pastrygirl

On the subject of chocolate thermometers, got one for Christmas that recommends tempering white at 82F and makes me wonder what ‘plain’ chocolate Is ... anyone else find this odd?

But how do they look out of the mold?

Those both looked good. I didn't realize chips & guacamole, tamales, and polenta were Chinese food!

Red envelopes are usually gifts of money - New Year's gift?

I poured hot caramel sauce over fresh rosemary and let it steep for a while then strained before mixing with chocolate

Tough choice! Did one sell better than the other or about the same?

I suppose one could argue that strawberries provide the same dash of tartness that a squeeze of lemon does, but it still seems wrong. I went out to dinner recently and the chicken liver mousse had kiwi on the side. I was all, " kiwi? wtf?" but in reality the flavor is not that different from a tart apple, which I wouldn't have questioned.

No, because even though the servings are smaller there are more of them, up to a few hundred in a few hours time.

It's a good idea to cook your fruit at least briefly to pasteurize it and kill any yeasts or bacteria that may be present. Cooking will also soften the fruit and help it break down. Depending on how juicy or tart the fruit, add up to 10-20% water by weight and 10-20% sugar by weight. For example, raspberries would need very little water or sugar, pears or apples need more liquid, and rhubarb might appreciate extra sugar.

Quite happy with the shine on these - airbrushed roxy & rich green sphene and gold, shelled in dark chocolate, filled with rosemary infused caramel ganache.

so about 5 x 5 x 3"? you can search here by size, they have several options: https://www.papermart.com/box-search I think shipping will depend on how thick the layer of chocolate is and how much bubble wrap you use. If it's snugly packed in a rigid box surrounded by a couple layers of bubble wrap and packed into another box, it may survive.

Maybe a cocktail pick or seafood pick? But both those are usually longer and slimmer. Steak markers and the other sides say rare, medium, well? Fancy corn cob picks?

That does sound frustrating. How full is the mixer with 6x? Triple-check your math and maybe try a 3x or 4x batch next.

Holiday stump with gingerbread leaves (and niece) Spiced apple cake with cream cheese filling and salted caramel buttercream. I tried to make darker brown for the outer bark but ended up with ugly purple, that’s what I get for trying to dye something brown instead of just using chocolate? 😂 oh well, family was happy enough, and I used up some odds and ends so I don’t have to count them as inventory so mission accomplished!

A few recent things passion fruit ganache with tangerine pate de fruits coffee caramel strawberry vanilla (Valrhona fraise shells, dark & white vanilla ganache layers) pistachio saffron boxed strawberry, pistachio, candied lemon mendiants for a vegan option (candied lemon slices from Trader Joe’s were good) snowflakes are a regular winter item but cute round jars are new and sold better than expected - I piped about 100 kg of these little guys!!! made toffee for some corporate gifts, couldn’t resist a few colorful sprinkles.

Ah, but how will they keep the worms from working the soil and the bees from pollinating the flowers? They need to go hydroponic and hand pollinate everything to really be vegan.

Are you spraying large finished pieces as with a flocking effect or decorating bonbon molds? For the former, a 50/50 mix is usually recommended. You could try the same for bonbons, or just paint the contrasting chocolate manually and undiluted with a finger or paintbrush. I’ve only sprayed the 50/50 mix with a Wagner paint sprayer, have not tried it with my Grex airbrush.

Maybe. How big is the ‘standard batch’ and how intense are the colors?

@sbain I think the magic of caramel is the high sugar. Raspberry caramel could certainly be good, or you could do a butter ganache with jam. What are you using for the raspberry flavor?

I just got to work and checked my extracts, the lemon is actually 83%! Peppermint is even higher at 89, vanilla is lowest ‘only’ 35%

Lemon extract is high alcohol, at least 35% or 70 proof! Agree with straight luster dust in cotton-polished molds or metallic cocoa butter.

Can you cook the mass and keep it warm while pulling and cutting a portion of the batch at a time?

Agreed. The EZ Temper isn’t the first $1k you spend when just starting out, it’s the tenth $1k you spend after scaling up a bit.

This looks to me like a caramel sauce made separately and poured over, not a hard crack caramel baked with the custard. The custard doesn't have that distinctive dark layer that happens when baked with caramel. 'So I'd caramelize some sugar and deglaze with fruit juice, probably Perfect Puree. https://www.perfectpuree.com/product/prickly-pear/ And a smaller plate, definitely 😂

@Jim D. fleurir says their transfers are all custom designs - didn’t say who printed the transfers but that’s a start (I asked on Instagram)