies" and other solid shaped chocolates you buy (even the good ones, as in couverture, not coating) are usually not as hard as mine were. Is there anything I can do to soften the chocolate a bit so that it can still be molded and unmolded? Or should I get some new tatse testers? I for one just let the solid chocolates melt in my mouth rather then trying to bite on it, so it hadn't occured to me. However, now my husband is saying they were a bit hard as well. I know that I could add some softened butter to the tempered chocolate to soften it, but I have only used this method to pipe large shapes freehand, such as chocolate initials that we hand out during Saint Nick's in Europe. I don't know if the same can be molded and unmolded without a problem. Any suggestions?
  15. When I make my buttercreams, I actually use a compound flavoring as well as some alcohol in the corresponding flavor. So all my buttercreams start out the same way until I am ready to work the sugar syrup. That's when I add the compound flavoring and the alcohol. This way you can make many flavors with the same base.
  16. Neil, these pictures are beautiful. Thank you so much for posting them. I had been wondering if the store had opened already. It looks like we'll have to come back to Vegas despite the WPF leaving. I can't wait to see the waterfall working! Congratulations to Chef Maury and his team!
  17. Chris, I spoke with Didier yesterday (what a nice guy!) and ordered the PCB colors. They should be here on Monday, just as my tempering machine is coming back from being serviced. I'm so excited to get started. I have tried working with the powdered colors and they've always come out looking crummy. I have seen the PCB colors used at the World Pastry Forum classes and they are fantastic. It's nice to know that we can get them here in the States. Can you tell me how you heat your colors and if they can be overheated, or heated too many times. In other words, is there anything that will make them deteriorate? I want to be sure to treat them properly, so I can use them for a long time! Has anyone used the colors from Chef Rubber? If so, how did those work out? I'm interested only because they have a larger selection of colors.
  18. Oh yeah, Jason, there is nothing about showpieces in this book.
  19. What I found particularly exciting about the book was that he talked a lot about the shelf life of chocolates. He talks about an "Aw" value (which I had never heard of) that designates how long you can keep a candy. He explains how he gets to that value and with each recipe the same value is mentioned. In addition he explains which ingredients help with shelf life. If you are just making chocolates at home for fun, this may not interest you as much since they'll probably all be gone in no time. However, if you are getting into selling enrobed gananches etc. this will be of great interest. As I mentioned, my friend currently has the book, but I remember that he talked about ingredients, troubleshooting enrobing and molding (with great pictures), viscosity, shelf life and then there are about 100 recipes. If you go to http://www.chipsbooks.com/finechoc.htm you will find a more detailed look at the contents of the book and some nice pictures of the inside. Each recipe has a beautiful up close colored picture of the finished candy and throughout the book there are many other pictures to illustrate his ideas. True, I too have found some issues with the translation, but it didn't seem too bad, like with Roger Geerts book (Belgian Chocolates.) Then again, Dutch is my first language, so I might have overlooked some of the idiosyncrasies that you might pick up. I found it was a $100 well spent on my part, but if you are not planning on working with chocolate on a commercial or daily basis, or teaching it, it might be too much. Unless, of course, you just want to know all there is to know and can't help but stay up late each night and read cookbooks.... All in all it is a great book with much new information in it that I have not seen documented anywhere else.
  20. Neil, I saw Nakazawa's products at the NRA show in Chicago a long time ago. I marveled at their cake boxes for weeks (they handed out samples). I don't remember seeing chocolate boxes at the time, but they do look nice and their prices seem very reasonable. Another great option. Thanks!
  21. Chris, thanks so much for the info. I have been looking for so long and I have just had no luck. I will give them a call tomorrow. Lysbeth PS your chocolates are beautiful, I will order some soon!
  22. I have been looking for companies that will made custom boxes for chocolates/candies, just like the ones Jaqcues Torres, Norman Love, Robert Linxe etc. use. For some reason I am unable to find anything on-line that has been helpful. At this point I use stock gold foil boxes with printed ribbons, but I am ready to order my own packaging. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks, Lysbeth
  23. I purchased a copy of the book just before Christmas. Depending on what you are looking for, it may be a very useful book to have in your library. Let me know if there is anything specific you would like to know about and I'll see what I can tell you about it. Currently my friend has it, but I read it cover to cover over the Holidays!
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