pastrygirl

There's a flaw in your premise. Combining cacao powder and cacao butter is not making chocolate from scratch, it is combining two already processed products. Anyone wanting to avoid big chocolate companies would not enthusiastically use Hershey's. They're big, wouldn't you say? (and did they ever come out against child slavery?) To me, making chocolate from scratch means starting with the whole cacao beans or at least nibs. Which may or may not be worth it but is a good learning exercise on how chocolate is actually made. It's great that you've found a way to produce confections in a place with so many limitations but you're not exactly doing bean-to-bonbon. They don’t teach that method in schools because it’s not a traditional method. In order to get cocoa powder, you first have to roast, crack, winnow, and grind the beans then press the cacao butter out and grind the hard cake left behind into powder. Your method is simply. putting those parts back together. Can you get beans or nibs from your friend in Africa? Are you already using a grinder to combine things and pulverize the sugar? Then you can really try making chocolate from scratch!

No, and I don't think so. But! Maybe you could try those bitter almond kernels or bitter apricot seeds that are supposedly healthy and cancer-fighting but may contain arsenic and kill you if eaten in excess (I don't recall if we debated their merits on this forum before). But a few should be fine, especially if heated to neutralize the poison ... 😉 I believe they are the same bitter almonds used to flavor almond extract.

Of course I thought of this because I just bought pumpkin seeds for other reasons but do not also have pistachios. I'll have to go back and get pistachios so I can taste them side by side. But preliminary testing is encouraging. They needed some added fat to liquefy in the cuisinart, but they have a nice green color not adequately captured and a vague nutty flavor. Plus they were only a few dollars a pound. 250 g pumpkin seeds, warmed up still crumbly after 10 minutes in the cuisinart added 25 g avocado oil, getting runnier added 25 g cacao butter because on second thought it'll probably get mixed with chocolate the color is brighter than this, closer to basil than olive

If it's croissant dough and has yeast, I think not only a thorough defrost but a bit of proofing time would definitely help.

I like them toasted, and don't mind one in hot chocolate if the chocolate is not too sweet. I don't like just plain marshmallow, though, like as a layer in a cookie. The texture plus being so very sweet. ... next question, how to make them less sweet? Hot chocolate with cocoa marshmallows? More glucose than sugar? Every now and then I decide to make some but they never wow me. I'll probably make another batch and decide against them yet again 😆

OK, but I definitely draw the line at rainbow marshmallow bits a la Lucky Charms

I was talking to an ice cream maker recently, we were dissing another local small batch producer who puts mass-made ingredients like Oreo cookies and mini-marshmallows in her $10/pint ice cream (my guy makes his own cookies and marshmallows). I've been debating adding some sort of marshmallow to a hot chocolate mix this year, don't really love marshmallow enough to make my own, but also feel like the commercial mini ones scream "cheap" and are kind of gross. But I also feel like 98% of the public doesn't care. Full disclosure, I do occasionally use marshmallows for quick rolled fondant, but I also tell people to go ahead and peel it off because it's pure sugar and rather disgusting. What do you think, is it worth making them and charging extra, or will people be equally tickled by the cuteness and nostalgia of little puffs of high fructose corn syrup and preservatives?

Probably want full price for two singles. All I can say is that for the new price they better finally be organized! Previous years they've been doing construction up to the last minute and had poor communication about things like media and VIPs coming an hour early. I was considering a NYC show in Sept but with travel time and expenses decided it wouldn't be worth the schlep. I guess at least Kerry doesn't have to bring much inventory, it's more about selling to pros who can wait for it to be shipped.

NW Choc? I just got around to registering, and the booth fees have doubled! 🤑 I hope it's still worth it for you, or you get a discount for doing a demo, because if I didn't already live here that might be a deal-breaker. Last year was crazy busy, but still ... we do want to actually make a profit at these things!

@Sweet Impact Mama if you're near a Trader Joe's, they tend to have good prices on nuts, here they're usually $6-7/lb for almonds, $7-8 for hazelnuts, $12 for pistachios. Not bad when you don't want to buy in bulk.

Just wanted to say I can sympathize with the sourcing difficulties, so I applaud what you've done with such limitations! 10 years ago I worked for a hotel in Bhutan and getting good ingredients was a constant struggle. Some things came by truck from India and would be cut off if there was a mudslide on the road, or eggs wouldn't be imported because of bird flu concerns, and heavy whipping cream and unsalted butter were both precious commodities. Sometimes I would be able to import "good" chocolate from suppliers in Bangkok or Singapore, but just as often the local staff would buy cheap compound coating stuff because they didn't understand. Or it arrived out of temper due to hot conditions in shipping, which must be even worse in Qatar. I hope you'll get the chance to work with ready-made couverture soon!

Agreed, gianduja is traditionally hazelnut, usually milk chocolate, too. The Northern Italians started grinding local hazelnuts in with imported cacao, hazelnuts would have been an inexpensive way to add bulk. Plus, they're delicious. IIRC, the birthplace of GIanduja is Turin/Torino, or at least I visited some old chocolate chops with tasty gianduja when I was there! But yeah, in common usage, any nut butter mixed with chocolate becomes gianduja. Just make sure to declare all the nuts used in your ingredients or contains statements.

If there is enough acid, you can boil it without it scrambling. You probably still want to strain out any little bits that may occur, but I have brought lemon-curd type mixtures to a boil without issue. As for gelatin, if you have leaves then weigh them and see if that number makes sense. I have bronze leaves, not at my kitchen right now so I can't weigh them, but I'd guess 4 or 5 grams per leaf? What type(s) of gelatin do you have available?

Hooray!

There's another thread on here extolling the virtues of early, made in Japan Cuisinarts. Maybe the OP should look for a vintage one. I used a Black & Decker processor at a job last week and hated it. Super loud, small bowl, and weird design that made the blade hard to remove. I have a small 7 cup cuisinart from the mid or late 90's that has a good power to bowl size ratio, but my new 13 cup one sucks in that department. Fine if I want to shred a lot of carrots, but won't mix too much heavy, sticky stuff (peanut butter in my case).

So the half recipe is 500 g flour, 150 ml fat and 225 ml water? Yeah, you could probably use a whole egg, just look for the smallest one in the carton And a bit more flour or touch less water if needed, though I'm not sure how roti prata dough is supposed to feel, your guess is as good as mine.

Gotta admit, these more restrained ones still look amazing - proof you don't always need 4 colors on everything. As for keeping the stamp cold, maybe a bit of dry ice would help, as long as it doesn't get too cold.

Agreed, robot coupes are workhorses but may be overkill for home use. What brand/size do you have now and what do you use it for? What makes it ‘terrible’?

I like any meal that includes a cheese delivery system!

Agreed, you can still temper it but you may have to find stable CB crystals in the form of some new white chocolate or cocoa butter if you want to seed it. Or you can use it in a ganache, mousse, or glaze where it will be melted but doesn't need to be tempered.

Ha, no, that says enough. I was hoping since the plastic is so thin it would be easier, but it's always $$$$ for the tooling and dies.

@Jim D. and everyone, what about custom candy trays? Who can you recommend? Thanks!

The print can be pretty small, 6 or 7 point depending on the font. You can download the food labeling guide here: https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm2006828.htm Basically you have to say what it is, net weight, who made it, list ingredients, and declare allergens. Tree nuts should be specified - contains almonds, hazelnuts, etc. That insurance policy looks like a good deal, I pay around $500/yr, went with a local company who was known to work with small businesses. The nice thing about commissaries is having a community of other small businesses facing the same issues.

A trial run is a good idea. You may need to pay for a day of use, maybe you can offer to pay and have it applied to rent if you take the space? A couple more things to consider - if you have melters, temperers, etc will you be able to leave them plugged in overnight without being disturbed or in the way? Will your refrigeration be shared with savory companies, like one big walk-in, or do you get your own reach-in? If shared, consider an enclosed speed rack to try to keep odors out. Where will you store your finished product? I make bars, truffles, and caramels, all of my bars and caramels usually live in my back bedroom but they are in the basement for the summer. I keep my truffles and bonbons refrigerated or frozen to extend shelf life. Keeping things at home is not technically legal, I should have a separate fridge and an inspection as a 'food storage facility' but hey, things are wrapped and I live alone, and it's much more convenient to not have to run to the kitchen and grab two chocolate bars to fill a website order. I promise there's no raw chicken dripping on anything Do you already have all your licenses, insurance, packaging and labeling? The kitchen will want you to have liability insurance so you don't burn the place down, and some events will also ask for a certificate of insurance. Packaging and labeling are a whole other nightmare job. Where are you? In the US, you need to label for the top 8 allergens (wheat, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, shellfish) and you can't claim 'gluten free' if it is not a certified gluten free facility (that may be a local city or county rule but it makes sense). You don't need nutrition labeling under (IIRC) 100k units/yr, and you don't need barcodes unless retailers ask for them. But you may want to consider now where they'll fit on your packaging should you decide to add them later.

Nice overall, but the overnight lows in there are upper 70's and it gets into the 90's on a sunny day. I tried to stock up before I moved but I may very well run out of product and not be able to make more for several weeks.