carol lang

I will be selling my choclates at a large event the first week of December. I am in the process of planning my timeline to have everything as perfect as possible for “show” day. Some of my concerns are shelf life, having enough product, and display. I need all the helpful advice I can get. I am so new at this that I don’t know what questions to ask. I would be most grateful to those of you with experience and expertise with selling at chocolate shows if you would share some tips for success.

I'm back from my meeting with the food inspector. Thanks to all your help, my labels were approved. I followed your advice Mark, and the info now fits on the label. I added the allergen information as well as contact information.

Thank you very much for the replies Mark and Jeff. I knew I could count on egulleters for help. I will use your advice and let you know how it turns out. Thanks again

I am meeting with the Agriculture and Marketing person in order to get my license to sell at markets and shows. I understand most aspects of writing the ingredient label (list ingredients in the order of amount etc.) Here lies my problem: In doing an assorted box of six different flavors, the list gets so long it barely can fit on my label. Also, I make handmade chocolates with fine ingredients and no preservatives but when the label is complete, it looks like a "tome". This is how I would like the label to look: Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, fresh purees, butter toasted nuts, colored cocoa butter Do I need to do this: Dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter,soy lecitthin, vanilla); milk chocolate(sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, skimmed milk powder, soya lecithin, vanilla) white chocolate( pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, full cream milk, lactose, soya lecithin, vanilla beans)....... and the same for each other ingredient. I would appreciate any advice aon this. I am in NYS, I produce in a rented commercial kitchen and will sell via internet, flea markets and possibly wholesale. Thanks, Carol Lang Cibelli Chocolates

I just want to add my name to the list of Kerry fans. Kerry was very helpful to me when I first joined this forum and she continues to be a source of inspiration. I was at the Philly Candy Show too and was happy to see the DVD set. I have a set and recommend them to anyone who wants to learn more about working with chocolate.

Ilana, Try this site. http://www.sweetfields.com

Thank you for asking that question, Lior. I also need concrete examples when I work with math. And thank you Tammy for sharing your great ideas.

ejw50, I am in the process of trying it, I want to se to what degree the chocolates keep their freshness. I used the ziploc vacuum freezer bags with the pump, I couldn't find the Reynolds, it does the same thing but the pump is manual(no battery). I will be doing the reverse process starting next week. I will report back on my results. Carol

Thank you for your reply Tammy. I have done some shelf life testing and 3 weeks is about right. For this production, I have kitchen time today and then on Feb. 7. So I thought it would be a good time to try the freezing process to get a head start and see if I like the results and how my use of time works out. Thanks for all your help. Carol

Hi Lior, so glad to hear from you. I do know the process but I haven't tried it yet but I trust your judgment and will go for it. I am thinking of freezing the truffles plain and then dipping in tempered chocolate and nuts or coconut in small batches as ordered. Do the molded chocolates keep a snap and shine after freezing? Thanks so much for your help Carol

My chocolate business is new. Up until now I have only had small orders which were easy to fill. I would be able to make the truffles and molded pieces 2 days before delivery. My Valentine's day orders have grown (good news) to a point where I must begin production much earlier. Freshness is of the upmost importance to me. Can anyone give me some advice on how to handle this issue. How far in advance can I begin production for a Feb. 12th delivery date? I will be making two molded chocolates and a variety of hand rolled,dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts and coconut. Maintaining quality and appearance comes first but I would like to be able to complete the production with the least insanity possible. Thanks in advance Carol

Those are all wonderful places, but none seem to be close to your show or hotel. The simplest and most obvious recommendation I could make would be Blue Smoke, Danny Meyer's bbq place. It's pretty good 'cue and Jazz Standard is in the basement. The following choices are between your hotel and Jazz Standard: One of my favorites in the neighborhood is Resto, a Belgian place on 29th & Park. Some find it loud, but I like the vibe and the food. Primehouse is a very well-reviewed (haven't personally been there) steakhouse on 28th & Park. Still close but not as close: Gramercy Tavern 20th & Park Sushi Samba Hope those help, Enjoy

www.williamdeanchocolates.com We finally got it up and running. It still has some revisions but I'm happy with the design and work of the firm we hired to give us an online presence. ← Congratulations Bill, The website looks great. You are an inspiration to me, I love your work. And the sharing you have done on this board has been very honest and helpful.

Very well said, Christopher. I agree with all you said about gaining confidence in your abilities. I too usually leave a class feeling stronger about my ability to continue in the field. I will be taking The Shotts class at the Notter School in April. I am interested in watching him in action, since I admire him so much. I do expect to come away with some new ideas and techniques but I also hope to find out that "hey, I do know what I am doing"

I made the spiked eggnog by Greweling today. Although it had a nice taste, it does fall short of a real egg nog taste. Kerry, how do you use the custard powder (if I can even get some). Do you add it to the cream to make the ganache or sprinkle it in after the ganache is made? Thanks in advance. Carol PS could I use the vanilla pudding powder in place of the custard powder?

Thanks Tammy, I am going to try it today and use a dark chocolate shell. Brandy sounds good.

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Would this work? I made an egg nog vanilla pudding. I used 2 cups of commercial egg nog and 1 package of organic vanilla pudding mix. Cooked it as for pudding. I then piped this filling into a dark chocolate molded shell. The taste is wonderful but I am wondering if shelf life presents a problem. I let some pieces sit a room temperature for one week . The texture was fine. There was a slight loss of flavor. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this is bad idea for a bon bon? thanks Carol

Thank you for the information, Shel. I will speak to my friend and get more detail about her particular condition. My reason for not wanting to use maltitol is that I have read about its laxative effect and don't want that to be a concern in any of my products. Carol

I would like to learn to make a diabetic friendly chocolate bon bon. My friend , who is diabetic , has told me that she can usually eat Fructose, honey, light brown sugar, agave nectar, beet sugar and concentrated fruit juice. The fructose and agave nectar may be somewhat allowed in diabetic exchange, but I am not sure. I am trying to research this topic and any help would be welcome. I don't want to use anything with maltitol. Thanks

Kee has opened a second shop. It is on 5th Ave. and 39th St., inside the lobby of a bank. She has two cases, one for macarons and one for chocolates. It will be interesting to see if her production methods change. I think she will be true to herself.

"Kitchen Sink" caramel sounds great John. Where do I find the method?

Thanks Lior and Kerry. Kerry what are cookie bits?

I really like using the ganache cutters. I am wondering, what do you do with the leftovers after cutting?. Since it has the thin layer of chocolate on it, I don't know what to do. I have a bunch of the "scraps" carefully frozen for when I figure this out. Any ideas?

That looks good Lior. I like the top decoration. Did you use a ganache cutter to get that shape?