pastrygirl

I use only hot water to clean, then polish with a tea towel before molding. Some people don't even wash their molds!

Caramels also have a very long shelf life. I make a few fillings that are a blend of caramel and chocolate, and they seem to hold up very well, probably because of all the sugar. I haven't had See's in quite a while, but aren't they mostly fondant, not so much cream ganache? Maybe you could create a special holiday collection with gianduja, butter ganache, caramels, and maybe some fondant or liqueur fillings. There is a reason why the explosion of artisan chocolate products in the grocery stores is limited to bars and caramels. Bars and bark might not be as sexy as filled pieces, but they would make great stocking stuffers or small gifts to sell at those pre-holiday events.

Just cook them to a higher temperature. If the candy is very soft after cooking to 250F, it will be fairly firm around 255F, and pretty hard at 260F.

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My impression is that not drying them enough leads to cracking. Has it been humid lately?

You're welcome. A guitar cutter is a pretty big splurge, but I'm happy I have mine. I use the strings as guidelines for cutting so many other things - cakes, bars, caramels.

30 seconds? Not more than a minute.

Seems like you'd have to be cutting an awful lot of ganache to make the double a big time saver, and if you were cutting that much ganache you'd want a bigger guitar. I have a single Dedy, and wouldn't say that picking the slab up and rotating it takes that much time or effort, but I usually only cut a few slabs at a time.

I make extra ganache and freeze it, too, seems to work fine for me. I thoroughly melt it then let it cool to room temp before filling the shells. Never tried making the shells in advance. They don't get stale or break?

Every time I have tried to re-cook jam, I have scorched it. It may be possible, but I have given up.

I've heard carageenan can be used for this, but haven't tried it. ChefSteps and Ideas in Food both have versions.

I was picturing piping chocolate into the hobby molds then adding the inclusions. You're right, they are not good for real chocolatiering.

Bark will go a lot faster than filled chocolates, but I'd still consider something like these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-OZ-CANDY-BAR-PIECES-mold-Chocolate-Candy-bars-ounce-/321206620335 http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-1-2-x-2-1-4-Candy-Bar-Chocolate-Mold-2-cavity-3-oz-/251249129224 http://www.ebay.com/itm/BREAK-APART-CANDY-BAR-mold-Chocolate-Candy-bars-hershey-size-here-she-is-he-is-/221290432088

How much bark are you making? The frustrating thing about polycarbonate bar molds is that you get so few units per mold, and have to either buy a lot of molds, which adds up, or do a lot of batches, which is tedious and time consuming. Since you are not filling and capping, maybe some inexpensive "hobby" molds would work? I would also suggest looking for a fairly deep mold. I have these: http://www.dr.ca/35g-half-cocoa-bean-bar-chocolate-mould.html which I like well enough, but have found that when I add bits to a bar, they are more likely to break. I recently made bars with a sprinkle of chopped cocoa nib brittle in the middle, and an unusually high number broke while unmolding & wrapping (like 10 out of 144, not a huge deal, but annoying). Not sure what minimum depth of chocolate is needed to hold inclusions together, (probably depends on size of inclusions) but I'd guess something at least 12 or 15mm deep would be better than 10.

Working on a couple of new menu items... favorites today are chevre panna cotta with huckleberry compote, rosemary infused honey, and pecan tuile. Also, dark chocolate cremeaux with Fernet Branca zabaglione and double chocolate cookies. Fernet & dark chocolate - try it!!!

I think the best way to not miss anything is to make a comprehensive list of all your components and tasks, print it out, and cross items off as you go. Room to make notes on batch sizes or special requests is helpful, too.

I'd add a little milk to soften it, and more powdered sugar to taste.

But you know, of course, that it is a matter of proportion. Chocolate is a system of solids dispersed in fat. Ganache is an emulsion of fat dispersed in water. Add a tiny bit of water to chocolate, and it seizes. Add enough water to chocolate, and it emulsifies. You have to have enough water to change it from a fat system to a water system. Water is not always bad for chocolate, but the wrong amount at the wrong time can really screw it up. I have to agree with Curls, I think there is not enough liquid in the recipe. Sounds like it was quite firm when you tried to form the truffles, and 10oz white chocolate to 2oz sour cream/coco lopez is a lot. Doesn't explain why it worked the first time, but I bet another TB or two of liquid would help.

The Opalys is designed to be thicker and more opaque, primarily meant for molding. I just got a case of it but have not used it yet. The Valrhona literature I have says the Opalys has 10% more milk and 10% less sugar than the Ivoire. Ivoire: 35% min cocoa, 43% sugar, 21% milk, 41% fat. Opalys: 33% min cocoa, 32% sugar, 32% milk, 44% fat. So maybe the additional milk solids are throwing things off?

Definitely a question for the chocolate doctor! My guess - Valrhona is higher fat than a lot of other chocolate, and when you have all that fat not very warm and you stir it, it's not happy. So you are supposed to melt the chocolate and cream of coconut together, then stir in the sour cream? Or melt the chocolate alone then stir in the coconut and sour cream? I think just more heat would help. Melt the white chocolate, warm the cream of coconut, combine, then add sour cream. Did you use Valrhona Ivoire? I'm surprised that didn't melt well, it is usually so fluid. Maybe there was some moisture in the bowl and it seized? The flavor combo sounds really delicious (I LOVE coconut!), can you share the recipe?

In the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi, they talk about aging certain fish before it is ready to be served. I was so surprised, I thought sushi was all about extreme freshness.

Now THAT looks interesting, and maybe even I could do it if I've got the concept right: Make a ricotta filling and roll into balls. Bury the ricotta balls in flour and refrigerate for a few days. Pull the balls from the flour and add to boiling or simmering water. That's it? The article says the ricotta balls are "packed in durum flour" and then buried in flour. What exactly does packed in flour mean ... rolling the balls in flour and pressing the flour into the cheese filling? So, if I've got the concept, could the ricotta filling contain leafy green vegetables, like spinach, kale, beet greens? The pic shows the balls laid out in the flour in what seems to be a sheet, in a single layer. Might burying them in a bowl work, and maybe having two or more layers (just thinking about space requirements in my small kitchen). We make these where I work, we call them gnudi. We make ricotta, drain it so it is fairly firm, scoop into small balls, and bury in semolina. The prep cook will put a couple of layers in a hotel pan with semolina in between. The gnudi stay in the semolina in the walk-in for 2 days, then come out of the semolina, shake off the excess, and dry in the walk-in for another day or two. The ricotta needs to be firm/sticky enough enough to hold together, and not overly moist.

Is that the Guinness Stout gingerbread, or something different? I've made the Guinness one many times, it is excellent, and needs no help at all (except maybe a Guinness). Haven't made it in years, thanks for the reminder. But you've raised an interesting question, for me at least. How are you distinguishing between a quick bread and a cake? Yes, the Guinness one. I'm using 'quick bread' to mean something that is intended as a relatively unadorned snack rather than as a filled and frosted layer cake - typically loaf cakes like banana bread, pumpkin bread, pound cake - you might put a simple glaze on it, but that's it. We could argue about mixing methods, but I doubt we'll come to consensus (not all cakes start w/ creamed butter and sugar, etc). Cake is all in how you use it? What's the difference between cake and muffins, besides most people feel better about eating muffins for breakfast? (Or coffeecake, just not cake!) Pierre Herme's lemon loaf cake is pretty good, too, if I recall correctly.

Gramercy Tavern gingerbread. Maybe more of a quick bread than a cake but still delicious naked.