gfron1

No, sorry. Just habit. It should have read - infuse into the puree. Good thing I have an editor

Well, I'm obviously not that particular, since on that day I was working at 64º...but that's a question for someone more advanced. I don't think that's your issue.

I seed 30%. Here's a new recipe to try. 145 g Belgian ale (I use whatever I'm currently brewing) 145 g Cream 1" Fresh ginger Peel of one orange 1 Cinnamon stick Put all in small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 1 hour. Strain solids out. 70 g Honey 70 g Glucose/corn syrup Add to beer cream and bring to a simmer. 40 g 65% chocolate (or any dark chocolate) 245 g 35% chocolate (or any milk chocolate) 32 g Butter 8 g Sambuca (or any anise liquor) Put chocolates in food processor bowl and process to large crumb. Pour hot cream mixture over and let rest 30 seconds. Blitz til smooth. Add butter and sambuca and blitz til smooth. I rarely need to cool this recipe. It is normally cooled enough by the chocolates, but if its warm to the touch, then let it rest, stirring occasionally until its cool to the touch. It will stay liquid until fully cooled. Pipe it and let it rest overnight. The next day touch it. You'll see that its still very soft but has a firm enough skin for you to put the bottom on the chocolates.

No. Room and molds at 20ºC or as close as I can. I check with my infrared thermometer.

Her name was on the shipping form. We're trying to figure out who she was and what night she came. It was urgent enough for her to overnight, so it must have been fresh.

Here's one that I got today that really touched me. She actually spent $20 to overnight a ripped piece of paper to me.

The kids are in the gifted program so they selected their countries

Before I got my tempering machine and was doing it by hand, my temps were perfect (I assume based on multiple spot testing with a reliable thermometer). Kerry coached me into figuring out it was my agitation that was lacking. Good luck, and when I get to work I'll post a fluid dark chocolate filling.

Yes, but I can adapt even complicated stuff to make it work for kids. Just trying to find a tie-in. The Percy Jackson idea is interesting, and oddly enough the picture of the octopus would work.

Does anyone have a recipe for this pastry. Best I can tell it has a either a shortbread type cookie, or maybe crispy crepes. Apparently, its very traditional but I'm finding recipes all over the spectrum.

I can't remember - is that movie appropriate for kids?

I was approached yesterday by a local teach who has gifted grade school students (9-11), and she wants me to teach them about Greek and French food. For that age, I knew immediately what to do for French. I will have her assign Ratatouille, the Disney movie, because somewhere in the eG forums is the recipe that supposedly Keller developed for the movie to use. Super clean and fun connection. I don't have the same for Greek cooking. Anyone know of a film that included Greek cooking that is appropriate for that age range. Bonus points for Disney or Nickelodeon!

So many questions Get yourself to the Choco and Confection workshop this May. A couple of responses. First, I shoot for a milimeter thick, but it depends on the mold, where the bon bon is going, but in general, I like them as thin as I can structurally get them. Don't worry about your polishing cocoa butter temp. I melt mine in the microwave until its about 90% melted and then stir it to finish - but I've also polished hot...and you're not really leaving much in the molds...no pooling. And there are lots of things that could make your ganache more fluid/thinner, but the point I was trying to make is that you should find a recipe that works for you (versus modifying recipes). For example - this is one of my go-tos because of its fluidity (and simplicity): 135 g apricot puree 25 g glucose/corn syrup 250 g white chocolate 25 g butter That recipe, because of the white chocolate, melts at a lower temp, allowing me to pipe it fluid. I can simply sub out the puree and adjust the sweetness as I want. Likewise, I can infuse basil, black pepper, cinnamon into the cream for a variation. But, its simple. Its fluid. Its fast.

I've just invested in a nice vintage Graham's and I want to get appropriate glasses. While the info was all over the place as to standard pour and glass size, one source whom I've always respected is Daniel Rogov, he suggested a 3 oz pour into a 4 1/2 oz glass. Problem is...I can't find any 4 1/2 glasses. They all seem to be closer to 8 oz. Any thoughts?

Yesterday I settled into working on the proposal. Its a strange feeling because in some ways I'm going backwards. And as I work on the proposal, I realize that a publisher could make or request sweeping changes to the manuscript. My biggest fear - a dumbing down of the recipes. My agent's hope is that we have multiple offers which allows us some power to maintain integrity. The agent really attacked the proposal. Whereas i wrote it to make the case that its a good book, she revised it to make the case that it will sell, and has really emphasized potential numbers. She's not giving me those numbers...I have to find them, but I understand the need. Not easy however. What's easy is demonstrating potential sales in the southwest. What's difficult is expanding that to the rest of North America. She has also asked me to have my designer put the proposal in our design template to increase the possibility of being able to sell the book, designed, as a total package. In the back room I have Smithy doing another edit, as well as a big picture reader going through it right now to make sure voice is consistent, and themes are carried out. I won't touch the manuscript again until both readers are done just to ensure that we don't cross wires.

If you're following temp...and your room isn't excessively warm, and your molds aren't excessively warm, then I think you're just dumping off too soon. For milk, in my workspace, I normally let them sit a good minute or two, versus my dark chocolates that are seconds up to maybe a minute. Beyond that you just need to pay closer attention to the ganache to find the right consistency where it is still fluid, but cool enough to not damage the shells. As I said before I have my favorite ganache recipes because they stay fluid even when cool...find a few that you like and modify, modify, modify.

ABQ is either Los Poblanos or Farm and Table for nicer, but Mary and Titos is good too. I would find my buddy at Swich Food Truck, normally parked at Red Door Brewery. The ABQ brewing scene is really hot and getting national attention - La Cumbre, Marble, Red Door, Abbey. Been hearing about Gravy for breakfast. And of course the Green Chile Cheeseburger trail - Owl, Laguna and more.

I don't measure my temp of the ganache. I think of it more like testing a baby's formula. If I can feel it through the pastry bag, then its too warm. I like to pipe very loose so I don't let it cool off to the point that it thickens. And over the years I've learned which of my recipes can go straight from food processor to mold without waiting, but every now and then I throw the pastry bag on the marble to cool it down.

That's exactly what I see when my chocolate is off temper. There's much debate among us eGers about mold cleaning. I don't clean mine til I can't take it anymore, then, like yesterday, I put them all in my commercial washer and wash the hell out of them. Mine is a low temp washer. I've been doing that for a couple of years with no ill effects. I take them out and air dry them for an hour then towel dry them, which is also a pre-polish on the cavities. Then I buff with melted cocoa butter using a cosmetic pad/round. Since the last eG Choco and Confection workshop I am much more in tune with my room and mold temps. I make sure the room and molds are at 20ºC. I spray mine, and because Ruth always gets on my case, I don't give a crap about cocoa butter temps...but its around 95 or 100ºF (sorry for the C to F change but its how my mind works based on my equipment). What you're doing is fine...you don't need the soap, but I use it too. Just dry and buff. But that stick that you showed in the 2nd picture is your chocolate not being in perfect temper - I have no doubt about that. Is it possible that you're filling your ganache when its still warm?

I don't use rippled edge molds often, but I also have trouble with them. I think its the surface area that's created and the corresponding friction. Some molds just aren't friendly, but I still think temper is just a tad bit off.

I go straight from freezer to THWAP on the counter with no issues, no condensation, but again, the deeper molds are my only issue.

Depends on the mold. If they're coming out shiny they still could be off temper just slightly. I have the same issue but its because I use really deep dome molds which don't like releasing because of suction. If you aren't already, try the 5-10 minutes in the freezer trick and see what happens.

Our favorite recipe is Lebovitz with a teaspoon of cayenne. We don't fork them down so they stay light and crumbly.

Like I said, 'heard.

I didn't feel that this involved any details that would breech that trust. My agent knows, and encourages my blogging of the development of the book, and this is all just "out there" info - nothing solid. But your point is heard and I'll give it more consideration going forward.