John DePaula

Almond Rhubarb Muffins Serves 12 as Dessert. For this recipe, I started out with a base from Southern Living Annual Recipes 1986 (p. 301) for Peachy Almond Muffins. I modified it by replacing half of the flour with almond meal and substituting fresh cut rhubarb for the peaches. If you don't have rhubarb, I think that fresh raspberries would be great! . Another way I modified the recipe was to add a crunchy brown sugar, chopped nut topping. . These muffins are not overly sweet - but that's how I like them! Enjoy. TOPPING 1/4 c brown sugar 1/2 c slivered almonds, coarsely chopped 1/2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp butter, melted MUFFIN BATTER 1-1/2 c rhubarb, fresh 3/4 c almond meal 3/4 c flour, all-purpose 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 2/3 c granulated sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 c vegetable oil 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp almond extract Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease 12 muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. . TOPPING: Mix brown sugar, coarsely chopped slivered almonds, cinnamon and melted butter; set aside. . MUFFIN BATTER: Coarsely chop the rhubarb and set aside. . Combine almond meal, flour, salt, baking soda, and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine. . Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla and almond extract. Stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Add rhubarb (or fruit), stir just until combined. . Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling each cavity two-thirds full. Sprinkle each muffin with topping mixture. . Bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes. Vanilla Ice Cream makes a nice addition. Keywords: Easy, Cake, Dessert, Snack, French ( RG1950 )

Yeah, I went to the hardware store yesterday to buy a couple of pounds of wrenches and what d’ya know, they would only sell them by the piece! All I can say, as someone who works on making chocolates by the piece, is that I most definitely do not think it’s deceptive marketing to sell them that way i.e. by the piece. If these were being made by a machine, all the same, thousands and thousands in a production run, then perhaps you’d have a valid point to consider… The artisan chocolate market may not be for you. I always tell potential customers that if you’re happy with bulk chocolates by the pound, then you can save yourself a ton of money. Why spend more if you really don’t appreciate, um… I mean, if you don’t have to?

Are you talking about this: cheesecake without crust, how to?

Your pates de fruit look wonderful. My wife loves Pates de Fruit and I have an apricot tree in the backyard. I think I'll be working on learning how to make good Pates de Fruit for the next harvest. Any recommendations? Does a refractometer really make a big difference in getting a consistent set? ← A refractometer helps but is not totally necessary. I've made a fair number of pates de fruit when I've been up north and have only had a thermometer. As long as the thermometer is reliable I've had good set when I take them to 107 C. I suspect if you start playing around with different fruits (like Bau's tomato pates de fruit) a refractometer may be more useful. ← As Kerry has said, a reliable thermometer is the most important by far. A refractometer is nice, though, and can help you to achieve better consistency between batches so that you get the same level of sweetness from one run to the next.

One of my customers has had several Tuscan Suppers and likes to pair my chocolates with Torcolato which she claims is, “To die for!” I haven’t been able to find this in Oregon but an eager to try it and/or hear from others who know of it. In Recchiuti’s book, he also recommends the fortified wines like port and banyuls.

I've used Silk Soy and I believe it was fine. I baked in a cast iron skillet, though, and that may make a difference.

For me, I have all kinds of problems when my room temperature is below 68F. The chocolate just sets faster than you can say Callebaut!

I do not. I'm sure it'll make them more fluffy but that texture isn't necessarily something I'm going for and it will certainly shorten the shelf life.

I don't know if you've already seen this thread, but it may be of use: Mycryo: how the heck do you use it?

I have successfully substituted corn syrup and glucose 1:1, but I think you’ll find trimoline or nulomoline has more sweetening power. You might want to experiment a bit to get the right balance. You may also note a difference in mouth feel. Hope this helps at least a little.

John, I have a small regular fridge and a bar fridge and between them they are barely adequate to keep my groceries in - I can only shop once a week so you see the problem! I simply do not have room for a 3rd fridge just for chocolate so I must find a solution that doesn't require more fridge space! I live in an 1100 ft townhouse and that 1100 feet includes the basement. One more chocolate mold and I am betting the walls will burst at the seams. ← I totally sympathize, Anna! My first apartment in Paris was just 425 sq. ft. with a tiny tiny fridge, two plaque stove top and (gasp!) NO OVEN. Ouch! Sometimes you just gotta make due with what you have. And I must say, you seem to get getting by pretty well!

Thanks for this feedback. I did in fact speak with a helpful woman in admissions at FPS and told her of my dilemma. She did warn me that the pacing in the pro classes is faster than the non-pro, that they're not going to take time go over basics such as tempering chocolate and the like -- which is not a problem for me. My issue is that the "hobbyist" classes are very likely to be too basic for my experience level, and a relative waste of time and money for me. I'd rather challenge myself to keep up to a high level of performance, than be the "class leader" setting a faster pace than the other students. Does this make sense? I really am interested in your feedback, as you have direct experience with the FPS. For added background, I have been baking for 10+ years and have taken classes in advanced pastry at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia, as well as with the chefs at Miel Patisserie (founded by the former Pastry Chef at Le Bec Fin). At home I have tackled and am proficient in everything from dipped chocolates and truffles to puff pastry and pate a choux to French macarons and cooked syrup buttercreams to layered dacquoise cakes to opera cake....... not to toot my own horn, LOL, but to give you an idea of my background. I really want to take my skills and experience to the next level, but a professional degree is not in the cards at this point in my life. Thoughts? ← For my 2cents, I'd say you are most definitely NOT a beginner and the non-pro classes would probably be a waste of your time and money. Talk to the folks at FPS and tell them just what you've said here. I bet that they'll encourage you to take the pro classes. Good luck and have fun!

A lot of liquor stores have the tiny little one shot bottles - the kind you see on airlines.

! Really?!? Most of my customers I have to tell them that this is a fresh product with no preservatives. It is not a "drug store" box of chocolates. One customer had saved some for her son to try when he visited next. Four months later when he came to see her, I was horrified to hear that he had eaten the remaining chocolates. He said that the chocolates still looked great but had dried out. Thank goodness he didn't get sick! By the way, I do put a 'Best By' date on each box of chocolates; however, most people seem to ignore it... I think I've read that (one famous chocolate maker) puts a big yellow card in the box that says something like "Don't Wait! These are fresh chocolates and should be consumed within 5 days."

One really good suggestion that I've seen is to pick up a wine cooler / refrigerator - the ones that are about the size of a small dorm 'fridge. I think that some of them have fans and you can set the temp that you want. Usually, these don't go much below 50F but they'd be good for chocolate.

I'm always debating with myself on this issue. JB Prince, where I bought some of my molds, included a flyer with the molds: The molds are made of high quality polycarbonate and they are dishwasher safe - even a commercial dishwasher - but don't use any abrasive cleaner like dishwashing detergent. (exact wording is already posted on another thread). Personally, I don't really like washing them by hand all that much so I use the dishwasher. It is possible that this will decrease the life of the mold; but I assume that I'll be totally bored with the shape by the time I can no longer use it! Obviously, you also don't want to use a dishwasher heating element anywhere near your molds. Also, I happen to know that my dishwasher has a cycle where the temperature never rises above 60 degrees Celsius, so I think they're pretty safe. Alana is correct when she says that the unwashed molds are "seasoned." You'll probably get a better shine to your chocolates if you don't wash the molds. Or you could use fresh cocoa butter and a soft cloth to polish them, if you do.

I think that you need to adjust the temp of your chocolate upwards so that you'll get a good transfer. I assume that you're using dark chocolate, so for that I'd recommend ~91.4F (33C). You might be able to go even higher (~34C) but it just depends on the chocolate you're using. Glad you liked the demo, artisan. Good luck and have fun!

Love the fish mould, Kerry! Someone once told me, "Oh, you're a chocolate maker? You must collect antique chocolate molds,eh?" Well, I don't, but maybe now you've inspired me to start!

'Coordinates' = the French expression for address/telephone info.

Personally, I'd just tell her the truth: it's just not practical to bake everything fresh every day. You may or may not lose her business but at least people know that you are honest (and you can feel good about that). And really, I don't think that most people care one way or another. If you try to cater to each person's whim, then you'll never get anywhere...

French Pastry School in Chicago French Culinary Institute in NYC

John, that reminds me. Elsewhere, you suggested using a small *food-safe* foam paint roller for putting the foot on ganache slabs. Any suggestions on how one would know that such a thing is food-safe? It's not something they're usually advertising on items in the paint section... ← Actually, I don't know of a food safe paint roller. I don't know that they're unsafe, but still... I'd rather be safe than sorry. Try your local cake decorating store - they may have something or be able to recommend one.

Yup, that cloud of colour is likely getting sucked into our lungs and is probably not good for your health. ← Thanks for the heads-up about this, Kerry. I don't really do a lot of airbrushing, so I haven't noticed this problem, but it makes sense. Especially if you have asthma issues.

When I first got my badger brush, they were having a "garage sale" on their web site. I bought three. When they arrived, low and behold, the aerosol can displayed a nasty list of ingredients. At the time, I went online and I thought I found some articles about the chemicals being banned in California because they're unsafe and could cause birth defects. Then later, I couldn't find the articles again; so I could be mistaken... Anyway, I chose to never even open the cans since they didn't seem to be food-safe. (And yes, I know that there are some Pros out there who use it.)* Instead, I bought a cheap airbrush compressor; not the best, but suitable I suppose. *And that brings me to (yet another) pet peeve of mine: All the time, you see these big name guys on TV or in books saying, "hey, yeah, just go down to the hardware store and you can find all of these interesting shapes from which you can make chocolate moldings." I know that common sense isn't as common as it ought to be, but Puh-lease, recognize that most of the stuff at the hardware store isn't intended for use with food. Play safe, children.

I think the reason the dial turns past where you think it should before the light comes on is because of 'hysteresis.' If you’re trying to control the temperature of an object (e.g. a room or a mass of chocolate) you don’t want the heater to fluctuate on/off when you’re basically at the correct temp. Hysteresis is a way of dampening out the boundary condition; otherwise, you overshoot your target temp and have to start your tempering over. Hope that makes some sense. Like Kerry and Vanessa, I also start the melting process the night before. Especially if I want to get an early start the next day; otherwise, I'm waiting 3 or more hours before the chocolate is all melted...