Desiderio

I definately think you shouldnt cook and reduce the strawberry puree for the marshmallows, I am sure it would change the taste. As for the ganache I have found two different school of thinking, one it says boil and reduce the otehr says added fresh to not loose the fresh flavor etc etc.

I do the same , for marshmallows I just get the frozen fruit if isnt available fresh ( and sometimes is but not very tasty ) just puree it in the blender as it is , dont add any water or sugar.Strain it if has seeds , however I didnt strain the strawberry ones and was fine.

I dont know if I understand ,was a taste problem or a tecnical problem with the texture of the marshmallows? I did them as well in heart shape for a Valentine' s day sale booster ( buy 3 or more get the marshamllows etc) they were a huge hit I have to say people started to ask to buy them now . They tasted great and the texutre was more of a strawberry mousse .

Passion fruit is kinda of a must on Valentine's day Beautifull chocolates Truffle guy ,I was wondering when you were going to show us some more of your creations.I still have saved one of your pic , with stunning colored chocolates form while back .I was hoping you were going to tell us more about your business

Glerup Group does custom packages and labels.I think they have few big names ( I have seen Fran's chocolates and Ghirardelli) .I order mostly from them and Nashville Wraps.I have asked for a quote on custome boxes, ( she even sent me a mock up box with the idea I have sent her ), the minimum I think is 1000 boxes and the price goes around $6000, unfortunatelly it will have to wait , but I will go that direction if the business goes well . Another web site that does custom packaging for very popular chocolatiers is this , I havent contact them ,I cant event think how much those luxury boxes are I might drop them an email as soon as I am redy just to feel bad about myself http://www.jvi.com/Products/LuxuryPackagin...93/Default.aspx enjoy!

Gourgeous collection , as usual

Hey, everybody has a bad day, and even in a good day we can have a bad moment . Just keep on going.I hope today its a better day for you

For the caramel I have another recipe that use with salt , and its very popular as well ,I dont plan on using Greweling caramel for other things , I dont like the flavor or the consistency too much.I did use the caramel from the recipe for this ones though. Chris , that seems the first time I made mine.The caramel tends to burns easy , I think because of the milk solid presents ( a lot ).The Nougat did turn much firmer for me as well and it did had the taffy consistency.I dont know what it was but I have the feeling that some of his recipes are kinda moody , I dont know how to explain it, but since I am a witch doctor when it comes to chocolates and pastry , some things dont make too much sense to me, I go with my senses more :-) maybe he is too much of a scientist and I am more of a witch I suggest you move on the next experiment ( since you are doing wonderfully ) and then come back to the sleeping beauty like I did .

Thank you Lior. I forgot to mention that to cut them I used a scraper ,it was easier because the edge are little sticky , but the scraper was easier.Also the dark chocolate cover make them less sweet ( I just had a piece ).

Ok I finished the sleeping beauties last night, so it can be done in few hours . The process its ok , I just find his recipes to contain too many ingredients that are not necessary :-P. Cutting the recipe in half its a little bit a pain , because the quantities are minimal for certain ingredients.The nougat in my KA was like invisible and really didint get too much volume, you would need more eggswhite and syrup , anyway , they came out ok and I might try it again with the full amount .I didnt use glucose syrup , because I have little left over and I didnt want to waste it ( in case the recipe didnt work for me ) so I used some organic corn syrup , that has some taste in it and gave the sleeping beauty a malty flavor , that I dont mind at all :-P PS: the color in both the caramel and the nougat is darker due the organic corn syrup , is dark .Well now I know they work so next time i will do it with the glucose syrup.I like them but I find them little bit too sweet and chewy.I like the nougat I use because isnt that chewy.

If the ganache hasn't firm up in a few hours isn't going to firm up in days, maybe just get dry and crumbly. I would review the recipe and adjust the ratio of liquefiers and chocolate. If you want to dip it and its too soft ,you can precoat the bottom ( if it is a slabbed one to cut in pieces ) or I would roll the truffles and pre-cot them in the palm of my hand with some chocolate to create a shell , then coat them once more with dipping technique. I have done this with a very soft ganache and worked beautifully , having a nice crunchy shell and a very soft filling .

Absolutely not! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain your method I really really appreaciate it , expecially know that you have a little boy a full time job , just like me :-) I am going to use the paypal as well , I am not ready for the price of a full shopping cart yet :-P Thank you so much again

I have random recipes that I got here and there.I have to say though that I didnt try the sleeping beauty after the first attempt , and I have a tendecy to not follow recipes :-P, so I am commiting to try them again today ( and all the other valentine's day chocolates :-) ) I will report and I promise to follow the recipe . Need to go stirr the caramel :-P

I think I was one of those that posted about the sleeping beauty, mine were a total disaster, I dont like his caramel recipe too much , and the nougat recipe I have, is much better than the one on the book ( in my opinion) I might try them again with different ingredient , because I hate to waste them.

Thank you guys for the great info on shipping :-) I second the insurance , you have to get one ( they have some package for this line of work for around 500.00 a year )

Lior , with my left over I fill chocolate bars that I give away as gifts or attach my business card to the cello bag , to give around. I also keep the ganache in the piping bag as Kerry and Tammy .

A question for the rest of you gusy that already have a business running. What do you use for shipping and what do you suggest.Also how do you come up with a standard shipping price ,just weight some of your boxes and use that standard to charge d=for shipping etc? Thank you as usual.

I am not in Cal , but I am starting the business as well.I found the kitchen and filed and formed my LLC.Aslo for the LLC , you can to not have a PO Box, so I just rent a mail place in one of the pack an dship place they have a physical address not a PO Box.Also I know that , at least here, you need to contact your health department and have them come to inspect you and the kitchen you work from ( the kitchen its already license but they need to see if you know how to use it and if you know the regulations to handle food etc etc..) if they approve you I think they give you the license , after you pay the fee ,and I also think they check for the ingredients labels and any label you put on your products, so have them ready for the inspection.

About paypal, payment options.I think I am going with it , do you guys use the shipping and taxes tools they have for the business package? And if yes how do you likeit?If not what do you use for shipping and how it works for you? Ahhh too many questions, but take your time :-) Thank you

Sorry about the misfortune :-( I can only think that you let it stay way too long in the air and got too dry.In a ganache you do need to set it for a bit before cutting, but something like that you should cut it as soon as it firms up , I think. For the decoration ,was i too thick and dryed so cracked when you cut it?Working faste could be the key but also a think layer would be a problem to cut. I am sure someone else will pitch in to help. I hope things will be work better for you :-)

Here in Colorado food for home consumption is exempt from sale tax but the county and home rule city dont follow the same rule,for example boulder county still collect taxes ad the same for the ohter home rule cities around here ( I need to bing my business out of the boulder county , its soo expensive anyway ) The event I am going to be in is in a home rule city so I need to go to the town all and get all the permits etc etc from them , so to collect and submit the right sale taxes to the city and the county haha what a pain

I do use organica malt syrup for the ganache, I think it carries a very nice flavor.

Thank you :-) I will double check , but I am pretty sure that I will have to collect taxes , Colorado is like that :-P.

I make malted truffles and I didnt have any problem getting the flavor of malt in it ,I think the trick would be get a milk chocolate that is right for the filling.One of the best for this pourpose is El Rey Irapa , has a distinc malt flavor and is one of its quality.I think milk chocolate its much better for malted ganache , but this is my taste and opinion.

Thank you so much!! As usual you guys are an incredible source of information and always make things seem so easy The even is for May so mother's day weekend, I am trying to put together a plan on packaging and what to bring.I have the main boxes and I am going to work around that ( color matching , and bags with my logo printed on ). Ahhh what I have done!! Gotta try though , gotta try!Thats what the American dream is for me