pastrygirl

I just sent in my deposit for a Selmi Color. The combination of sale pricing and how much my arm hurts after Easter production sealed the deal. My arm feels better already!

It's just camelia, which I don't consider odd. There's one in my backyard. I don't make tea with it, though

Hi Dan, welcome to eGullet and the wonderful world of confectionery. There is a thread about packaging somewhere with links to sources. A lot of it is personal choice on how you want things to look, how much you want to spend, whether you want to fold boxes or use set-up, how much plastic you're comfortable with, etc. Plenty of us can commiserate that packaging takes at least as much time and effort as making the product but here's my take: Seriously consider pre-made truffle shells for the full spheres. There is a magnetic sphere dome out there that a few of us have tried and hated. I find perfect hemisphere molds can be tricky - if the shells release from the mold before you are done filling and capping, they can slide out and lead to messy edges when filling spills over into the mold. This has been happening with some of my Easter eggs and is annoying. I'm mostly using the CW 2295 dome these days. I like Roxy & Rich cocoa butter colors though Chef Rubber are good too. Consider luster dust and piping a contrasting chocolate as other easy decor. Cupping is annoying but I'd use a cup OR a well-fitting tray. Right now I have boxes with trays for bonbon assortments, though I use cups and different boxes for bulk orders to certain customers, and I have one box that is such a snug fit that I use nothing because they can't slide or rattle around at all. Definitely be concerned. Box a few up and shake then around several times, turn them upside down, etc. Nothing wrong with that. Consider heat-sealing the bags for freshness and to tamper-proof. Find a more special twist tie - metallic or patterned or with a bow attached and a cute sticker and you're fine.

good idea! There is a company here in Seattle that makes caramrlized cocoa nibs with a variety of seasonings, marketed as a healthy ish snack. https://goodking.co/collections/shop

Cool, I wasn't familiar with the small scale models like that. Nutella uses cocoa, not full-fat chocolate, might as well put the extra CB to good use.

It's the little bit of color that creeps under the edge of the tape

What will the 'Irish' component be? Too much alcohol can interfere with gelatin setting.

yes, gelatin will set instant coffee

I wonder if there is an easy small scale way to press the cacao and separate some of the cocoa butter for use in skin care products.

Fudge is a different animal, chocolate may be the best version of it, but I consider fudge a sugar-based confection that may happen to have chocolate in it rather than a chocolate based confection like a truffle or bonbon. You mentioned many people don't have ovens, is there an existing tradition of desserts or any interest in specifically European or American foods? A spread for bread makes no sense if there is no bread, but if people eat fruit for dessert maybe you could market it as a dip for fruit. Or what are traditional desserts that could be made chocolate? Do most people have some refrigeration? Chocolate mousse doesn't need tempering or an oven, just a chiller.

That's even tougher. Are there any local nuts? They could make jars of chocolate nut spread a la Nutella.

Ice cream, cold beverages, cookies, brownies. Do the local farms also refine the beans into chocolate or are you working with cacao nibs?

I've been making a few ... hundred ... Easter eggs, am happy with most of them lemon & passion fruit in white chocolate double (blond vanilla + dark salty) caramel in dark chocolate milk chocolate hazelnut in a dark shell boxed (that was a different, less purple batch of hazelnut)

yeah, it is what it is I keep my airbrush warm, which helps but only as far as spraying two molds instead of one before having to warm it up. I keep the gun in my EZ temper or in a melter with my cocoa butter colors so at least I'm not putting CB into cold metal. There is a heated spray gun on the market but it doesn't look appropriate for fine detail or small molds https://www.kreaswiss.com/hotCHOC-chocolate-gun

This stuff? I don’t know, but I was compelled to smell the case I just got - smells fine. I get mine from Nashville Wraps.

Got a hacksaw? Trim one edge off the pans 😉

Reese's for people who don't like chocolate ... I'm sure they're out there 🤪

It's my favorite thing that I make. The addition of crispy feuilletine makes it even more addictive. 2 parts milk chocolate to 1 part natural PB (I use Adam's Creamy) by weight sets up quite firmly. I can cut it on the guitar when it's just right but I've broken plenty of strings when I've let it get too firm. I also make a white chocolate coconut concoction that's kind of a pain because it seems like it's never going to solidify, but it always does, eventually, with more stirring, chilling, and EZ temper silk.

I don't think so. I make a peanut butter gianduja for which I stir tempered chocolate into peanut butter, but I also sometimes melt down the scraps and re-temper them and the result is the same. It's all about the cocoa butter. Other fats and oils soften cocoa butter, and the more you add, the softer the mix is and the lower the temp you need to work at.

You're talking about making ice cream from scratch, right? Do you have a deep love of ice cream or just want to expand the menu for summer? I bought my commercial kitchen from a small batch ice cream maker and agree that it's not as easy as it sounds. Spoiler alert: he's making custom cakes now. Even if you buy a pre-made base, ice cream is kind of high maintenance. Carpigiani and Taylor are generally regarded as the best batch freezers, I think you can get a small tabletop Taylor for around $5k, with Carpigiani the sky's the limit. Ice cream needs to be stored super cold to prevent ice crystal growth, so look at ice cream hardening cabinets. The one I bought from Matt is a Global, goes down to -30F, I think it was $8k new. (I keep it at -10 and it's full of bonbons) Then you'll need more freezers at higher temps for holding ready to eat ice cream, especially if you're scooping. Where are you and what % of the year is ice cream weather? Other things to consider: popsicles - SOOO much easier, buy pre-packed gelato cups or novelties from someone else, granita Good luck!

I've added LorAnn pure lemon, orange, and peppermint oils to both tempered chocolate and ganache.

Ok, after watching that I have to admit that I'd want to clean the thing as rarely as possible 😆 I do have a commercial kitchen and my 3 compartment sink is big enough to fit a full sheet pan, and I could hook a hose up to my utility sink if needed. Melter maintenance is certainly simpler!

@EsaK good to know and consider. I wouldn’t be hosing water through the machine, but would want to clean it if I had something strongly flavored or contaminated with allergens. I don’t want to just get the cheapest one possible, but if the screw isn’t really necessary I have other things to spend money on.

how much heat they put out is definitely something to consider!

The heater and thermostat are on the bottom of the unit, small volume is fine. They heat relatively slowly but I think if you kept the melter around 40C it would keep your dumped-out chocolate warm enough to add back to the Delta.