pastrygirl

It is a problem if all your seed is melted when the chocolate is at 95. You still need some unmelted seed at lower temps to provide the most stable forms of cocoa butter crystals, which melt at lower temperatures.

I have to disagree with Lisa. Melting your chocolate to 125f is not the problem, I routinely go over that. Yes, white chocolate can scorch easily, but you also want to melt all forms of cocoa butter before tempering. At what temp is all of your seed melted? I seed but don't go by weight. There should be a few pieces of unmelted seed at 95f - enough to provide those stable crystals that you need but not so many that they won't melt out as the chocolate cools to 90. Also no need to buy acetate just for testing your temper. If it sets up quickly on parchment without any streaks or spots, go with it. (IIRC streaks mean too warm and spots mean too cool). 74f is a bit warm for molding chocolate, I've learned that's about the max room temp I can be successful in. ( working with chocolate that is ). Do you have a fan you can use to improve airflow and cool the chocolate quickly? Maybe Kerry will stop by and explain the latent heat of crystallization. Do you have a real fridge closer to 40f? Your wine fridge doesn't sound ideal.

I ordered this one from Amazon, 1/5 hp, up to about 60 psi, and inexpensive. I hope it works!

With cheese especially, water could be used instead of cream to balance fat and solids. In in the goat cheese recipe, there's no liquid except lemon juice and the small amount in the cheese, so adding water makes sense. Adding cream would add too much fat and be hard to emulsify.

Thanks, all, I'll look around and try to resist the ridiculously huge yet relatively cheap Home Depot compressors. Sounds like a little more power than the Iwata would be nice for working quickly but not crucial.

Thanks. The Iwata is listed as 1/8 horsepower max 35 psi. I saw some other brands on Amazon that were 1/5 or 1/3 hp and up to 60 psi. Do you think that would be enough?

I've read through this, but I'm still not sure how large a compressor to get for airbrushing colored cocoa butter into chocolate molds. I just got a Grex airbrush on sale at Chef Rubber, along with a bunch of their colors, and am looking forward to playing with it. I won't be doing large volume, probably not more than 20 molds on a given day. Lower price is more important than whisper-quiet. Is a 1/5 or 1/3 horsepower compressor designed for artist's airbrushes enough or do I need a big one from Home Depot? What is a good tank size? What range of psi works with cocoa butter? Thanks!

I realized that Melissa's lack of concern about egg in marshmallow or ganache may be related to her being from Colombia. Many people outside of the US leave their eggs out at room temp and don't freak out about them like Americans do.

On food and cooking by Harold McGee. If you understand how food works, cookbooks are just for pictures.

What have you been cooking for the past three years, and in what quantities? Do you follow recipes or directions well? Can you substitute successfully when needed? Are you constantly trying to improve quality and consistency while also doing it faster and more efficiently? Can you lift and carry at least 50 pounds? Do you still love cooking even when nobody thanks you and your whole body hurts? Can you keep track of eight things at once? Then sure, see if you can get a trail shift in a restaurant for a taste of real kitchen life.

And speaking of skinning cats, does this have to be a molded bonbon? I hate hand dipping as much as anyone, but it would be a lot more straightforward to make your layer of marshmallow, top with ganache, cut and dip. Graham cracker next to marshmallow should do better than next to ganache, especially if you have a firm marshmallow. GC pieces or crumbs could be adhered to the marshmallow before dipping or added after as a garnish..

@bentley oops, yes she uses the 91%, not 70%. I asked about spraying cocoa butter, she didn't encourage it. It would have to be a pretty thick layer to really waterproof, might as well dip your Grahams in chocolate. Egg is not crucial in marshmallow, you could try the gelatin and syrup version if you're concerned about egg.

Have you tried freezing them? Even 10-15 minutes should help the ganache release. Or at least refrigerate until firm.

Or cook your pineapple to neutralize the enzyme, but you probably know that by now. Canned pineapple is just fine in Jell-o, it's only raw that's a problem. (And raw kiwis, papayas, and maybe a few more, I don't recall.)

@Jim D., class wrapped up today, I'm heading back home tomorrow morning (after a little shopping at Chef Rubber). Melissa Coppel seems way more interested in making cool stuff and keeping it new and different than shelf life (and I think being a Cacao Barry Ambassador requires a certain focus on presentation and innovation). We made a handful of things with crispy layers that she acknowledged would only stay crispy next to soft ganache for a matter of days. I'd guess the effect of alcohol would be whatever effect is has on AW, and you'd need a lot to rely on alcohol as a preservative. She is a big fan of dextrose, invert sugar, and sorbitol in everything, to both lower sweetness and bind/retain water. A lot of her stuff just isn't practical for mass production, and she admits it. Tape stripes and three different colors of cocoa butter airbrushed in then multiple fillings look amazing but are really hard to make any kind of profit on with all that labor. Pretty freaking tricked out kitchen though - 3 selmis, enrobing line with cooling tunnel, panning machine, gelato machine, blast freezer, large spray booth. But back to shelf life - didn't you spring for an AW meter? Is it helping with your formulations? We did make one ganache with parmesan but that was infused and strained out, and another with mascarpone but that's not really cheese in my book, just thickened cream. Off topic, but interesting - she cleans her molds with 70% rubbing alcohol. I dislike the smell of the stuff, but if it contributes to that impossible shine, I might have to adopt it.

Ok, so we made marshmallow today and piped it straight out of the mixer, so it was cooled below 90F but not yet set. I haven't eaten that one yet so I'm not sure how firm it set, but it was relatively soft and flowing. She uses isomalt because it is less sweet and marshmallow is always soooo sweet when made with mostly sucrose. Her theory on egg (and cheese for that matter) is that shelf life is all about AW, not ingredients. But long shelf life doesn't seem to be her focus, to be honest.

@Bentley possibly both! I'm taking a class with Melissa Coppel next week (mentioned above by Teonzo), if we do a pipeable marshmallow, I'll let you know. I used to make a marshmallow chantilly by toasting marshmallows in the oven then dissolving them in cream. I then whipped the cream in an iSi. For a bonbon, maybe a white chocolate ganache where the cream had marshmallows melted into it. You can also play with toasting white chocolate, I've burnt it with a propane torch to get some of the smoky flavor of a campfire.

Kate Weiser has these chocolate pears with marshmallow that looks piped in on her Instagram ...

Wanted to add I think the Opalys is actually 33%, not 32. Zephyr is 34

Opalys is a little less sweet and less runny than Ivoire. They add more milk solids and a little less fat to make it more opaque. Opalys is 32% fat and Ivoire is 35%. I probably have a Valrhona brochure somewhere with more info but I have to go to work. You may also like Callebaut Zephyr, it is sort of in between Opalys and Ivoire in terms of opacity & viscosity. And less expensive!

Thanks! Love is a strong word for it - I do enjoy the challenge of custom creations (when I have time), and it's fun to have different projects, but cake decorating has always kind of stressed me out. Trying to get it all perfect and round with straight sides ... but yeah, it is fun when I can get in the zone and just play sculptor/artist. Here is another one from a couple of weeks ago - it was the hubby's birthday the day before the couple was leaving for a 3 week, 222 mile trek on the John Muir Trail in the Sierras, so wife wanted to surprise him with a mountain themed cake. It was a mountain of cake, alright!

Seahawks birthday cake for someone who turned 30 on the season opener yesterday. Chocolate cake, coffee buttercream between the layers, and cream cheese icing with marshmallow fondant topper and message. Hawks won and client was happy. BUT! As I was painting with food color and vodka on the other cake I made that day, I was totally kicking myself for spending an hour cutting out and piecing together the Seahawks logo. Next time, I'll just paint it. Duh! Oh, that learning curve Didn't get a pic of the other cake, which was a WW 2 tank on top of a bunker. Turned out OK, but I wished I'd had at least another hour to add details to the tank. I always think I can decorate faster than I really can!

No problem, I've had more cake orders than chocolate orders recently, so cake is on my mind. I would cook down the strawberry puree to concentrate it, but cooking does change the flavor a bit. A little balsamic vinegar might help too. I'm not familiar with "pot of gold", but it is entirely possible that their flavors came from a bottle rather than fresh fruit.

For chocolates or for cakes? At first I was thinking cakes and was going to suggest cream cheese, but that wouldn't work for molded chocolates. Otherwise, as you know, fondant is almost entirely sugar. I wonder if you could add glucose as bulk (either atomized or syrup) - it is still sweet, but not quite as sweet as regular sugar. White chocolate is sweet but a little less so, especially Valrhona Opalys and Callebaut Zephyr. A little lemon or lime juice helps boost most fruit flavors. Good luck!

If the recipe calls for fresh quince, maybe a really green (under-ripe) pear would be close? Quince are pretty hard and astringent before cooking and sweetening. It's probably still a bit early for the quince crop, I think of them as coming in in October or November, though of course each year varies and a lot of fruit has been early this year, at least in the NW.