John DePaula

The Pearl is roughly 10 city blocks; not that far, really, but if you're time constrained you may want to take a cab. Kenny & Zuke's (~8 blocks) is worth a visit - best pastrami in the city - kind of a unique place, really. Food can be very rich, depending on what you have: Chicken fried in duck fat anyone? Cacao (~10 blocks) is the best place to find a variety of chocolate in the city. They have all kinds of bars and bonbons from all over the world: Oriol Balageur (Spain), Cluizel (France), Theo (Seattle), DePaula Confections (that's me! Portland). They are famous for their drinking chocolate - closest thing to Angelina west of the Rockies.

If you are going to be in Eugene, you should check out Kekau Chocolatier. I don't know much about the food scene in Eugene but Portland is surely worth a visit!

Yes, you can flavor caramels with fruit juice. How much depends on the fruit. I'm wondering if your burnt caramel might work better with Milk Chocolate rather than dark.

Thanks, John. Is hand-painting with plain chocolate the way to go, or is it possible/desirable to make a standard shell as Anna describes? When you're painting it in, are you just doing a single thin layer of chocolate, or building up a couple of layers? ← I have made both chocolate coffee beans & bars by 1st making a shell as for molded chocolates. Then put in ground coffee & filled the mold. The one thing you have to watch for is that the mold is deep enough so the inclusions are covered in order to get a smooth bottom when finishing. ← I have found that with whole hazelnuts, the mold would have to be prohibitively thick in order to get a smooth back. So I don't. And no one seems to mind. The down side is that the bar may not sit absolutely flat, but... I don't mind.

Thanks, John. Is hand-painting with plain chocolate the way to go, or is it possible/desirable to make a standard shell as Anna describes? When you're painting it in, are you just doing a single thin layer of chocolate, or building up a couple of layers? ← So far, I'm just painting in a single thin layer, but I try to get good coverage. I think you could take the additional step of proceeding as you would for a molded bonbon, e.g. ladling in more chocolate then letting it drip out to form a shell. I haven't found that to be necessary, though.

Yes, definitely that's the way to go. Paint-in some plain chocolate first, then fill as desired. Otherwise, I'll get bubbles or some of the inclusions (e.g. candied orange) will mar the finish.

uht cream is definitely a good way for you to go; especially if there are sanitation issues for dairy where you live. you are going to need to keep your chocolates cooler than "room temperature" if you live in a very warm/humid environment. just keep them well packaged to/from the 'fridge.

Wow, that's gorgeous Kerry!

I think that's one of the highest compliments that a cook can hope to receive - to transport your guest to another place and another time full of good memories.

Oh! That's so beautiful!

I don't know if mine is supposed to compensate or not. I just take the reading and if it's in the ball park - it's done. ← Ditto. But a single drop of PDF cools pretty fast so it's not really an issue.

I think having someone of that caliber in the area will help your business. People will already be aware of the price for good chocolate so you won't have that hurdle to overcome. ← I agree, there can definitely be a synergistic effect. Both of you will have different styles and different specialties.

When I got home last night I checked my Wybauw and saw that he mixes his pectin/sugar into half the the puree. I'm not sure why, <snip> ← I'm replying to an old post so I apologize if someone has already said this... The reason you mix the pectin and sugar first is to prevent the pectin from clumping when you add it to the puree. I don't know if it's always necessary but sounds like a reasonable precaution.

Amrita, I want to emphasize what Kerry has said here. You are working in a very warm environment and may be tempted to wear sandals or shorts while you work. Accidents can happen no matter how careful you are, so keep that in mind and dress appropriately when working with hot sugar!

Amrita, Humid conditions and 30C are going to make for some frustrating chocolate work. Wow, that's warm! From my own experience, if the humidity gets near or above 50% and the temperature is above 22C, it's not going to be a fun day. In other words, the chocolate is going to be thick thick thick. Is there any way you could work in a small cooled and dehumidified room? At 30C, I wouldn't even consider storing chocolates. Properly packaged and refrigeration is the only way to go. I would say, only take out what you want to eat immediately. Don't uncover for about 20 mn; then uncover and eat. They should still be a tiny bit cool from the refrigeration and thereby retain some "bite." I was going to say that perhaps you could increase the ratio of chocolate to cream in your ganaches so that they would be firmer at your ambient temperature; however, I'm not sure even that would do it. Keep in mind, 30C is approximately the *working* temperature for tempered chocolate!

Hey, that's quite nice. How'd you like the texture? Did they have enough lemony 'zing?'

That's so beautiful!

I was thinking that you'd have to take it to about 123C.

Mette, If you're making a gianduja ganache, then you should be able to do one/any of the following: 1. cream + instant coffee (or real coffee, finely ground), filter hot cream over chopped gianduja, proceed normally 2. ~160ml brewed coffee added spoonful by spoonful over 200g melted gianduja (similar to a water ganache). The chocolate will block up at first, but keep adding the coffee and stir. Eventually, it will free up. A stick blender will help to finish and make it completely smooth. The only bad thing about water ganache is the very very short shelf-life (~4-5 days).

Wow, that pie just looks uber-flakey. Bravo!

Macarons are notoriously difficult to get just the right rise and a little foot too. I'll bet you get better each time you make them.

Very nice work, SR!

Personally, I always toast.

Oh, I just warm up any inclusions to the same temperature as tempered chocolate. When I add them, the temperature remains constant and stays more fluid.

Don't feel bad... it's needlessly complicated. The topic you seek is here->ImageGullet Tips and Notes.