John DePaula

Good thing I brought mine Regarding coating the insides of the shells, how about a layer of edible paraffin wax (a.k.a. baker's wax or canning wax)? Unless it's dissolved by alcohol, it might be able to separate the liquid from the chocolate. It's already used on many commercial chocolates to create a glossy finish. It's non-digestible, but assuming it works, you would just chew it apart when you eat the chocolate, thereby releasing the liquid within. On the other hand, if it did work, I guess someone would have tried it already. ← chocolate + wax = big big, bad bad

By the way, I used some of the syrup for making a sorbet / granita last night. I added water to bring the sugar content down to about 31 BRIX and then I put it in the ice cream machine. Results were mixed. Personally, I didn't care for it - very "flat" and too sweet, but my SO liked it a lot. Next time (if there is one) I'd add some lemon juice and/or reduce the sugar even further to, oh I dunno, 27 BRIX...

Now THAT is a think of beauty! Those look so delicious - makes me want to hop on a plane.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, especially the idea to candy figs - that sounds delicious! In looking through my recipe cache, I recently came across one for Fig Liqueur. Basically, it's got dried figs, sugar, vodka and a vanilla pod. I bet the orange syrup would make a find substitute for the sugar in the Fig Liqueur, eh? And hey, I just bought a new spray gun for spraying chocolate so I bet I could load up the gun with syrup and spray some tarts - preferably a lot of them all at once.

After you’ve been candying citrus peels a while, you end up with lots of left over syrup, which is quite delicious on its own. Do you reuse the syrup the next time you make more candied citrus peels? If not, can you make caramels with it? So that it doesn’t go to waste, what else can you make with it?

Between the thread here and Wybauw's book, I'm seeing a range of temperatures from 110C to 115C. I assume you don't have to cook these to a higher temperature because of the chocolate in the rework. If you've made these, to what temperature did you cook the batter, and how would you rate the final texture of the cooled caramel? I'm shooting for semi-firm (not hard!) caramel that I can cut and/or dip. Thanks!

If they're what I think they are, then they will deform even with just really hot water.

Thanks. I think I'll just halve them and remove the pits that way. Lazy.... and then see. I usually dip just about everything candied in very dark chocolate, but these won't work. Well, not very well. ← Both times that I made these, they didn't hold up well to the candying i.e. they collapsed; so, dipping was out of the question. Might be able to dice them up, dry them out a bit in a slow oven, and use in some bark, though - that'd be very tasty.

I just finished a new batch. I stood there and laboriously sliced each one into circles and removed the pits. (I didn't do that last year and I think it's worth the extra effort.) It's wonderful stirred into plain yogurt, drizzled over chocolate ice cream or bittersweet chocolate cake or even a plain pound cake. Very elegant and versatile.

FYI: Jadis 208, rue de la Croix-Nivert 75015 Paris 01 45 57 73 20 Métro 12 Convention, Métro 12 Porte de Versailles

Here's a thread on Pernigotti. It's become my favorite. I like it more than Valrhonna (though I use valrhonna chocolates more than any other). Haven't tried Droste. Some posts in the thread refer to Pernigotti as natural, but I'm 99% sure it's dutch processed. Even though it doesn't say so on the package. ← Yeah, have been wanting to try it since I first saw that thread a few years ago... Sounds luscious.

I like the Valrhona, too. Excellent, deep rich chocolaty taste esp. in sorbet.

Justin, you recommend some unusual temperatures. Most sources recommend melting to 120F, and a working temperature from 85 to 90F depending on the chocolate. Any chocolate I've worked with becomes noticeably thicker as it approaches 80F. Please explain. ← A quick guide to tempering chocolate correctly, albeit in Celsius, can be found here: Vantage House Guide to Tempering Chocolate. I thought about mentioning Mycryo for solving the original poster's problem but if she's having difficulty keeping bar chocolate in temper, then Mycryo would be an expensive mistake.

I'm pretty new to the forums (well, brand new, you could say; this is my first comment/post), but this topic came up while I was searching for information on home businesses. To Lior (or anyone who could answer) - What kind of regulations, if any, did you have to comply with in order to sell this food that you make from your home? I see you're in Israel? So perhaps there are different guidelines? I've considered setting up an Etsy account and selling certain cookies, etc., but I'm unsure of the legal obligations I'd need to fulfill first, if any. Any advice would be appreciated! ← Each country will have different regulations. Are you in the United States? Here in the U.S., each STATE (and/or County) has different requirements.

Do you know of a source of information as to the safety of the propellants in canned air relative to food? I have done extensive searches and the only hazard that I can find associated with either of the propellants in canned air is inhalation and as a fire hazard. Everything that I have seen says that contact with food is generally recognized as safe. On the other hand, I have heard other people say that the propellant in canned air isn't considered food safe. It's probably not good for the operator to use it a lot, but I can't find any negative reports on contact with food. I'm confused (and rambling). Probably my science background getting the better of me. I'm looking for a compressor anyway, just to get away from the annoyances of using canned air and it gets expensive after a while. ← Ok, here you go. Only "partial" info but we've posted about this before. Special Thanks to Lior, who actually contacted Badger for info. Short answer: the propellant cans are not food safe. Airbrush for Chocolate - post about Badger propellant food safety

I wanted to go when Annette and I was there, but we rented bikes which kept us within the city. I would recommend everyone to rent bikes to get around town. Its cheap and easy. Theres a bike rental place up at Place Gambetta. ← It's roughly 4 miles from Place Gambetta, so not too far for a bike ride.

Here you go: Demo: Basic molded chocolates and slightly beyond Demo: Transfer Sheets on Chocolate Bonbons, Using Magnetic Chocolate Molds

Yes, I agree... really awesome!

And I'll just throw my 2¢ : When I used my Badger airbrush, aerosolized chocolate everywhere, including my glasses. With the Fuji, nowhere but my spray booth i.e. not on me. Yay!

Well, thanks for all the great info!

Oooo, I love those! Interesting, that melty splatter is nice, too!

I wonder if the ones used in Belgium were anything like these: click ← Hmmm. I get a link to the Canadian Tire Corporation with that link, but I don't see anything about paper towels! ← Interesting - I checked it before I posted and just checked it again and it works fine for me. If you can get to CT then do a search for "shop towels". ← If you don't already have their cookies on your computer, the link leads to a 'Welcome' splash page where they ask that you put in your postal code. I just copied the sample one and pasted into the field. You're then taken to the Shop Towels page.

I think I'm not going to worry much about tempering the spraying mixture anymore. Sounds like it's not necessary. About warming up the molds, I think that's a good idea; however, I'd try the oven trick over heating with the hot air gun. I always seem to get hot spots with the hot air gun. I think you could also pile a bunch of molds in the melter, cover with towels, set it to 34C and let it soak over night.

I cannot provide a direct link since access to the video is restricted to those who have viewed previous videos. I think they store some cookies on your machine that indicate which videos you've already viewed and which, therefore, they will allow you to see. Go here ->Cacao Barry Chocolate Videos to register. Then you can view 'Advanced Courses' and then, 'How to mold bonbons' (I'm doing this from memory since my computer skips this step after viewing the first video. - Yes, they made me view a video about tempering first. before letting me access the advanced courses.) I reviewed the video and, yes, they say you need to temper the spraying mixture because it's cocoa butter. They're using something called 'Barry Glace' which I've not used before, but apparently it's mostly cocoa butter. As a side note, the English translations are hilarious in spots. They hired someone with a lovely British accent but, évidemment, no culinary experience. What should be translated as 'fat bloom' is translated as 'greasy whitening.'

Wow, gorgeous! Like little gems - wonderful!