prairiegirl
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Posts posted by prairiegirl
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My sister is in a professional photography program and she took pictures of my chocolates. These pictures were not touched up at all.
I have some others to post but I need to get them out of her camera!
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I made marshmallows last week and this one is "coconut"
My next bunch of marshmallows will be titled "Marshmallows with an Attitude" and they will absolutely crazy and off the wall!
I have a hand marshmallow that I will post. It is still in my sister's camera and I hope to get it tonight!
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Great information Art. Always lots to learn. I do my chocolate tastings and i have one segment that I call Terroir tasting. I can honestly say that your Madagascar is my favourite. It is so full of character! Your other bars are also fabulous! I am very curious and anxious to know what you have up your sleeve for your next batches!
Deb.
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Thaks for the help. The pan I used was not a heavy bottomed pan and I did 1/2 batch of the Borion. Overall, the Nan King cherry pdf turned out very nice. I was carefull as to not go near the burnt bottom!! I am considering buying an induction stovetop for my counter to do caramels, pdf, etc.
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I will be doing it professionally and will gladly pay the price for a good refractometer. I just bought a laser infrared thermometer for $100 and I can't believe I went this long without one.
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I hve made only a few batches of pdf and yesterday I made a 1/2 batch using the passion fruit Borion recipe. I found that the puree was burning on the very bottom of my pot. I was stirring and I was using a high heat. What temperature should my stove be at? Should I use medium-high heat, or medium, or ?. My kids were asking me what is burning as my whole house had a burnt odour!! I did pour the unburnt part into a tray and today they seem quite good. Another question is what brand and model of refractometer do you recommend? I would appreciate all and any advice.
Thanks.
Deb.
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I have some of the Askinosie nibs and I mould small 5 gram bars of 64% Cocoa Barry and put the nibs on top and I think they are absolutely delicious. Their nibs are very very nice. The have done an excellent job of getting the husk off. I have El-rey nibs and I worry that I might break a tooth because there are so poorly cleaned and dehusked!
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Wow, great pictures!! I have a lady who owns a lingerie shop and she wants me to do the "private body part" vchocolates! So the breasts were very interesting and think a good seller. I would love to do those for Valentines next year.
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[quote
For the ganache to be cut with the guitar the proportions were 290 g cream, 40 g invert sugar, 410 g dark chocolate, 40 g butter. This was topped with a coconut ganache that used 180 g of boiron coconut pulp, 300 g white chocolate, 30 g invert sugar, 30 g cocoa butter and 40 g of dried coconut.
Am I correct in assuming that the coconut ganache does not contain cream?
Thanks for sharing all this fabulous info with us.
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It seems to be culteral! I can't imagine bark that is not broken in pieces. I have to laugh because my mechanic, Ussi is from Isreal and he gave a neighbor some chocolate from Isreal that contains pop rocks. The neighbor said "what is it with you people from the middle East, it sems everything you do needs to blow up!!" (the neighbor was joking of course, but I thought it was a funny story and my mechanic got a good laugh out of it!)
I ordered some samples from Amoretti and it was at my doorstep in 24 hours!! One of the samples is rose oil. I would like to get the rose mold and make a solid chocolate containing the rose oil. It should be a Valentine's hit.
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Maybe I misread his post but I don't think he's looking for a ganache. I think he's talking about chocolate, temperable and able to be used anywhere you would use any other chocolate, that has a caramel flavor. Maybe make a caramel, bring the temp down, work it into some melted chocolate then see if you can temper it? I have no idea if it would work but I'm willing to give it a shot. Worst case I'll have some caramel flavored chocolate I can't temper. I'm sure I can find something to do with it.
You may be right but hopefully this info is helpful to others.
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There are only so many hours in a day to do what we need to do. I would love to make my own chocolate, but, because of time, I am better off by a high quality couverture from someone who has the time and expertise to make the chocolate. That is why you have chocolatiers, and also why you have chocolate manufacturers. I specialize in making delicious centres and molded shapes, I have decided to let the chocolate making professionals make the chocolate.
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I just got back from a demo by Derek Poirier, Valrhona chef. He was on the American pastry team with Andrew Shotts. The first demo he did was...CARAMEL GANACHE!!!
Ingredients:
345 g sugar
125 g melted butter
680 g whipping cream 35%
45 g glucose
345 g dark chocolate (Tainori 64%) You could use what ever you want.
Make a dry caramel with sugar. Derek says tht you should cook until you see foam on top. Says most people don't cook long enough. Deglaze with the melted butter and finish with the hot mixture of cream and glucose.
Create a proper emulsion with the melted chocolate.
Allow to crystallize in the fridge for 4-6 hours.
To create a proper emulsion you must pore tje caramel mixture into the melted chocolate. And not all at once. Pore maybe 1/4 and then emulsify with an immersion blender, add some more, blend.... The ganache may break at first, but as you add more liquid it will emulsify.
My notes about emulsifying:
Derek says chocolate and liquid don't mix, therefore you must emulsify properly. If done properly you will get an outstanding texture and awesome mouth feel. When working with the ganache you must make sure you keep the base temp up at about 35 C. If you have added 1/2 your liquid and the temp has dropped to below 35 C then put in micro to warm slightly. Derek used a laser thermometer to check. Oh, I should say that he says that the chocolate should be melted to 45 C before added any liquid (such as the cream). The 2nd best way to melt chocolate is the micro, but ultimately the best is if you had the heater oven or maybe even your mol d'art and melt over night (12 hours).
The glucose (10% of total weight), or invert helps with texture. The invert also acts as a preservative.
If you add butter to the ganache, make sure the ganache is 40 C or less and that the butter is soft, then mix it in. Best to use the immersion blender.
Hope these notes help. He passed the caramel ganache around and it was very very nice. I attended the Callebaut demo with Derek Pho and he had a totally different method for doing ganaches. His method was to pour hot cream over chipits and let rest for 2 minutes. Then use a robot coupe or immersion blender to mix. Every chef has a different style. I would say that the Valhona demo today produced very nice ganaches that had an excellent texture...this leads to fabulous moutfeel which is an essential part of every chocolatier's success.
I am hoping to have some pictues emailed to me to be posted here just showcasing some plated desserts that Derek did.
Good luck!
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Yes, you can attach an enrober to the tempering machine. They have a new "automatic tempering machine" that has the enrobing attachment. last quote I had, it would cost $19k including delivery for the whole unit. I am checking with current owners to see how they like it. A Montreal chocolate store says they are happy with it. I do need to check with other owners. The machine is new for them so they haven't sold too many. Maybe 4 last time I spoke to Perfect. The Selmi would cost $33k with the enrober.
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I'm interested.
Deb.
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My goal is to have a shop this year. I have found someone who is willing to share space with me and I said I would like a start up date of March 1st. Still chasing a grant and it is on the go. Things to do: find a good name, package design, website...
This will be an exciting year. Almost was sold on the Selmi but the enrobing line is another 10k, so I will stick with perfect Equipment from Quebec.
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Lior, Those look awesome.
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Tri2cook,
i agree with you about using 100% puree instead of 50/50. I have done that from day one and it works well. You get a good flavour via that method.
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I just took 1kg of frozen "nan king cherry" juice out of the freezer. I plan on making marshmallows, and fruit jellies with it. I may also attempt turkish Delight. I picked these berries for almost 10 days straight last year!! I have almost or maybe even more than 50 Litres!!!! I need to start using this stuff.
Tonight I am going to dip my cherries that have been steeping in tequila for over a year into fondant and chocolate for liqueured cherries. i should be sick of making chocolate as this season was hectic...but I can hardly wait!
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Lior,
Amadei is the brother/sister team from Italy. The ones mentioned are fairly young companies in that they have only been around for less than 18 months!! They are making awesome chocolate!! I am going to PM you with some suggestions on how to get American products shipped for cheaper!
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Lior,
I have 4 kids and it is difficult at times. The ages are 16,15,11,10 and I have been doing chocolate since they were small. It does get hectic at times. My house is an absolute disaster at Christmas time because I am so busy trying to get orders out. Now that the kids are older, my husband makes them help clean and organize the house. They do it with much complaining! When they were small they would wait for a certain sound -where I would bang the mould before demoulding- and then they would come running because they knew the chocolate was ready for eating!! My concerns now are how to increase production and what equipment should I be buying. I keep going back and forth on different ideas.
There is always plenty to learn! I will be learining new things about chocolate until the day I die!
With my presentations I educate people on what chocolate really is. I go thru a whole explanation of deodorized vs. non deodorized and then we sample exquisite chocolate from each of the 4 variations of cocoa trees. Lately I have used Amano Chocolate, Askinosie Chocolate, Vintage Plantations, and then for my Forestaro I use Cocoa Barry 64% Quayaquil. The first 3 companies have a great story of what they are doing so I share that with my audiences. People love to hear positive news of what is going on in the world, and the first 3 companies are truly making a difference in people's lives.
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I started working with chocolate in 1995. Within two years I had people buying from me at Christmas. Business has literally exploded for me and I need to get out of my house! I have only sold thru friends and word of mouth. I have developed an expertise in chocolate and have been doing chocolate tasting presentations for corporations. They call me, again from word of mouth. I don't advertise because I am not in a commercial kitchen. I am looking for a location and because I am in probably thee most expensive city in Canada right now, leasing is expensive, so finding a space is not easy. It all began with making chocolate for fun and people found out!!
I am responsible for creating many a chocolate snob!!
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I make my own fondant that I use for dipping cherries in ...the result is liqueured cherries. I have never made the cream fillings as I find them too sweet. But if there is a demand for the product by my clientele then I will make them!
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I am a chocolatier and an absolute chocolate snob...but..okay..PMS.. a Cadbury Caramilk milk chocolate bar with a black black cup of coffee.
Confectionary bars are usually not anywhere in my vocab as edible chocolate!!!
Chocolates with that showroom finish, 2004 - 2011
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
The cookie is icewine buttercream. The one on the far right with 1/2 blue the other choc is Earl Grey taken from "chocolate obsession", The heart next to the cookie is "rose" I used the rose oil sample I received from Amoretti(?). In the front is green chocolate drizzling down a (cherry) mould! This is mint buttercream (my 10 yr old,Ashley, her favourite). The bubbles, next to the mint buttercream is a champagne truffle, and to the left of that is a coconut ganache truffle.