prairiegirl

Thanks Kerry. I am always quite blessed with all your input and knowledge. You and many others who post your various outcomes save me a lot of time and effort by knowing what works well, and by what doesn't. The sponge toffee is a good example. Oh, panning machines..I have two big machines sitting in storage. I will have to get instruction on how to use them once I get the shop going. I may go to Glendale for the help. Thanks.

Kerry, Did you use a Canadian source?

Kerry, I have a small wine cooler that i bought from the Brick. I wish it was bigger, but that is where I store all my bonbons. Currently I have my bulk chocolate stored at room temp in my kitchen. The bonbons in the wine cooler are in foil lined box and then wrapped in plastic to make it airtight. The bulk chocolate at room temp is wrapped very very well and then wrapped again in empty cereal bags...such as cherios, rice krispies, etc. because I find that this cello/plastic is very airtight. The key to all things is the airtightness. Of course temp does matter as I don't want the bonbons to freeze.

Lior, Fruit compound is very strong in flavour and does contain artificial flavouring and colours. It would be much easier for me to use rather than making my own purees. I am a puritan and am dead against anything artificial so I would never use them. To use these flavourings, you only need a very small amount. I am sure that these flavourings would also extend the shelf life of a chocolate bonbon.

It would be hard for me to appreciate or even take Hershey seriously as I cannot stand their chocolate. I do realize they are trying to get into the high end chocolate business as per recent acquisitions but really...thanks but no thanks.!!

Serj, I agree with you about the Earl Grey. I did not like the Chocolate Obsession one as it came out too weak and almost to buttery in texture. I have not tried the Greweling recipe yet. I always go directly as the recipe reads the first time around and then I alter the recipe to match what I like...then I give out samples to my clientele and get their opinion! I have used a passion fruit compote with a lemoncello liqueuer ganache and have had many compliments on it. It is a take off from the Strawberry pate/balsamic ganache recipe. i have also done the passion fruit marshmallows using the chocolate obsession recipe which I like much better than any of the other marshmallow recipes. This is an awesome combination!!

When I am working with very unique fine dark chocolate such as Vintage Plantations, or Amano, or even if I had yours Alan, I like to mould a very straight forward ganache with no added flavouring to showcase the chocolate. A fine couverature needs nothing else!! And yes, I do like to pair as well, but that comes later after I have showcased it.!!!

I made passion fruit marshmallows and they were quite delicious. I used Boiron as that was all I can get at that moment. My Valrhona rep sells Napa Valley so I am eager to buy some from him. I want to do a green apple marshmallow for my kids!

I agree with Patrick. I rarely do much moulding or dipping with white because it is too sweet. My clientele tell me they like my chocolates because they are not overly sweet as compared to Bernard callebaut which they do find sweet. Now, the keylime in white would be a good combo and I might do some. Balsamic vinegar ganache is very nice in dark so I will be doing some of those. Patrick, I was in Orlando for holidays in Feb and I wanted to check out some chocolate shops. There were very few, maybe only one that might have been worth seeing. I did try to go to one that was listed in the phone book and we couldn't find it, but it was closed on sundays anyhow. My point is that there is excellent potential in Orlando for high end chocolates.

I have my own answer. I found out the hard way. The Bernardin pectin won't work as it does not contain any calcium. I did find some Pomona Uiversal Pectin today and will use it soon.

I have bought some "Bernardin" Pectin to use for now. Will this work for my fruit pate's? I will purchase some G pectin down the road but for now I just want to monkey around with some of the recipes. This is a Canadian product.

Getting back to an earlier posting about corn syrup...glucose. At the grocery store I can buy a 250mL bottle of corn syrup. when I go to Michaels they sell that small tub of glucose which in small print has "corn syrup" My question is: Does the glucose tub at Michaels have less water content than the bottle of Lily White Corn syrup at the grocery store? Second question is in regards to Sqwerls post about invert sugar Nuveline(? possibly misspelled!) Which is better to use: corn syrup or the invert sugar? Hey I finally got my book! oh yeah, oh yeah!!!

My favouite is the crocodile display.

If you do up a poster board with pictures of you in the kitchen making the chocolate, that could encourage curiosity from the public. I would try to offer some small solid chocolate samples, less than a 2 gram sample in weight so you aren't going to go broke!! but with the solid sample encourage them to let it melt in their mouth and get them to observe the mouth feel...taste... etc... Good luck. Taste will win out to any chocoholic.!! Please let us know how it goes for you. I have been doing chocolate tasting presentations for corporations. In my town I have Bernard Callebaut to compete with! At the presentations we sample different high end chocolate from the different trees..Arriba, Criollo, forestero and I don't have trinitario yet! I am able to soft sell myself through the presentation as I explain many of the different aspects of chocolate and as to why my moulded chocolate is so special!! many of my customers tell me my chocolate is better than Bernard's and I take that as huge complement and I am absolutely anal as to what I use for ingrediants. No compromise!!

yes, that's it. Thanks.

I know that I read in some posting somewhere of a European source...possibly Dutch, that sell confectionary packaging. I did a search and I am not having any luck in finding the psoting. Does anyone know who this particular company is?

My reference to chocolate is not a moulded one, but just straight chocolate. The research I have studied is with chocolate. The research is not from cocoa beans that have not yet been fermented. I am not saying that you should eat chocolate to get your daily dose of antioxidants! But, there is some health benefits to a good quality dark chocolate. And have I done an extensive amount of research to know that. Bye the way Art, I had a good conversation with Clark and I am looking forward to getting some of your fine chocolate for my chocolate tastings.

John, take a pill.!! But, I do agree with you. I don't think that chocolate and wine are a good mix. Current culture and trends want this pairing. It is different and unique and that is what the X'ers want. When you are in the chcolate business you better respond to the demands and trends or you will be out of business. Now chocolate, coffee, wine and even tea have very similar parallels in terms of how they taste, and especially from where the goods are from, the soil, the processing techniques... I live in an OIL RICH town and people don't want garbage anything. They want the Puruvian blah blah blah, etc.

I do chocolate tasting presentations and I always do a ton of research to make sure I am keeping up with the latest buzz. Part of my presentation is about all the health benefits of chocolate. My brother in law is a neurologist and they send me any info they get in their medical journals. Kerry, I am sure with your "day job"!! that you see some of the medical research. Dark chocoate is getting a lot of attention these days. The forestero contains the highest amount of antioxidants.

Just a quick suggestion. When you want the invert sugar etc. and don't want to buy a huge quantity. Try going to a bakery or pattiserrie and ask if they could sell you 250 ml or whatever it is you need.

Where do I fid a good bagel recipe?

Please remember that when cocoa paste is pressed after roasting and the cocoa butter is removed, with the larger industrial chocolate makers, they deodorize the butter. This does take away from the flavour. I would strongly suspect that guittard would do this. El-Rey does not deodorize. When I do chocolate tastings I give the audience two different types of white chocolate. I have them smell the difference between the two...deodorized vs. non-deodorized. Then I go into the dark chocolate tasting having them keep this in mind. My standard chocolate is the Forestero (usually Cocoa Barry 64%) and then we taste two other tree species varieties...criollo and Arriba. I need to get some Trinitario! My point is that when cocoa beans get processed, if the cocoa butter is deodorized it will affect the taste of the chocolate.

Try chocolat-chocolat in Montreal.

Thakns Gap

I will get the book, but, for now, what is a cream siphon?