mrose

I usually make a 7" chocolate heart box with a red bow and a 3 x 5 " chocolate box with a red bow. I make both passion fruit hearts & caramel hearts to put in the boxes.

The book by Scotts is not being released till early in January.

The trick is not to use too much passion fruit from whatever source you use. The taste can easily become overpowering. It took me a while to get the right proportions so this wouldn't happen or have a strong taste that really lingers. The Alize adds body to the taste without adding strength to the taste. You will have to experiment to get the flavor you want. These hearts do make a big hit for VDay. Mark

I use the following for passion fruit filled hearts that I also find popular at Valentines day. I use puree because you can always get the smae result.I have only piped the mixture, would not work for making truffles. 18 oz milk chocolate 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup passion fruit puree 1 tbsp corn syrup 5 tbsp passion fruit liquor (Alize) scald mixture of cream, puree & corn syrup mix with chocolate Mark

Kerry Thanks I will try it out. I assume you let the sugar solution & peels cool completely between each boiling.? Do you know the name of the 1 on ginger? Mark

In the past several weeks, someone had a thread on making large amounts of candied orange peel. I can't seem to locate it, does anyone remember this topic? Thanks Mark

If you keep them at approx 40f in a frig, should be in an airtight container. They will last a month without losing taste. Try a simple test of leaving some at each temp range, & each week compare taste 1 after they come up to room temp and decide how you like the taste. Repeat this over 3 to 4 weeks & you will be able to determine the life span. Remember you would have to do this for each flavor.

JeanneCake I don't know if you made the passion fruit truffle yet. I make mine with puree and Alize (passion fruit liquor). Only suggestion is to go easy on passion fruit since it can get overpowering. I use about 1/2 cup puree in 18 oz milk chocolate. Mark

Tami I wanted to be able to make hand formed truffles. Too much liquid would cause the truffles to pancake. You could probably increase eggnog to 3oz which would give a little stronger flavor. The recipe posted has a good eggnog flavor. You could also keep the eggnog at 2oz and add 1oz of rum to enhance the taste. The glucose will make the truffles a bit smoother,also increases shelf life a bit. Mark

Sometimes you have to go very far into search, 20 pages or so. Try www.aspecialtybox.com. They have some nice boxes

Maybe you have to puree the pumpkin before you incorporate that in the cream and then strain. I used canned pumpkin since this is already done.. The ganache I made was smooth. The recipe I posted was for a truffle so a bit less cream was used so truffles would retain their shape. Original recipe would have added 1 cup cream.

You can use light corn syrup.

red, white & blue nonparelles look good on top

Egg Nog Truffle 2 oz Commerical Eggnog 2 oz glucose 18 oz white chocolate pinch nutmeg 1 vanilla bean (1 tsp ground vanilla) steep vanilla bean in eggnog & glucose combine with white chocolate let sit till sets up or overnight cover in dark chocolate

Desiderio Dose this bar mold have 3 separate little compartments & do you know the finished weight? Thanks

I just received a Godiva catalog in the mail. They have a chocolate that would be great to offer as a wedding favor. I have never seen this mold, maybe someone who also likes looking at chocolates molds has seen it. Wedding Cake Mold Thanks

I also decided to try add a pumpkin truffle as a seasonal item. I used milk chocolate for the ganache so it wouldn't be too sweet. 9 oz milk chocolate 6 tbsp heavy cream 3 tbsp canned pumpkin 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp nutmeg pinch ground cloves let setup overnight in frig. Covered in milk chocolate. I might try dark cover next time which I like so much better (you could use dark couverture for my taste). Might be the Chocovic Ocumare dark chocolate which is just terrific dark chocolate. I like the idea of cream fraiche, I don't always plan that far ahead to have it ready to use. I think it would improve the taste. It was a bit soft for truffles but working in small batches & keeping it cool it wasn't too bad. I also make truffle logs which are a 2.5" triangle either 6 or 12" long. In it I added a layer of a white chocolate cream cheese ganache to make a pumpkin cheescake log. I like the combination of flavors these logs offer. Has anyone tried anyother seasonal flavors in truffles? I also tried an eggnog truffle.

You might do better to call & talk to himm. He is an interesting person. Tried to get somethings last year & they were having supplier problems.

Chocovic also make a chocolate for fountains. Their single bean chocolate is excellent.

Sote Where is this class given & do you know the cost? Mark

I agree that they should have their machines in stock. \ I have used the X3210 machine for over a year and have been very satisfied with it. Everytime I have dealt with customer service they have been extremely helpful.

The ratio of white chocolate to is too high. I have found that approximately 4 to 1 white chocolate to liquid works wells. By cutting down on cranberry sauce and again adding dried cranberries might improve taste. I do not know if there is a cranberry liquor, but if there is that would also help the taste if used instead for vodka (or maybe kirshwasser or chambord would be good). Maybe a tablespoon or 2. You could also try putting a very thin coat on before dipping. Put some chocolate in your hands & roll truffles to get a thin coat. This will be help with the tendency to seep. You get a little thicker coat but not as thick as double coating. I also believe that using cranberry sauce will always give that pinkish look. Found this recipe: 9.5 oz white chocolate 6 tbps heavy cream 1.5 tbsp whole berry cranberry sauce 3 tbsp sweetened dried cranberries Haven't tried it, but everything I have made from this book has been soft & I have had to readjust ingrediants. Let us know what works for you.

You would have to decide how strong you want the coffee taste or do you just want a Kahlua taste? That would determine if you want to use coffee crystals. As you add more Kahlua, you have to cut back on the cream or the ganache gets too soft and is very hard to form & dip as truffles (can tend to pancake). But this isn't as much of as issue if you are filling molds. You can also use butter instead of cream which will give the ganache a bit more body. A good place to start for truffles is: 1# milk chocolate, 4 oz butter and 3/4 cup kahlua. You will have to cool ganache down a bit after forming to be able to coat them.

PB Ganache 1# white chocolate 1/2 cup cream 1 cup natural PB This sets up well to be balled for truffles.

How do you do the crystalization process?