pastrygirl

How about a little salt?

Some of the textures look like crumbs were sprinkled into the molds before filling.

I love coconut, but the sweetened shredded is ridiculously sweet. I prefer a finer shred, unsweetened coconut. As a bonus feature, it will pipe relatively smoothly. https://www.bobsredmill.com/shredded-coconut.html

Just depends on what you're going for. I make a bar with the candied zest of fresh oranges sprinkled in. I also have a seasonal (Christmas) item for which i use LorAnn pure orange oil. (The tangerine is also nice)

If you have money to burn ... otherwise I’m sure you can find a jeweler’s or postage scale to weigh small amounts for much less.

You know, I was just about to edit to add that. I've had fresh ginger curdle warm creme anglaise but dried ginger works fine. Maybe he could infuse like 1/3 of the cream with the galangal and not heat that part, do a cold infusion and add it last? Or use coconut milk.

Why wouldn't it emulsify? It's water-based juice and you probably don't need a huge amount. Is it a cream ganache? You could grate the galangal into the cream and let it infuse then strain it out, pressing on the solids to get all the juice.

You could skip the tray and use a box like this, https://glerup.com/shop-now-candy-packaging/clear-candy-containers/rectangle-square-truffle-candy-boxes/clear-md-clear-square-4-1-2-x-4-1-2-x-1.html this would be a tighter fit but too tall, i guess you could add a base or filler https://glerup.com/shop-now-candy-packaging/clear-candy-containers/rectangle-square-truffle-candy-boxes/clear-4pc-large-truffle-box-4-1-4-x-4-1-4x1-5-8.html How many of these do you plan to make? What if you didn't assemble the puzzle, but packed the pieces as normal for people to put together themselves? Either in a tray or just random in a box? https://www.aspecialtybox.com/893

Most of their chocolate says 'canada only', but I have bought cocoa butter through them 🤔

Something like this? They have too big or too small ... https://www.aspecialtybox.com/9099 https://www.aspecialtybox.com/9098

If serving the fish with crispy skin still on, I’d serve it skin side up so the skin stays crispy and doesn’t steam or get wet from sauce. I like a nice bit of crispy salmon skin but I may be in the minority.

Thanks, I just ordered a bag of Valrhona Abinao from Caputo's, I could special order a case from a more local distributor, but this will be faster and I don't need a whole case right now!

the 15 g of tartaric acid is pretty strong, that might contribute to a softer texture.

What kind of coating or breading are you using? Would it be possible to stuff the halves then coat and fry them as halves? Or would the filling fall apart or get too brown? The avocado flesh does seem like good insulation - too good!

If you've never tempered chocolate and you don't have a lot of extra money, start with the basics of tempering. Decorated molds can wait, the first expense is some decent chocolate, now start practicing your tempering. Dip various things in chocolate - cookies, pretzels, dried fruit, ganache - see how your finished product looks & get used to maintaining the temper.