prairiegirl

what brand of soft ice cream machine did you get

Edible artist from england. It's a free download. I use it all the time.

i always use my bosch kitchen machine to mix it. Oh, check "chef eddy" website for a recipe and technique.

Does anyone know the approximate Brix for nanking cherries. I know there are several variables involved such as terrior etc. I am just looking for an approx value. I want to make pate de fruit and it has been ages since I have made anything pate de fruit!

You can go 50/50 with a product by Valrhona called Absolu Crystol. I've done this in the past for alcohol filled bonbons.

Lana came to Calgary and brought some very delicious chocolates. They really are very very good. Excellent texture. The flavour profile of what i sampled is divine.

beautiful work!

I have 2 6kg mol d'art and only recently I have had to change the plugs. They were owrn out and breaking just on the outside of the machine. I have the dial for temp control and it is not accurate. You just get used to the machine and generally know how to adjust the dial. I have the machine for about 3 or 4 years and overall, I am very happy with the machines and I would purchase this brand again.

Lentia had a renowned pastry chef doing some demos last fall, and he had some ganaches that he made and he said that they need a few days to dry. If the bonbons are going to be eaten within a few weeks of creation...you generally can't go too wrong with your formulations. I make a caramel ganache that needs a good 24 hours to dry before capping.

They should be fine. I get my brushes in the art supply at Michaels. Some of my scrapers come from tool stores. We all use them!!!

Thanks everyone. The Fancypak appears to have the specific size I need. It is really difficult to find this specific type of bag. I am eventually hoping to find a manufacturer so that I can get a customized bag.

I am looking for sources for cellophane bags. I have been buying from chocolat-chocolat and still will but they tend to run out of the size SOS1. I am looking for sources that sell and maybe even customize cellophane bags. I need a small square bottomed cello bag that will fit approx 2-8 chocolates in in. I don't want a fancy bag that brings up the cost of the purchase, I need a very inexpensive cello bag for the customers that want to eat their chocolate and need a bag to put it in!. I do use the nicer cello bags for when people want to buy chocolates as a gift. Does anyone have a supplier you would recommend?

You are not crazy Edward. i love your approach and try to do the housemade artisan production as much as possible. Customers love it when they can get such specialized products. Good luck on the ginger and I am also going to try some batches.

Buderim Ginger is who I get my ginger from. Have you talked to them?

The special sheets are called chocosheets. There are a few suppliers that make this. Cake Art intl is a manufacturer and they have resellers all over the globe. The american supplier charges too much so I have ordered thru Home Chocolate Factory and they gave me a trade account so I get a discount. The chocosheets have not been very good in the last year so I have switched back to using the ones made by Chocolate Deco Artist who are also in England. They have resellers in North America such as Tomric and Chocolat-Chocolat. I find that they mark up the cost and it is cheaper to order directly from England. If you google chocosheets you will get a list of who makes these sheets. Ink: PhotoFrost, Icing Images and several other suppliers carry the cartridges. I use to airbrush the backs with white but have long stopped using that technique. I prefer to put a thinned out layer of white chocolate (70% white chocolate, 30% cocoa butter) mixed with white coloured cocoa butter. I use this method because the design of the magnetic molds cause the roof of the chocolate to slowly cave in. Having this thin layer acts as a support beam in the chocolate. I have done thousands of transfers and have an opinion on whats out there so if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

What is the best caramel recipe to use for this? Is the one from "Yard" good? I am just starting to research recipes and hoping to do some trials this weekend.

I use a pink peruvian salt. I use 1 tsp and crush it up into smaller particles and add to about 180 grams dark chocolate.

I mold cru sauvage into small bars. Many of the different dark couveratures are recommended to melt to 45 C approx.. With Cru Sauvage you need to take it higher..into the 50 C to really melt all the fat crystals. Valrhona is a good example where the instructions are to melt in the 50's because of the high cocoa butter content.

What is the glitter that she is using? Is it sanding sugar or something else?

Edward, put the mold thru a household dishwasher that has a much longer cycle. Then during or after the rinse cycle, take out and rinse again with a running tap. Get your compressor and dry the cavities as buffing with towel is too difficult. Derrick from Callebaut suggested drying with an air compressor.

nope, toothpaste won't work!!

Wrong!! I have many of the same molds for over 15 years and always use the dishwasher. I can't wash them as good as my dishwasher. Years ago I consulted with some of the mold manufacturers and they told me to use the dishwsher.

Edward, you are fairly advanced and experienced with your chocolate work. I don't think that the issue is your tempering ability. There was a posting about 2 years ago with someone having mold issues. This person learned that the problem was the water and the detergent he/she was using. I think that if using a commercial dish washer then perhaps the detergent is to caustic for your molds. Or, depending on the type of dishwasher, maybe the water is not hot enough to properly clean the deep crevices. Some of these machines have a load done in a few minutes. I always wash my molds with a dishwasher. I take them out after the rinse stage and dry with a tea towel. Well, that is my two cents!!

If it has worked fine with your test, then i would say that the metal backing is too cold and you need to let it warm up to within a few degrees of 31-32 Celsius. We have an old furnace in the shop and I turn the furnace on and I place the molds on a rack and let the heat blow onto the molds. The rack is probably 10 feet from the furnace. Or you can put the oven light on and let the mold, or more importantly, the metal back sit inside the oven warming from the heat of the light. And don't put in the fridge to set!! you should be able to pull the molded frame out of the mold in about an hour without refridgeration. I do this day in, day out.

I do alot of work with transfer sheets and airbrushing. I would agree with Edward that the transfer sheets are out of temper. I have had this happen to me and there is nothing you can do about it. I would contact the company and ask them to send you another sheet (of the same design) made in a different lot and see if you have any troubles. When molding you should get the molds to warm up but not exceed the temperature of your chocolate. Your tempered dark chocolate should not exceed 32C which is about 89F. You want the mold to be warm enough so that the chocolate will adhere to the transfer sheet. If the mold is to cool the chocolate will be shocked and not stick to the cocoa butter design. Then after you have molded the mold, set it aside and let the chocolate set. Don't put it in fridge. Your room is cool enough that you don't need to set it in the fridge. By setting at room temp this allows a good gluing affect of the chocolate to the transfer sheet. Later if you want to store the mold in the fridge for later use, then do so. I have never wiped my sheet/mold with a damp cloth and I think that step is a waste of time. I do mold my magnetic mold twice for technical reasons.