mrose

I would go & speak to the churches in the area. You might be able to come to an arrangement with them. You have to work around their needs & emergencies (maybe work through the night at times). You might have to talk to quite a few before you find one. I have this type of arrangement & the price is more than reasonable. It lets me work on getting a business going on a very moderate budget. Mark

Chocolat-Chocolat carry their line of molds.

[/q I was in the class with andrew shotts and I believe he said there is no law that requieres you to list ingredients. Unless I heard him incorrectly. I also happen to have a box of jacque torres chocolates and he doesn't list anything on his box. Luis ←

I would try chcolat-chocolat in Canada, they have an extensive selection & good service. Here is another resource Ecole Chocolat Mark

This inspector will create a labeling nightmare for you. If you follow the recommendation you will be spending as much time labeling as making chocolate. Show her a box of Godiva which you can get at Bsarnes & Noble, they don't do what she is wants. Mark

Pastry Chef also carries it. Mark

Try jbprince, they are sheet pan size. $40 per 100 mark

Pour the first layer in & bake for about 35 mins. Then pour next layer on top & bake for 25 mins. Use the same criteria for when it is done as a single layer. Mark

Try Polar Tech. They have an office in Chicago. The person I have dealt with is Will Thomas (1-800-423-2749). They also sell ice brixs. Mark

I heard they have a great purees, but aren't they expensive. ←

I am making those, curious if anyone else is. The molds offered by Chef Rubber are not the same, they are longer & are only are only about a little over 1" per side. Mark

Is there anyone making truffle bars like those offered by Sterling ? Mark

I refrigerate my chocolates in air tight containers. This prevents the refrigerator taste that can occur. The real question you must ask is how long is the shelf life of the product & how long will it take to use up(sell) the current batch of chocolates. You are combating 2 issues, the possible growth of bacteria & mold & how long the chocolates maintain their flavor. Air tight containers increases my shelf life by about 2 weeks (to 5 or 6 weeks depending on season). Conditions that encourage mold type growths have to be addressed when making the chocolates, scalding the cream, not incorporating air into the ganache & keeping any pockets out of hand formed truffles. You also need to run taste tests to get an idea of the shelf life of products sitting out on a shelf. These should be run separately for ganaches that use most cream and those that use mostly butter. Take 2 batches of 5 or 6 truffles (depending on how long the trial will run). Place them in separate air tight containers, place 1 in the frig & the other in a cool dry place. Once a week take a chocolate out of the frig & let in come up to room temp in a cover container. Cut them in half & check for nay shrinkage or bacterial growth. Then do a comparative taste test. Do this for 4 or 5 weeks. Keep track of the results. You will start to see a slight loss of flavor in the chocolates that sat out in about 2 weeks. Probably after 4 weeks, you would not want to sell the chocolates since the taste would be so bland and unrepresntative of the taste & flavor you are striving for. You also need to run these in several climate conditions. Shelf life will be much shorter in simmer when it is hot & humid than in winter time. Encourage your customers to eat the chocolates as soon as possible. This will not be an issue for people who are willing to pay the price of artisan chocolates. Also place an "Enjoy by date" to state a shelf life. Mark

Anna What flavor is white Sambuca? Mark

John Not where I live, I have been looking for a bottle like that of Galliano (licorice flavored Liquor). Live in a small city. Mark

Has anyone tried the Lime - Pastis? I want to try it but a bottle of Pastis costs `$20. A lot for just 1 tbsp until I know if I like the taste? Mark

With the rev X the chocolate needs to have reached the tempered state(after the beep) then you can adjust the temperature. (Up or down). Hope this helps. ← When you press the button you can see the temp go up, but when you release it it pops back to current temp. It will then increase in temp to the new set point. This is after the temper was reached. Mark

Cotton batting works very well & can be gotten a a fabric sotre. Pretty cheap too. Mark

I was never asked to show anything about water activity. You could do a short study by leaving some chocolates out & check a piece a week to look for baterial growth. Same for items left in frig. Can you send me the link of that newspaper article. Sounds like inspector might have a bug where sun doesn't shine.

You might add a bit of sugar to sweeten it up a bit. Also maybe a bit of lime juice. I have used this recipe but have found that 1/2 cup of a passion fruit puree gives a good flavor but is not too strong (can be consistently reproduced). The Alize enhances the taste, use the orangish colored one. Mark

A great book on freezing chocolate deserts. Bake & Freeze Chocolate Deserts by Elinor Klivans Mark

Kerry Did you get the cocoa butter from a Canadian source? Mark

Try aspecialtybox they make some nice boxes & sell in small quantities. Mark

The recipe calls for an equal amount of the liquor of your choice and pure alcohol. Everclear was just what I had on hand. Obviously when you get to a pure alchohol the brand doesn't matter as it's all the same chemicaly. I asked Jean-Pierre Wybauw himself the reason for the total amount of alcohol and his response was it was designed to counter the sweetness of the sugar. ← David Have you made this recipe? I have a lot left over from the last 2 trials & would like to know if you have an idea how many this will fill? (since most molded chocolates weigh about .5oz). I don't want too much extra to have to toss again. Mark