lebowits

I can't speak to the chemistry of commercially available pectins. I do know that some fruits contain natural pectins (e.g. apples). This being said, pectins are used in all sorts of commercially prepared foods and I haven't keeled over yet.

I would like to start using luster dust to decorate some of my pieces. I've seen what appear to be both "edible" and other products on PastryChef.com, ChefRubber.com, Albert Uster Imports, etc. Does anyone have recommendations for sources of luster dusts and/or tips for using them appropriately? My initial thought is to lightly "paint" either the cavities of molds, or finished pieces after the chocolate has crystallized.

T - thanks for the advice. I'm about to temper some chocolate and will try your suggestions.

Well the latest batch came out a bit better, but not trouble free. I carefully polished the molds before splattering yellow cocoa butter in the cavities. I stood the molds on their sides to let the cocoa butter dry while I tempered the dark chocolate for the shells. I poured the shells and let the molds sit for about 2 minutes to make sure I would get a good "wall" for the shell. After pouring the excess back into my bowl of chocolate, I stood the molds on their sides again to let the shells begin to set. Once I shells started to get that "flat" finish, I placed the molds onto cooling racks inside sheet pans, cavities DOWN, and placed the pans in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. When I took the trays out of the refrigerator, I could see that the majority of the shells appeared to have separated from the top of the dome. I carefully turned the molds over and filled them with room temperature filling and placed them in my rack to sit for the rest of the day so a "skin" would form on top of the filling before capping. I capped the molds at the end of the day and refrigerated again for about 30 minutes. When I turned out the molds, a number of the pieces simply came right out. A quick smack flat on my board brought out most of the rest, but a number came out with small pieces of the shell broken off. About 8 of my 64 pieces refused to budge. I placed the molds into the freezer for a few minutes figuring I had nothing to lose but the remaining pieces still refused to budge. So, I haven't solved the problem yet. Since I'm headed south to visit with TruffleGuy for a few days, I"m going to take a couple of these molds with me. I'm betting that there is some rather simple method that eludes me from his previous description that will have me placing a big "L" on my forehead. The good news is that the "Lemon Drop" center is really good. I'll keep everyone posted.

I've done this once or twice before and will probably try this tonight. Since I didn't have any trouble with any of my other molds, some of which are also new, I figured it was something about this particular shape that might have an issue. Thanks for the tip. ← ← Actually, I haven't "painted" the mold so much as "splattered" yellow cocoa butter. Here is a pic. I generally pour my molds early in the day to make the most of the ambient temp. I'll try letting them sit for another minute before pouring out the excess. I have been letting them setup while sitting on their side, not with the cavity opened up or down. I'll see about letting them set cavity opening down tonight and see what happens. I want to let these sit overnight and "skin" so I can pour a foot in the morning. I'm pretty sure you have the same mold but may bring one or two with me. See you next week.

If your sugar high lasts longer than 4 hours, see your doctor.

I use a commercial pastry fondant which during preparation of the center I "warm" to 160F. I suspected that the acid might invert the sugar. The thing with this flavor is that the lemon juice gives the center a really nice tart taste and cuts the sweetness of the fondant. The trick is to figure out how to get it to form a "skin" so that the center doesn't heave up when capping the mold. My first batch still heaved a bit after sitting overnight. I'm going to do another batch tonight and might add a few grams of melted white chocolate to provide some stiffness. Hopefully it won't mess with the flavor too much.

I've done this once or twice before and will probably try this tonight. Since I didn't have any trouble with any of my other molds, some of which are also new, I figured it was something about this particular shape that might have an issue. Thanks for the tip.

Could I inquire please about the micro-fiber cloth? Where does one get this item? Thanks ← I was fortunate to hear of this from Kerry when we had the conference in Ontario a few months ago. Kerry had several sections of cloth that she graciously donated bits to any who wished them. I'm sure that if you go to a local fabric store and ask for a micro fiber fabric they will be able to show you several which you can buy pieces of. I would suggest a relatively light weight and supple fabric. I have a chair covered in a micro fiber suede like fabric which would be too "stiff" for this purpose.

To answer a couple of things... When I first cast the shells, I put the molds in the refrigerator for 5 - 6 minutes in order to set them. When I fill them I generally need to let them sit for a few hours to let a "skin" form on the top of the filling. This prevents the filling from coming up over top of the cap later. After capping, I put the molds back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so. When I unmold the pieces, I turn the mold over just above my board and generally a few pieces will simply fall out. When those are cleared away I "whack" the mold flat (cavity openings down) onto the board and lift away. More pieces will come out cleanly. I gently whack the mold another time or 2 to encourage more pieces to come free. In this case there are up to a dozen pieces which I can see through the back of the mold simply haven't come free of the top of the dome cavity. I put the mold back in the refrigerator for up to several hours to no avail. When I clean the molds I wash them in warm water only, and never scrub inside the cavity. I use my finger to gently rub any left over bits of chocolate but don't try to get them entirely free of it. After letting them air dry, I use the micro fiber cloth to polish the inside of the cavities which removes any left over bits of chocolate and also I assume spreads around any left over cocoa butter. The 2nd use of the molds was better than the first in terms of the number of "remainders". I'm going to try another batch tonight since my official taste tester liked the first formula better than the 2nd.

I recently purchased a bunch of new molds from Tomric. One shape in particular is the ever popular "truffle dome" (Tomric # I-2295). I've used them now twice and both times I've had trouble getting the pieces out of the mold. I know that I have good temper as I've also used other molds with the same batch of chocolate and had no problems. I've been careful to polish the molds before using them with my handy dandy micro-fiber cloth (thanks Kerry). Is it that these molds need more "seasoning" than others or does anyone else have trouble with this particular mold shape?

Last week I decided that I wanted to try making a fondant "creme" center using lemon as the flavoring agent. I zested and juiced 2 medium lemons. I added the juice and zest to 500 grams of fondant. To moderate the tartness of the lemons I also added 100 grams of honey (orange honey in this case). The resulting product was very fluid and didn't retain any of the white color of the fondant, resulting in what appeared to be nearly clear liquid. I poured this into dark chocolate shells which I had previously decorated by splattering yellow cocoa butter on the surface of the mold. The liquid never really crystallized on the exposed surface but I was able to cap the molds. Friends that tasted the piece gave it rave reviews which encouraged me to consider how I might modify the formula to get something a bit firmer. Today I remade the center but only used the juice of 1 lemon while keeping the zest from both. The resulting fluid was too firm so I re-warmed it over a bain marie and added 25 grams of water which thinned it sufficiently for piping. This time, the texture is much firmer and it retains the white coloring of the fondant. My wife tells me that this center tastes "grainy" and that she prefers the original formulation with the additional lemon juice. I'm curious if the lemon juice had a chemical effect on the fondant. Was my first trial thinned simply by the juice enough to melt out the sugar crystals in the fondant or is sugar changed by the acid in the juice? Any chemists out there who can shed light on the subject?

I've had good luck with commercially prepared colored cocoa butters from both Tomric (New World Chocolate) and Chef Rubber. They have a wide variety of colors including "jewel" and "shimmer" (includes luster dust). One particular technique which can really give you phenomenal shine is to spray a layer of thinned chocolate behind your color layer. If you are going to mold dark chocolate, create a mix of about 50% the same chocolate with 50% cocoa butter and spray it in mold before molding your shells. The way I understand it, the air brushing technique causes the mixture to crystallize very quickly which results in that beautiful shine. The back layer also gives your color great "depth".

I did a search and found that the product you purchased has a dextrose equivalent (DE) of 42. I've been unable to find a reference to the DE for Karo but did find an article which says it is a mixture of syrups with DE ranging from 38 - 52. I remember that Greweling has a discussion of DE in one of the chapters of his book. I would suggest that a check here might yield something. In general, I would think that you could use the 2 interchangeably.

I did a quick search and found it here and here.. Chef Rubber also has it here but seems to be much more expensive than the other two. I haven't tried to compare the products yet to determine if one is better suited than another. Your mileage may vary.

I would be curious to taste how a "white" sugar caramel tastes with this. The brown sugar will certainly give it a "depth" that you don't get with white sugar. I chose brown sugar (and dark brown is preferred) because it is "true" to the original idea of "Bananas Foster". That being said, I think experimentation and going with what you like best is what makes this whole thing so much FUN. If you give it a try, post the result. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to try it myself.

hey there darlin'! have you tried with dk shells? does that affect the taste much? also, does this recipe make 1 tray, 2, 4? i might mess around with it this weekend! PS- kisses to your lovely wife!!! ← Hey back sweetie! I haven't yet tried this with dark shells but think that would also be quite tasty. The mold I'm using is the 32 cavity cherry cordial mold from Tomric. I've only made this the one time and it made just shy of 4 molds so I need to scale it a bit. Your mileage may vary depending on the mold and how much you fill them. Let me know how yours turn out and what you think of the flavor.

I think this would go well in dark and milk chocolate as well. I would prefer the dark chocolate myself as it would further set off the sweetness of the center. I'm going to have to try that myself. I've been decorating my molds with a swirl of yellow cocoa butter.

Oh, feel free to name names... Doesn't mean I gonna publish my recipe That looks like a nice recipe you've got there, though. ← You know I wouldn't "out" you! It is a good formula. Good banana flavor, consistent rum component, and not too sweet, even in a white chocolate shell.

During our 2009 Candy Conference (thanks again Kerry), one of the attendees had a wonderful "Bananas Foster" in white chocolate that several of us really liked. I've not named him because I don't know if we wishes to contribute to this thread. I hope he chooses to. In any case, I was intrigued with this flavor and put together my first attempt at getting a good banana flavor. My formula is below. I need to tweak it a bit and I haven't decided how yet, but so far the results are good and the shelf life has been excellent. Pieces on my shelf for 4 weeks show no signs of deterioration or spoilage. If you try the formula, please let me know what you think. 2 medium ripe banans (should have a few spots on skin) 1 vanilla bean, scraped 150 g walnuts 325 g dark brown sugar 225 g white chocolate, melted 25 g butter, soft 80 g dark rum 1. Process the bananas and walnuts in a food processor until the fruit is smooth and the nuts well chopped 2. Melt the sugar in a pot with the scraped vanilla and bring to a boil 3. Add the banana and walnut mixture to the pot and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring to thoroughly combine 4. Take the pot off the heat and add the butter, stirring to combine 5. Add the sugar mixture to the melted chocolate and mix to combine 6. Allow the mixture to cool to about 100F 7. Add the rum and combine 8. Allow to cool to room temp Pipe into molded white chocolate shells and seal.

Latest update from the front lines... I had two meetings today worth noticing: First, I met with Anil R, Corporate Pastry Chef of Albert Uster Imports. I had spoken with him a few weeks ago but today was my first opportunity to meet him and ask him about hosting us for a few hours to perform a demo of some type. He has agreed to do so and we just need to settle on a topic. Since Anil is something of an expert in sugar and chocolate showpieces, this might be a great opportunity to see someone of his caliber discuss this subject. I've also thought that a discussion of chocolate bon bons revolving around flavor (center vs exterior), shape, and decoration might be very interesting as well. My second meeting was with Patrice D at my alma mater, L'Academie de Cuisine about classroom space. It seems that this is the right time to be asking. Patrice said that we should be in good shape with the use of a true "classroom" which includes a counter and mirror for demo, as well as one of their kitchen classrooms. She is going to get back to me soon with pricing so we can begin to get an idea for how much this will cost each of us. With the success of the group dinner at Niagara College, I've asked Patrice to find out if we could do something similar next year. So, it looks like we're in business provided that the cost isn't prohibitive. I'll continue to keep everyone posted as I learn more.

While I don't have an X3210, I do use callets in my Rev 2. They work quite well, but you have to be careful not to place too much behind the baffle or else it tends to start to crawl over the top.

Interesting little thread regarding the acid. I've noticed in comparing the Boiron formulas (new vs. old) that the old sheets explicitly speak of making the acid solution but the new one only specifies the amount to add with no mention of diluting it into water.

Can you give me a pointer to "Chocolate Designs"? I've done a quick search and come up with a number of references, but mostly to a shop in Houston, TX. Thanks. ← I think I got my copy from Qzina in Toronto - might be worth giving them a call first. Is it on Amazon? Here is a copy at Chipsbooks. ← Nope, not on Amazon.

Can you give me a pointer to "Chocolate Designs"? I've done a quick search and come up with a number of references, but mostly to a shop in Houston, TX. Thanks.