Trishiad

so, I gave in and decided to get on the novelty candy bandwagon for Easter. "I'll give our friends an alternative to Dove bunnies and peeps", I thought. I decided to make Easter basket kits with peanut butter ganache filled critters, vanilla bean marshmallows, strawberry-lemonade pate de fruits, and 4 oz. solid bunnies. I ordered these cutie bunny molds from Tomric. These are made by Tomric, they're less expensive than the imported ones I usually buy and a little less sturdy but still way cute! I temper my chocolate (white, then dark, then milk, all with the same results), I warm the mold, fill, tap, scrape. Here's the problem: these bleeping bunnies won't mold properly. they bloom, they crack, they don't set all the way at the cheeks and then look fuzzy. The chocolate is tempered and is working just fine on the other things just not the bunnies. I tried the fridge and then the counter, the fridge and then the freezer, just the counter, and finally a rack in front of a fan. It's only 70 degrees in the house (california) so there shouldn't be a big problem. The final fan method is working the best but not producing the glossiest rabbits. They are just passable, yuck. any ideas?

good for you jgm. you're right to choose not to present strangley shaped cookies that are stuck together in stacks and end up broken with crumbs all over them. no one can resist a plate of nicely rounded cookies with chunks of fine chocolate in them. stick with the scoop, it's not for professionals only. i'm not a baker, nor is husband, or our 3 year old son and we all do just fine with the scoop. we just made some lovely oatmeal cookies yesterday. big scoop for me, little scoop for the boy. yum and cute too.

and you can use your spiffy new scoop for filling cupcake tins too!

i'd melt it out and call it a day. next time you want to make a quick little cup you can paint chocolate into muffin liners and peel them off after the chocolate sets. not the most glamorous but easy and fun.

you can buy direct from el rey chocolates too. i use chocolatesource for callebaut and buy direct from scharf and el rey

i use a scoop

my husband, who only cooks meat, makes a combo of recipes by nigella and alton. he simmers the ham in cola then coats it in spicy mustard, bourbon, brown sugar, and smashed gingersnaps. it is delish.

add me to tlhe list of not hungry's. although normally i need to know where my next meal will be coming from, eating during labor never even occurred to me. however, i should add that i had gestational diabetes so my after labor bag was packed with fudge, cookies, and hostess snowballs. gross, i know. but mmmmm sweet. someone brought me homemade zucchini bread which i thought was just perfect. i just nibbled each time i woke to nurse the baby. it wasn't until after we came home that i started to demand huge bowls of spaghetti every 30 minutes. nursing makes a girl hungry, stock the kitchen, i beg you. happy babying

you're a good woman!

I asked a friend who works at land o lakes about butter brands and prices last year and he said this, "As for the quality of butter, two types are marketed under the Darigold label: salted and unsalted. Salted butter contains only cream and salt. Unsalted butter contains cream, lactic acid and starter distillate. The last two ingredients are added to prolong the shelf life of the butter, as does salt in the salted type of butter. The fat content is equal to or greater than 80.20% butterfat. That is a USDA standard for butter. Manufacturers try to keep the level as close to 80.20 as possible for monetary reasons. With regard to moisture, the standard is no more than 17% for salted, 18% for unsalted. And finally, the salt level in salted butter is 1.6% as a rule in California. I have had salted butter manufactured in Wisconsin; it is saltier than the California butter. "

wendy's right. i never bring my cream to a full boil, i stir it in all kinds of directions, and i always add my chocolate in small chunks, and i've only had a problem this once. i've tried melting the chocolate first and the method where you pour hot cream over chocolate into a food processor and never noticed a difference. i think people are scared of chocolate and because they don't know what REALLY happens they develop all these must-methods. i may have to go back to college to write a thesis on the chemistry of candy making. in my spare time. trish

does the sugar stabilize the butter??

my batch did contain a small amount of butter and i suspected it was the culprit as the "grains" did melt on my tongue. I still would love to know the WHY though if anyone out there knows. perhaps my butter just wasn't soft enough when I incorporated it? trish

a good soft caramel should stay soft regardless of wrapping. my guess is that that perfect looking batch of caramel was going to harden no matter what. bummer trish

i do the one from silver palate, mmm cognac. i add potatoes and peas (son loves them) and when i'm pressed for time i cover it with frozen puff pastry. trish

I make chocolates regularly and am embarrassed to admit that I recently had the same thing happen. I couldn't figure it out. I don't melt the chocolate first and it didn't contain spices so hmmmm. trish

funny, i too just spoke with ian over at chocovision. i have a rev 2 and an X3210. my big boy needed repairs and came back with an extra bowl. my little guy is in the shop now. it's no longer under warranty and needed a new motor, they are replacing the motor and only charging me the labor and shipping, about $50. any other company would carge for the motor as well. i think the motor fried because i (before getting a bigger machine) tried to feed it too much chocolate and it overflowed into the bottom, sticking up the turny thing and causing the motor too much stress. just my theory. so, repairs or not, i really like my loud machines. they are easy to use, easy to clean and easy to stash away. as for truffle guys question of education: i took the ecole chocolate course and would only suggest it if you have very little knowledge of chocolate. Many of my fellow students seemed to get a lot out of the course, i didn't feel that way. i was hoping it would be more than the absolute basics. i love my books and the internet. trish

we have 100 year old douglas fir on our kitchen floors. it is warm and beautiful. it is scarred and blemished and we love it. i spend long hours dipping chocolates and dripping chocolate on the floor and while my feet don't hurt from the work, my knees hurt from scrubbing chocolate out of the seams. still love the floor though. when i drop a dish it bounces and almost never breaks. i hear a lot about wood not being good in a kitchen because of water and i wonder who leaves a puddle on the floor long enough for it to cause damage? trish

hmmm, i think i'd wrap them in chocolate and call it a day.

be sure you head over to the ferry building for cheeses, gelato, and chocolates! If you're there on the weekend you can munch yourself silly at the farmers' market and watch the boats come in. did i mention chocolates? trish

i don't have the recipe, does it call for melted white chocolate? Is is possible you overcooked the choc?

Okay, Steve, you've pulled my arm. I'll order dinner too. Wendy, maybe I'm nuts but.....okay, surely I'm nuts but....I'm not sure people have any idea how many calories they really consume. Most seem to think of every dessert as calorie laden and it's not really true. If you can convince them that this dessert is worth it's calories I think you'll sell more. Are they playing tennis or getting some other kind of exercise at your club? Can you equate your chocolate cake (or whatever) to X number of minutes playing tennis or number of golf holes, laps in the pool, etc? I have a friend who recently found out what her resting metabolic rate is and eats her meals accordingly. In order to maintain her current weight she now goes jogging for additional calories like ice cream and caramels.

I used to wait tables in a place that served organic greens. We sometimes found a caterpillar but never a rat. I have really fond memories of picnics at v satui as a child. I was hoping that my son would have those same memories. Lucky for us, he thinks rats are cool.

oooooh, Wendy, I love that idea! I totally want to go to a restaurant and order a sample of every dessert. I'd skip dinner and spend 15 or 20 bucks on dessert. Our sushi place has dollar sushi night and there is always an hour wait to get a table. They do not offer the price on take out items though. do you have to go low cal? I hate that Americans can't just go for a walk or drink one less starbucks caramel ooh la la. Dessert is meant to be an occasional indulgent treat. If we could just give it the proper respect, life would be perfect. Accomodate the diabetics if you must but leave the fat and sugar on the menu for the rest of us.

Cool, thank you. We do a lot of Ikea at our house and have wondered about the cabinets. We NEED a kitchen remodel but can't afford it and always talk about whether Ikea would be durable enough for the money savings. It's great to hear they're so easy to install too. trish