pastrygirl

Does the recipe have gelatin, or can you add a bit as insurance?

add salt

The intention is larger 4" eggs filled with loose truffles, smaller 2" eggs with various caramels, small solid bunnies with almond or strawberry, and a few plain big bunnies for purists. We'll see what actually happens! testing today ...

And, some companies are going for a rough, minimally conched product. I couldn't tell you why ... ask him if barely tempered is what he's going for. He's probably just excited to have made something resembling chocolate. But as many of us will attest, chocolate is a bitch

cut-out cookies in the usual shapes - eggs, rabbits, chicks, lambs russian tea cakes aka mexican wedding cakes aka those little round cookies coated in powdered sugar - round and white, that's egg-like, right? little coconut macaroon 'nests' with a couple of jelly beans glued on with white chocolate chocolate truffles rolled in white or colorful sprinkles - or leave them brown and call them bunny droppings lemon bars just because they're yellow and go with pastels pastel-tinted meringue kisses

You could go back and say, "FYI your tempering sucks" but that's hard to hear. How about engaging him in discussion - act curious & ask how he tempers, how to know when it's right. Commiserate and share what works for you.

My SIL organized a surprise party for my youngest brother and asked if I had time to make a cake. She suggested Dungeons & Dragons or Lord of the Rings as a theme and this is what I came up with, had a lot of fun with it. All my V-day stuff was done so I had time to play. Fire breathing dragon for Joe. A good time was had by all. chocolate scales and flames, marshmallow fondant mouth The flames were my favorite part and some bonbons of course - i don't tape molds for just anyone! Note, green painters tape is not the best for this birthday boy and our nephew discovering the layer of sprinkles between cakes, plus the only shot of the tongue so messy! scales and buttercream everywhere, it was a cold wine cellar so the buttercream was brittle.

sure - makes about 2 qts, I keep various flavors in the freezer, thaw & beat until fluffy as needed for cupcakes, etc 150 g egg whites (about 5) 200 g sugar (1 c) pinch of salt 450 g unsalted butter, soft (1 lb) +/- 3-500 g caramel sauce, ganache, lemon curd, etc mix egg whites & sugar in kitchenaid bowl & heat over simmering water until hot (165f). whip on high speed until meringue is thick and bowl is cool. Add soft butter in small chunks. Add ganache. It's pretty forgiving, softer if you add more liquid but if your ganache is firm you can add a fair amount

is it a white chocolate shell? How many do you have to re-purpose? You can totally melt them down and make a new ganache. Add a bit of liquid (lemon, lime, more passion fruit) to allow for the chocolate in the shells and adjust flavor at the same time. Then make more bonbons or fill macarons or layer cakes, tartlets or cream puffs. Make whipped ganache frosting or add ganache to italian/swiss butter cream. I did the last option just today - had thrown together some vegan strawberry bonbons with Valrhona Fraise but the texture was weird so I melted them, added the resulting goo to SMBC and sent strawberry cupcakes to my catering client.

@Anna N Nordstrom has always had a very accommodating return policy. I admit, I do enjoy selling chocolate at neighborhood wine walks, a few glasses really loosens up the credit cards!

Mine's set around 55. I've been doing more airbrushing than usual for Valentine's and it's been slow going with a Grex 0.5 mm airbrush and tiny compressor. You had commented on my photo in another thread but I'm not 100% happy with my coverage, it's a bit speckle-y and takes multiple passes from different angles. I did just buy a 0.7 mm nozzle and a larger compressor but haven't put them into use.

Oh, well then cook your syrup a bit hotter and beat on high after all the syrup is added.

The ratio of sugar to water in the syrup shouldn't matter because excess water boils off as you cook to temp. Which seems low to me, I thought 250F was the usual recommendation. You could try hotter syrup, but it might just be that hand mixers are weak. What are you making with it?

this but if you really want stuff on top of your bonbon, either put it in the mold first and glue it in place with a dot of chocolate before molding or glue garnish to the finished bonbon with a dot of chocolate. Or mix up your assortment with a few hand dipped pieces sprinkled while wet.

If there’s lemon or lime juice in the marinade, mix that with the garlic first and let it sit a few minutes. Or just use less ;)

maybe something as simple as a small hose clamp? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Industro-1-4-in-5-8-in-Stainless-Steel-Hose-Clamps-10-Pack-205/306942625?MERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-306941298-_-306942625-_-N

Since room temp is so cold, what if you just let them solidify at room temp and not in the fridge? I know, you want the faster turnaround but is there such thing as crystallizing too quickly? Or that might be cold enough to warrant warming the molds. I love a cool kitchen but below 60F is extreme.

I enjoyed it. Really impressed with the contestants' skill level.

what is the difference between papads and papadam?

How do you measure your flour? If you use measuring cups, you may be packing them too full and consistently adding too much flour. Better to weigh it.

since your chocolate is tempered, they should peel off cleanly. You may be able to re-use them once or twice but they may get damaged by the scraping it is an added expense and more plastic waste so I rarely use them

Why, exactly would you want those qualities in a chocolate mold?

If you were going to braise it to death and cook to 180f and nobody was pregnant, maybe. Otherwise better safe than sorry.

crush them into powder via mortar and pestle

how high is the humidity? 21 is on the warm side, add high humidity and that can cause trouble. If you can get the room a few degrees cooler and below 50% humidity that might help. I prefer 18-19C.