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digigirl

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Everything posted by digigirl

  1. Yes Chris - do elaborate! That is a great tip - I made a huge mess when I was doing hand dipped last week. I'd love to hear more about your wire technique. That sounds like a good one!
  2. You saying I'm not glamorous? Just kidding - I was working on a book, then Greweling came along - and I just felt so totally inadequate! ← There's always room for another excellent chocolate reference! I'd totally buy it.
  3. The number one thing I've learned from my recent forays into making truffles and bon bons is that chocolate gets EVERYWHERE! I don't know how everybody in these demos and pictures does it so neatly. So I thought it might be useful for newbies like me if some of the more experienced chocolatiers on egullet would share some of the tips they've learned during their experiences with chocolate. Are there certain procedures or techniques you use that help you stay neat? Particular tools you've found that help you work cleanly? Any info would be helpful. About the only things I've found so far, in my *very* limited experience, is to use a MUCH larger bowl than I really need for the tempered chocolate, as it wants to get all over the sides of the bowl, the edge, etc. If I use a big bowl, I seem to have more luck keeping it down inside the bowl. Also, wearing latex or vinyl gloves seems to help me keep it off of myself. I can wipe the chocolate off of my gloved hands, whereas when it's my bare skin, I'm tempted to lick too often or I end up washing my hands about a thousand times. What are your tried and true tips and techniques?
  4. So, if anybody is still checking out this thread... Now that I've gotten a chance to work with the glucose syrup... Is there some kind of trick to it? This stuff is THICK! Is there some easy way to measure it out, get it off the spoon? I had a very hard time with it. Should it be heated before trying to dispense it? Surely there must be a better way than dirtying 3 spoons and having my scale turn itself off while I'm struggling to get the syrup to come off the spoon!
  5. I used Callebaut white for the ganache and Guittard 61% for enrobing. The cream was just the regular grocery store brand of cream. Do you find different brands of cream taste significantly different? I'll admit I haven't done any comparison shopping in that area. The glucose I got is corn syrup, so hopefully will work out well and be neutral flavored. Water activity isn't important right now as I am just learning. Later it may become more so. I just ordered some Felchlin Maracaibo Clasificado 65%, some Guittard Ornico 41% and some Weiss White Nevea 29% to experiment with while I'm learning the techniques of fine chocolate making. When I get better at it (and stop wasting so much chocolate), I'll get some Valrhona, maybe some Michel Cluizel to try! It's funny - I brought the Dark & Stormies into work to help spread the calories around and people are either afraid to try it (ooh, ginger & rum = scary and different) or they are going "Wow! When are you starting your own chocolate shop?" Which is so funny because this is literally my first attempt at hand dipping and it shows. It looks like my enrobing chocolate lost its temper on the last few pieces and they show streaks, all of them have major feet and puddles, and the little fork marks on the top are a mess! It's sad that so many people don't even know what a good chocolate should look like! Hopefully soon I'll be able to show them.
  6. At least here in the US, grocery store corn syrup also contains high-fructose corn syrup, which is - as someone mentioned above - sweeter than regular glucose. ← When I bought some corn syrup recently, I specifically checked the ingredients on a couple of them. The store brand (Wal-Mart) did include high fructose corn syrup, but the Karo brand did not list it in the ingredients, just corn syrup, salt and vanilla. So I bought that. When I went to their website just now, though, it does show high fructose corn syrup. So I don't know if they've recently changed their formulation and the bottle was updated but not yet the website, or if they are allowed to not list the high-fructose part on the label.
  7. Agreed and understood. I just got my hands on some glucose syrup yesterday, so I can go forward with full compliance to the recipes. I did the Dark & Stormies with corn syrup instead of glucose syrup and they came out well, but I would rather use the correct ingredient. So I'm happy I got some. Thanks everyone for the helpful info! Valerie
  8. Thanks John. I did know I could use corn syrup, but I kept seeing the powdered glucose and thought that would be convenient if it could be used. Now I know! Thanks! Valerie
  9. Thanks Kerry. I'll try an art supply store. Valerie
  10. Kerry, where did you get those rubber tipped tools? I went looking for those today and couldn't find them. The hobby store had no idea what I was talking about. I like the effects you got with those and would love to try them. Let me know what they're called! Thanks! Valerie
  11. While looking to stock up my pantry for chocolate and confection making, I have been comparison shopping at various online sources. I keep running across powdered or atomized glucose, which is significantly cheaper than glucose syrup. Can powdered glucose be used when a recipe calls for glucose syrup (as in Peter Greweling's Chocolates & Confections book)? And if so, how?
  12. Another question! Greweling says, in recipes, to "massage the butter into the chocolate." What exactly does that mean? I took a chocolate class at Sur la Table last year and when we made the ganache, we poured the hot cream over the chocolate wafers, let it sit for a little bit, then stirred gently with a rubber spatula in concentric circles starting at the center. After it was emulsified, we added the liquor and then the very soft butter, which was also stirred in. Greweling wants the butter massaged into melted chocolate before adding the cream. Is massaging the same as stirring? Or is there some technique here I'm not getting? I'd like to try the method described elsewhere on this board by SteveKlc (I think - hope I got that right!) of pouring the melted chocolate into the cream (instead of vice versa). And I think the butter is added at the end of that procedure also. Any input from y'all who have done some of these Greweling recipes already?
  13. I'd take a full pastry arts (or maybe even the full cooking arts) culinary program somewhere, then go to the Valrhona school and some of the other specific chocolate programs out there. Get as much knowledge, training and hands-on experience crammed into my pointy head as possible!
  14. Do you use the glucose in place of regular sugar in recipes? Or are you making judgment calls based on your experience to determine how much to use? I've made caramels before, but always with non-professional recipes that just called for sugar and other regular kitchen ingredients, so I'm not sure how I would make that substitution. Do you find that it makes better caramels than regular sugar?
  15. Kerry, thank you for the speedy reply! I do have karo syrup in my pantry, so that puts me back in business. So the question would be, then, when would one use glucose instead of invert sugar and vice versa? My understanding is that they both serve basically the same purpose - prolonging shelf life, sweetening, etc. So why would I choose one over the other and in what circumstances? Should I keep both on hand for different situations?
  16. Okay, I've got The Book (and I agree, it is The Book) and I've read through it (and a couple of others). And I've read through much of this thread, as long as it is, but if the answer to my question is here, I've missed it. Pretty much all the ganache recipes call for glucose syrup. He mentions invert sugar in the ingredients description as an alternate sweetener, but then doesn't say when or how to use it. I have neither glucose syrup nor invert sugar in my pantry. I know honey is similar to invert sugar, but what about glucose syrup? Are they interchangeable? I know invert sugar is sweeter, but otherwise, can one be substituted for the other? And so, by the same token, could honey be used instead of either? The only source I have for either is online and while that's not a huge problem, it means I can't make something right now, like I'd like to. If I can use honey, well then.... Any input from all you experienced chocolatiers for a clueless newbie? Valerie
  17. I've been trying to find some, too. Unfortunately, I can't afford to go to another country for a week or two, which seems to be where most of the really great ones are. Anyway, here are some things I've found that you might work for you: Richardson Researches, Inc. - Chocolate Class, Confectionary Technology and Gourmet Continental Chocolates classes. Their Gourmet Continental Chocolates one is coming up in October. Notter Pastry School - click on Class Schedules then View All Classes to see the individual listings. There's a Wybauw class coming up in November. French Pastry School in Chicago has some Continuing Education classes available. Intro to Chocolate Candies sounds good. Burdick Chocolate apparently did one earlier this year and here's the info. I don't know if they're going to do this again or not - I'm watching to see if it comes around again. That's all I've found so far. What did you think of the Ecole Chocolat class? I've been looking at that. Is it really worth the money?
  18. I've had the best luck with wrapping my herbs in a paper towel, then putting them into a zip lock bag, and then into the crisper in my fridge. Some stay better than others, but they're the best results I've had. Parsley seems to last quite a while, but basil and chives just don't last long for me, no matter what. You can also go ahead and chop up your herbs and put portions into an ice cube tray, pour water in and then freeze them. Just pop out however many ice cubes you need when you're ready to use. The herbs will keep a very long time this way. I found This Articleon just straight freezing herbs. I've also seen this Fresh Herb Keeper which has good reviews from the purchasers. I'd like to get one of those and try it out, but haven't yet. Let me know if you do! Valerie
  19. This is really just a frosting, not a mousse, but it was very tasty and my boys loved it when I did these filled chocolate cupcakes with it. If you can't find a good mousse, perhaps the filling from this recipe will work for you. Cream Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes
  20. Alton Brown did an episode on just this topic: Avocado Buttercream Frosting Avocado Compound Butter Avocado Ice Cream I got to see Alton make the frosting in person at a demo in Austin, TX, before the avocado episode ever aired. It was really cool. He had a 6 year old boy in the audience test it for him, who declared it "really good!"
  21. I have a lemon curd recipe in this book too, and with the acid content of lemon curd, I'm pretty comfortable canning that. Thank goodness, 'cause that one is one I really do want to do. Sure wish I could find something telling me how to do chocolate / caramel sauces, though. They say to put it in the freezer instead, but that seems like a much less convenient gift, to me. Makes me wonder if some of those small home-type businesses who are selling pumpkin butters and chocolate sauces are just canning them anyway, without doing anything special, even though the USDA says not to. Hmm.... things to think about!
  22. I've actually already lookd at the USDA canning guide online, as well as homecanning.com and multiple other sources. The issue here isn't whether home canners can can (what a sentence, huh?) these items - according to the USDA, we can't. The issue is, okay, I understand I'm not supposed to - I just want to know what the pros have, that we don't! Even with a pressure canner, pumpkin butter and chocolate sauces (and other stuff) are a no-no for home canning, according to the government. Yet, these things are for sale commercially - even by very small, home-kitchen type businesses, so obviously there is a way to make them safe. THAT'S what I'm looking for. What are they using? Some kind of additive / preservative? A more expensive piece of equipment that home canners wouldn't buy? Anybody know? Even if it's nothing I would be able to do, I still want to know. The curiosity is killing me!
  23. Okay, I've got a bug and now I HAVE to know the answer to this question, or I'm gonna go bloomin' insane (or maybe I already have.....)! Recently I decided that I wanted to get into canning. While researching this, I find that there are certain things that are "Not Recommended" for canning by the USDA guidelines. Namely, things like pumpkin butter, lemon curd, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, etc. I understand why, that's not the question. I understand that commercial canners have "additives and processes that home canners do not have." Okay. So then I got to thinking, what about all those small "gourmet" companies I see out there selling dessert sauces and lemon curds and pumpkin butters and stuff? So, I go look up a few of them online and look at their ingredient lists. No additives on the list that I can find that have anything to do with preservatives. So then I start searching everywhere - what is the magic process used for putting these things into jars and making them shelf-safe? Is it super high heat, or what? I've been searching all afternoon. Can't find a single thing anywhere that actually explains the process. Nothing for sale, no processors' websites hawking their services for this purpose. Nothing. I've exhausted all my ideas. Obviously, there's a way - but what is it? So, here I am. I figure somebody here MUST know, right? How does it happen? What is the secret that makes uncannable items cannable for commercial processors, but not for us? Please help me before I die of curiosity! Valerie
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