pastrygirl

There was a local production of this with (iirc) Julia's niece performing the part, it was really charming and fun. I had the gig of making chocolate cake to serve to the audience after the show.

@Tri2Cook are you looking for something flat like a Valrhona feve or just small? Here's a small hemisphere: https://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/home/chocolate-molds/c378126051/p17741679.html or here's a tiny coffee bean: https://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/home/chocolate-molds/chocolate-molds-chocolate-world/cw1001-to-cw1900/p16408050.html

Since I like to do things the hard way, I have to suggest using your existing dome molds and piping them 1/4 to 1/3 full.

You'd really want to check with your local dept of agriculture for protocol on canning low-acid foods to be shelf-stable, you don't want to mess with botulism. That said, a local company swore to me that they simply pack their caramel sauce into jars while hot. Maybe if it is above the 280F ultra-pasteurization temp and high enough sugar, it's fine? Since time is limited, can you do them as refrigerated products? Then all you need is appropriate labeling with ingredients & allergens.

Now onto heart-shaped ones for Valentine's day

do share ... I guess m&ms are sugar-coated chocolate but don't know what temps sugar panning happens at. I'll find some scraps to play with while I'm doing inventory this weekend, will see how hot sugar has to be to stay liquid and what happens when a cold piece of chocolate hits it. I have a lot of experience with these two materials, really don't anticipate them playing together well but maybe I'll be surprised.

Well, once you guys figure out how Cedric Grolet manages to circumvent the laws of thermodynamics and bend the properties of cocoa butter to his will, do let me know, it'll be handy in summer when I'm trying to temper chocolate in my 90F kitchen.

Also consider a simple food warmer or two. Not as precise as the more expensive Mol d' Art or Martellato melters, but if you just need melted chocolate to transfer to your tempering machine as needed, they work. An 8" deep full hotel pan will hold 20+ kg of chocolate. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/avantco-w50-12-x-20-full-size-electric-countertop-food-warmer-120v-1200w/177W50.html

Pretty sure, yes. Do we agree that the first dip is white chocolate? Sugar cooked to caramel is around 325F. You could let it cool a little and still be runny, let's say you get it down to 250F. White chocolate melts around 100F. If you froze the apples to buy time, you'd cool the sugar every time you dipped and cause crystallization, it would be impractical for production. The cooler the caramel is, the thicker the shell and this looks very thin. i just don't think the sugar would stay liquid with repeated heating, cooling, and agitation and I don't think white chocolate would stand up to even a thin coat at 250-300F. I think the white chocolate shell is what's cracking. I don't have any sugar, otherwise I'd make some caramel and see what happens to white chocolate

except for the part where hot caramel would melt everything 🤪

he could be cracking the white chocolate shell just underneath

Why wouldn't it be gelatin? Couldn't you make a stronger gel and whisk it to get the bubbles. If the object and glaze are both cool enough, could the bubbles hold as the glaze sets quickly?

@JeanneCake those look great!

If you understand crystallization in sugar, chocolate is essentially the same. If you get an undissolved bit of sugar in your caramel it will crystallize, with chocolate you're substituting un-melted cocoa butter crystals. If you make fudge or fondant you have to stir at a certain temp to get crystallization, same with chocolate. Stir, stir, stir. If it seems like it should be tempered but isn't, let it cool a little more, stir a little more and test again.

2% sounds like a good starting point. See if that helps, you can always add more.

yes

I like a much cooler kitchen, around 18 C. My tenants are all bundled up and probably hate me but if the chocolate is happy, I'm happy. I'd say don't rush the un-molding, give everything time to fully crystallize.

I use CW2295, 29 mm diameter 21 mm deep. I don't think of them as particularly problematic ... I love how easy to polish they are and haven't had anything too stubborn lately.

You can have mine, I'd rather have dry storage space

It's probably high enough sugar content to be fine. Unless you're shipping to the tropics, it shouldn't get much above room temp in transit.

glerup revere has paper backed foil that is sturdy and confectioners foil that is thinner (no paper side)

Whipping egg whites in plastic is generally not recommended because plastics can hold onto fat residues that interfere with the process. Is the Ankarsrum plastic bowl easier to get squeaky clean than others?

This is the gravity feed grex, with the cup on top. https://spraygunner.com/grex-tritium-tg7/ I initially bought mine with the 0.3mm fittings, that was slow going, eventually upgraded to 0.5 and finally the 0.7. It's not hard to change out the needle and nozzle, if cake colors are more fluid than cocoa butter you might want to start in the middle. Do you know what size your other airbrushes are? https://spraygunner.com/grex-0-5mm-nozzle-kit-tk-5/ As for keeping the cocoa butter from clogging up, that's always a challenge. I keep my gun warm in my ez temper or an extra melter and warm it with a hairdryer as needed to keep it flowing.

Such as what, zabaglione and hollandaise? Ok, true, a torch won't help you there. But I use it frequently in pastry applications where I want to soften butter a bit. Whether creaming butter and sugar for cookie dough or re-fluffing previously made buttercream, warming the bottom and sides of the mixer bowl with a bit of fire is a really easy way to loosen things up. Is this the one? https://www.kenwoodworld.com/en-us/products/kitchen-machines/cooking-chef/cooking-chef Max temp is 285F, that seems pretty low. If you're going to make polenta or risotto or something, how quickly does it boil a quart of water?

save a few hundred euros and get a propane torch