John DePaula

I like to use an infra-red themometer as there is no probe getting in the way and I don't have to clean it off. The melter holds temperature well enough that I don't feel the need to continuously monitor it with a probe. ← I finally took the plunge and bought an infrared thermometer. Wow, what a pleasure to use. Really speeds up my work flow since I don't have to worry about cleaning the probe thermometer; plus, it's not in the way in the melter. Highly recommended.

Really?!? I believe you but I'm surprised... Do you get any textural changes? Do you have to re-coat with sugar after thawing? Thanks in advance.

For places near that location, take a look at a previous post of mine: Good, cheap, inexpensive restaurants in Paris - Post #112 There was a nice bakery on rue Falguiere, maybe 1/2 - 1-1/2 a block or so before you get to Blvd. Pasteur. It'll be on the left. They had very good banettes. And just on the next street over you'll find the fabulous Musee Bourdelle.

You may also wish to look at: ESCF Ferrandi culinary school Ecole Gregoire Ferrandi Pastry School Bon Chance!

Lots of good ideas here. Also you could look at: Mexican Chocolate-Almond Cake

Does anyone know of a U.S. (or N. American) source for anhydrous butter?

Actually, I thought that anhydrous butter (AB) was more than just ghee, though ghee is a step on the way to AB. I think they concentrate it more and more with vacuum drying, etc.

Perhaps that was an original Polly Schoonmaker cake? She's based in Oregon you know. ← Wedding was in Seattle and I think it was someone local who made the cake. Great work, eh?

Several years ago, I attended a wedding and the grooms chose a style of cake that I'd never seen before; it just blew me away: Isn't that fantastic!

Wow, fellow eGers, we are fortunate indeed to have in our midst Ruth Kendrick, author of 'Candymaking!' I have recommended this book many times (see my previous posts) and have found it to be a very valuable reference and guide. I'm a big fan and glad to see you here!

Has the humidity been higher than usual there? Are you being careful to stir the mix thoroughly as it cooks? HTH

Hey, glad that worked out for you. Lloyd, yes you'll definitely not be able to place the transfer on a moving belt. BTW, those chocolates are a nice bit of beautiful work!

I had about 2kg of the fraises des bois ready from the garden so I made used about 1.5kg for jam and the remainder for a strawberry-vodka infusion. The recipe turned out a near perfect consistency jam - neither too thick nor too thin. The berries remained whole for the most part and it's very very aromatic and flavorful. Do adjust the level of sugar/lemon to your taste. For me, it was a touch sweet and I could have fixed that by adding more lemon juice at the start. Thanks for the recipe - reminds me of the jams I had growing up (my granddad was a strawberry farmer).

Here's an Amazon link for Advanced Bread and Pastry by Michel Suas.

Félicitations, Joanee, bien fait!

Yeah, as I understood it, Barry makes a special blend for Bernard - but it's still made by Barry Callebaut. (very nice chocolate, by the way)

whoa! Awesome!

That’s an interesting question and I, too, am surprised to see a surge in business. Especially the bars. Hard to say exactly what is the impact of the economy because there are so many factors in my case: new chocolatier, some new products (like bars). Last year I saw a real drop off during the Summer months, but not so much for 2008. In spite of the economy, this is turning out to be a good year for me.

One way to eliminate the rounded corners of the structure sheet is to use a puffy blush/cosmetics brush on the top. It would be a lot more work. I think you'd have to cut the structure sheet into individual squares and place each piece one at a time. Currently I don't have an enrober, but that's what we did when I worked at a chocolate shop in France. ← Thanks for the tip. I have cut the texture sheets up but hadn´t heard of the brush technique. I will have to try it. ← I saw that Lior just posted some pix from her class (Trendy Pralines Callebaut) and if I may borrow one, it partially illustrates the technique about which I was talking: To me, the acetate in the pic doesn't look quite stiff enough to get a nice flat surface, but you should be able to do so with a stiffer grade acetate and certainly with the structure sheets cut into squares.

Abra, Your post got me moving on a project I've been thinking about. Namely an interactive map showing the inexpensive restaurants that abound in France. So, your post is already on the map I recently posted. You have the honor, if such it is, of being the first poster on the map. I do, however need the name of the restaurant. Also, was wine included or not? Thanks. ← I think it's called tout simplement, L'Etable. Additional 'useful' link: Office of Tourism - Grignan

One way to eliminate the rounded corners of the structure sheet is to use a puffy blush/cosmetics brush on the top. It would be a lot more work. I think you'd have to cut the structure sheet into individual squares and place each piece one at a time. Currently I don't have an enrober, but that's what we did when I worked at a chocolate shop in France.

Really? Even for dipping? That just seems really shallow... Right now I'm leaning towards the 3kg. I'll probably do some moulds, but mostly dipping. And, again, this is just for me & gifts for friends, so it's not a serious production environment or anything. ← You can temper a very very small amount of chocolate in the 6kg. If you plan to do a lot of molds, then the 3kg will be a pain; difficult to work with. But given your criteria, (mostly dipping, few molds, non-production env.) I think the 3kg would be just fine. Plus it's easy to store in a cupboard when not in use.

So I take it that you guys used 'recipe 2' for the 2nd layer? How did you like this one once you had enrobed them? Did you have a favorite bonbon from the class?

Took a few days off from eGullet and WOW! What a great report, Lior. Thanks so much for your report. We are all learning a great deal, I must say.

So does this mean the butter melts? ← Interesting... I have been using the tempered ganache method for a while now and I reluctantly have to agree that it produces a better product. As for butter, I like to add it to my melted chocolate and emulsify. That's a point I think I picked up from Morato, but not certain it makes a difference either way.