lebowits

If you have polycarbonate molds for "cups" (e.g. peanut butter cups, etc.), you can pour the cups and pull them from the molds after setting (and do a set ahead of time) and fill them with a toasted hazelnut gianduja (see "Trifection" for a formula. I get 64 pieces from a single batch and it sets up nicely in a short period of time. Even if if doesn't setup completely, it's delicious while soft!

I use his "sweetened condensed milk" formula because it has the least amount of water to start and seems to be the quickest to cook. In the past, I've made a "ginger caramel" by grating fresh ginger on my food processor and using the resulting "juice" in place of the water called for in the formula. This gave the caramels a nice spicy flavor. I imagine you could add pumpkin puree as well. My suggestion would be to "cook" the pumpkin and the spices together in a small pan before using them with the caramel. This will take some of the starch out of the puree and develop the combined flavors. Give it a go!

Commercial purees are generally 10% sugar. I've also believed that the method for PDF is to cook very quickly, add the acid at the last moment before pouring into the frame. I've had good results that way. Lastly, I don't think the induction burner is better or worse. Induction tends to be "faster" than gas (at least on my stove). Just be sure to use a large enough pot!

A "biscuit" in this usage is a long, generally flat tool used for spreading another substance into a uniform layer. A cursory search for a dictionary definition turned up nothing useful. On the subject of "nut creams", would a gianduja be a good first order approximation of what is being looked for? Depending on the final texture needed, additional ingredients could be added to thin the mixture or keep a softer texture (gianduja will harden in a short time).

I made them using the formula as written. I happen to have raw blanched almonds and raw blanched hazelnuts. As I recall, the nuts are toasted before adding them to the chocolate and confectioners sugar. The hardest part for me was that had not yet learned to fasten the rulers to my board so they don't move. I've now learned that I can use masking tape (the kind painters use) to hold them down. This was also before I bought my guitar and as such didn't have a good "biscuit" to spread the gianduja in the frame and get a smooth top. Lastly, don't forget to give each layer time to firm before spreading the next. Shana tova to you and yours as well.

I made them but it was some time ago. I'll do my best to answer your questions though.

Sounds really interesting. Would you be willing to post your formula?

Kerry - You can ask an eG moderator to post the PDF file for you. I asked Chris Hennes to do this for me after the chocolate workshop earlier this year. Another little tip that is VERY important. When adding the acid, make sure that if you are using cyrstallized acid that you make a 1:1 solution and measure out the solution and NOT the dry crystals!

S'mores are even better with fresh "home made" marshmallows. Of course, making them requires cooking sugar which is the culinary equivalent to napalm.

I have a single rack that holds up to 20 full size pans. I a few pans to store commonly used items like silpats, caramel rulers, sheet pans, and other small items. I stack my pans 3 or 4 deep to keep space clear. Since I mostly use 1/2 pans, I get 6 - 12 pans to a "slot". My wife made me get a cover for it so anything I leave won't get assorted airborne fluff all over it. When I'm really working on something, having all that space is great. Sliding pans in and out as I need them (or at least what they're holding). It rolls around easily so I can just stash it in a corner when I'm finished or simply need it out of the way. I think I paid a little over $100 for it and it took 20 - 30 minutes to assemble. The cover cost almost as much as the rack itself. Definitely one of the best and highest utility purchases I've made.

A speed rack.

It's also possible that the colored CB was too thick in some areas.

I've seen a number of individual cupcake boxes, some "paper", and others all plastic. Here is a single cupcake box with interior support (sold separately of course) The plastic containers I've seen are like the ones here. I know someone who uses them and will see about asking where she gets them. Shipping would be relatively expensive as you will need "warm weather packaging" (with freezer packs) in the summer and need to ship via an overnight service, or at best a 2 day service. The issue would be to give the store as much shelf life as possible. Have you tested the shelf life in a refrigerated case? I would make sure that your client is willing to absorb the packaging and shipping costs.

If you're shipping via an APO the rules are the same as sending any other package via USPS. It just needs to be properly packed.

I had a friend posted in that part of the world and what really went over well were foil or pouch packed Indian foods and bottles of hot sauces. The pouches of foods were different from what was available in the local mess hall or commissary and the hot sauces helped to make the local food in the mess more palatable.

I love mine. I thought I had lost it and replaced it, so now I have 2. One is set for C and the other for F. They're different colors so I can keep them straight.

I've been selling at the market since Mother's Day and now the weather is simply getting too warm. I think I'm going to get one more week and bracket the first part of the season ending on Father's Day and then come back in September when my display is less likely to melt. I've made some real changes to my setup this year and wanted to post a couple of pictures. First, you'll notice I have a banner hanging in my tent. I've also now setup a two tier display on my front table which is visually more interesting. Of course, having some brightly colored chocolates has drawn an amazing amount of interest! Normally, I wouldn't place the display chocolates on top of the papers, but with the weather so warm, it's just so much easier to clean up at the end of the day.

I've had 3 Sunday markets now, with the first 2 being fabulous. The opening day was "Mothers Day" here in the US and I sold completely out. My 2nd week was also great, doing about 60% better than my average week last year. Last Sunday had rain, and even with that, we did OK. I'm curious to see how this weekend goes with a long holiday weekend (Memorial Day). I'm expecting many people to be off traveling.

I haven't done any 3D molds myself, but the couple of full-on chocolate kitchens I've worked in are always kept rather cool.

I routinely "bump" my chocolate up near the top of it's working temp range, especially with milk chocolate which tends (for me at least) to be the most viscous. After I cast my shells, I place the molds on their sides for a few minutes to let the chocolate begin to crystallize. Placing them on their sides, allows the latent heat of crystallization to dissipate from both the face and back of the mold. Once the chocolate has lost it's "gloss", I place the molds in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to fully set the chocolate before filling. After the centers have crystallized enough to "foot" the pieces without "heaving", I put on the foot, and place the molds in the refrigerator for about an hour. This assures that all of the chocolate is well on into crystallization and pretty much guarantees that the shells separate from the cavities. After removing the molds from the refrigerator, I let them come up to room temp for an hour or so before un-molding. Letting them warm up before popping them out alleviates any worries about condensation forming on them.

I would expect that most food processors should be able to make marzipan. Isn't the question about how big a batch it can handle? I don't believe this is true. When making marzipan, you are grinding nuts with (in my case) cooked sugar. This forms a very stiff mass which is hard to get going in the food processor. It also takes a considerable amount of time with the machine working fairly hard to develop a product which has a desirable texture. My consumer grade model would overheat and simply stop working. My Waring has a significantly more powerful motor which can power through the first part of the process and run for as long as I need to achieve the smooth texture I'm looking for. I'm using a "Waring Commercial 2.5 qt" model FP-25C.

I have a Waring Commercial (Cuisinart bought Waring a few years ago) which has a VERY powerful 1 HP motor. It does marzipan without any trouble and was about $600 US. I highly recommend it.

I believe that the chef was pointing out that the higher the alchohol content, the better, but that it was a guideline. It is very hard to find liquers with such a high proof. I'll see about digging up a formula and posting it later. In the meantime, take a look at this website.

I was told recently in a class that you should always use 160 proof liquors to insure a low water content.

If it's still there, not far from the Rockpool in Darling Harbor is a place called "Chinta Ria". They had great asian noodle dishes and was always busy. Been years since I was there, but remember it fondly.