SugarGirl

For storage, I've found large coolers, such as Igloo, to be good in spaces that aren't AC'ed. If you buy two big gel paks, you can keep one in the cooler and one in the fridge or the freezer, and alternate them daily to keep the temp in the cooler chocolate-friendly. Just make sure that the chocolate is in an impermeable container or raised off the bottom of the cooler so that any condensation that comes off the gel pak doesn't make it wet.

I bought a Delonghi 7 qt mixer a few months ago, and the tines on the whip attachment are breaking at an alarming rate. I mostly make marshmallows and nougat, which I know are hard work for the whip, but I'd love to avoid having to buy a new whip every couple months. Does anyone know if there's a way to reinforce the tines so that they don't break, or to re-attach them if they do? Thank you!

I just came back from vacation with macadamia nuts, too! I was dying to try them in a lime dessert, so I made Jane Lawson's Macadamia Cake posted here http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=476 It's delicious! The texture turned out quite light, though it is pretty buttery. I creamed the lime zest with the butter. And I didn't make the syrup because it was already sweet and lime-y enough for me.

Sorry, to clarify, my melted chocolate is starting at 115 and I'm using pistoles straight from the box to seed it; the pistoles are in fine condition. I also tried taking the melted chocolate up to 120 yesterday, but the resulting temper after seeding didn't improve.

I've been tempering chocolate using the seeding method in my chocolate melter for the past year without a problem, but all of a sudden today, I can't get a decent temper! Whenever I temper, the chocolate looks very grainy and streaky; one batch of bloomed chocolate is so light it almost looks like milk chocolate. It's become pretty cold in LA (well, for LA -- it's probably around 60 in the kitchen, maybe lower), and I'm wondering if that is affecting the temper? Is it setting too quickly? Has anyone had issues tempering in a cold kitchen? It was also raining today (though now it's stopped), but I'm not sure if humidity was a factor. I've tried tempering with minimal amount of seed and keeping the temp around 90-91, but it doesn't seem to help really. Any help would be appreciated!

I make ginger syrup all the time for drinks. Add club soda, and it's homemade ginger ale. A squeeze of lime makes it even better... and a shot of Gosling's Black Seal Rum makes it a homemade Dark & Stormy.

Does anyone have advice about scaling up marshmallow recipes? I'm wondering how to adjust the whipping time so that the marshmallows turn out the same. I am planning to scale up the recipe by 150%, and it will be made in a 7 qt mixer (1000 watts) instead of a 5 qt mixer (750 watts). Right now, I whip them for 12.5 minutes. In developing the recipe I have now, I found over-whipping causes them to be tough, and under-whipping causes them to be less fluffy... and I want them to be just right. Thanks!

Ok, so after splurging on a Thermapen, I've realized that the thermometer is probably not the reason that my caramels are setting so soft (though thank goodness I love the Thermapen!). When I make my caramel recipe, I caramelize the sugar first, and then add the dairy. I use the dry method of caramelization, and I gradually add the sugar to the pot until it's all caramelized. It turns out a deep amber -- not burnt, but full caramel flavor. Baking911 says: "Light caramel will harden into a very hard, glasslike sheet. Dark will harden into a softer texture; the darker the caramel, the softer it will be when it hardens with the most caramel taste. " So think it's the dark caramel that contributes to the softness. I don't know what to do, though, for it to consistently set just a bit more firm to get the same flavor.... I can't get a light caramel color when I use the dry method with a large amount of sugar-- it always goes to deep amber. Batches boiled to the usual temp of 248 set erratically, perhaps based on the degree of caramelization. I boiled one batch to 255.... and it still set soft! My thoughts would be to use the wet method and stop the caramel before it gets too dark, or to add more butter as a way to help the stand up quality.... but both would result in a different flavor. Personally, I like how silky the caramels are... but they do tend to droop in a not-too-pretty way... and I'm not sure that everyone would appreciate that. Anyone ever go through this issue? Any advice?

When I make caramels, I caramelize the sugar first, and then add the dairy, and I'm going on 3 months of shelf life testing without any crystallization. I'm not sure if caramelizing the sugar first would call for changes to the recipe, though (it sounds like your mixing the ingredients altogether in the beginning).

Ok, I think it's the thermometer. I was using a Taylor stainless steel one w/ a clasp on the back (I only bought it a couple months ago), but I figured that with this problem, I may as well try a digital. I used a CDN digital thermometer w/ a probe on a wire and the Taylor for the last batch... and the Taylor showed a good 8-10F hotter than the CDN. I took it off the heat 248 according to the CDN, and it seems to be setting normally! Finally! Now I'm wondering about what the candy thermometer of choice is...? I just want a thermometer that I can trust most of the time! Btw, Ruth, I just realized that I have your book! It's great! Edit: I've noticed for the past couple of weeks that my boiled confections have been boiling up pretty fast. I guess this is why, though I don't really understand how it can be so off... Low pressure for this long!?

There's no milk -- are the fats in the cream so different that they wouldn't contribute to the stand up quality? I was thinking about the sugar inverting more b/c of the increased cooking time, but the batches don't seem to take a very long time. The weather has been pretty normal, I don't think low pressure... a little hot if anything, but not enough to make them this soft! I'll testing the next batch w/ slab or cold water and let you know how it goes!

My pots are stainless steel, and I'm using the same ingredients, scaled-- milk solids are cream (organic valley) and butter. It's so odd, my smaller batches always turned out about the same, and now my larger batches are, too... only soft! I'm also making the larger batches into thicker layers (1/2" instead of 1/4" inch), but I can tell by the caramel that sticks to the thermometer and spatula are softer to begin with, too. I'm familiar with the cold water test, but what's a slab test? Thanks for helping!

I've used the same recipe for chewy caramels for a while now. I used to make relatively small batches in a 3 qt pot that I cooked to 247, and they turned out chewy and firm enough to pick up. I've started making larger batches in a 6 qt pot, and ever since, they're setting too soft, even after cooking them to 248. They don't keep their shape and are really squishy. Any ideas why this is happening? I guess the obvious solution is that I should try cooking my larger batches to 249 or 250, and see what happens, but I'm trying to figure out what's going on. I use moderate heat when I make caramels, so I didn't think that my smaller batches were over-shooting 247... but that's the only thing that I can think of -- that when I make the smaller batches, the temperature gets higher than I think it does...?

I've cut off pieces of orange pith alone to taste and always found them to be bland -- it seems like it's the translucent part that's bitter. Also, if you're using Valencia oranges, I've found that their peel is more bitter than Navels.

I've made nougats that have changed texture over time, too. You may also want to try adjusting the recipe a bit by replacing some of the granulated sugar with a liquid sugar and increasing the egg whites slightly.

I'm not overly concerned with making it exactly like the original, so I didn't really take similarity to Twix into account - just wanted something that tasted good. That said, I think it's pretty close - one of my neighbors called it a "pretty faithful improvement on the original." The overall effect is pretty dry, though. Having a looser caramel will help with that, I imagine. A softer cooker would too, but then it wouldn't be as shelf-life friendly. It's still a work in progress - creative suggestions and ideas most welcome! ← Hey Tammy -- Looks great! I do a similar style of candy bar -- with malt ganache on top of shortbread. You may want to try a caramel ganache on top of the cookie; or maybe more cream in the caramel might help (more butter might make it too buttery, what with the shortbread). And definitely a good dose of salt. Have you had any moisture migration issues with the caramel and shortbread? I pre-coat the cookie in tempered milk chocolate; it's time consuming, but with ganache, it's definitely necessary. I find that my cookie lasts for about 2 weeks in the bar and same with the ganache, so that's my shelf-life. When I was developing mine, most tasters wanted a thinner cookie -- that might help with the dryness issue. Also, have you tried baking your shortbread as a slab, and then cutting it just at the end of the bake? I use an expandable rolling cutter for that, and it gives a straight sides to them all. Then you could cut the caramel to the same size and lay it on top a piece at a time (possible chill it briefly to make it pick-up-able; or maybe coat the one side of the caramel with chocolate, like a foot on slabbed ganache, cut it, and put it chocolate-side down on the cookie, and it would also help with moisture migration to boot). I still do have to sort of "shape" the ganache on top to make it all uniform. Here are some pic's: http://www.bonbonbar.com/maltbar1.html http://www.sweetnapa.com/2008/03/05/weekly...hortbreads.html

I just thought that I'd add my voice to this thread because I started a small chocolate business in LA about a month ago. It's called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bonbonbar.com/">BonBonBar</a>, and I specialize in candy bars and marshmallows that are handmade with organic and local ingredients whenever possible. I'm working out of a rented commercial kitchen, and doing mail order and wholesale. I'd love to have my own store one day, with lots of varieties of candy bars! If anyone has any advice about PR -- especially about getting the word out in the local area -- I'd love to hear it. I want to build a local customer base, especially for gift baskets and party favors. I've been giving out samples whenever I can (usually of extra products) -- to publications that I email first, and to friends and their companies. And I've been getting a nice amount of sales directed from my food blog that I've written for a couple years. I also just started Google Adwords, but I'm getting clicks without purchases. Also any wholesale tips would be great. I've encountered stores that double the wholesale price ... and those who do 30% markup (which is what I based my wholesale price on)... I decided not to sell to the double wholesale price stores because double my wholesale price would have resulted in too high of a price for customers... and I didn't want to lower my price. I'm also wondering about out of town wholesale -- I would pay for shipping, right (ie it's included in my wholesale price)? If so, it seems like it would cost me more to be carried in a store in a diff't city than in my own city (where I can deliver it myself for not as much in gas costs)?

I experienced that problem before when the chocolates in our luster dusted molds just became "sticky" one day and never quite recovered, but we never did come up with a good explanation or solution. We put them in the freezer until they would come out -- sometimes for 15 minutes or longer. Someone once told me that a thicker chocolate shell helps de-molding them easier, so maybe that's something to try if you don't mind a thicker shell.

Ok, so I tried substituting some rice flour for the flour, but it was a little too crumbly for me so I didn't enrobe it. Using colder butter helped a bit -- there were fewer leaks. Creaming the butter at about 65F seemed eliminate the problem, but I want to try it again to make sure. It changed the texture a little bit, but was still nice and crunchy inside the chocolate Pastry Guru - It's 4oz butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 2.6 oz sugar, and 5 oz flour. Really delicious... and fatty, it's true. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Kerry - Thanks. Well, it happens with a milk chocolate coating, too... and I'm not sure if I'd want to add even more butter to these things. But really, I like the chocolate to be snappy for them, too. I thought that fat bloom was cloudy, not wet? The chocolate itself looks fine otherwise.

Wow, thanks everyone! I'm going two try out two different batches -- one with a percentage of the flour substituted with rice flour (which I'd prefer over cornstarch; but I don't want to change change the flavor/texture too much, so maybe just 10%...?) and one with a slightly firmer butter. I'll report back. gfron1 - hehe Glad you love this investigative stuff. I hadn't thought about the possibility of too cold of a pan, but other chocolate-dipped things that I make are fine. The film of fat is quite liquid -- it never really sets solid like cocoa butter and can be wiped off with a paper towel (sometimes the liquid fat returns, sometimes it doesn't), so I think it's butter fat. highchef - Yeah, I'm afraid that the cookie is too fat, too... Oddly enough, though, I've tried to decrease the butter by as little as 5%, and it doesn't taste as good. As I said, I'll try some rice flour. helenjp - That is true, about the greasier browned shortbread -- when it's brown all the way through, it gets funky, esp when dipped. I bake a slab at 300F, then lower it to 275F, over the course of an hour or longer ( I cut it up about 35 minutes into it, and lower the temp so it doesn't brown all the way through), so I should have said that it's golden brown on the bottom but a bit lighter on the top. I think that you're right, though... proper doneness is crucial. Cadbury - Thanks, will try a cooler butter.

I'm fully dipping shortbread in tempered chocolate, but for every batch that I make, a few finished ones develop blotches of a fatty film on the bottom. It seems like fat from the butter is leaking out from the cookie. It usually happens at a weak point in the chocolate coating, but there's sometimes no discernible point of exit. Any ideas how this could be prevented? The shortbread is made with very soft butter, salt, sugar, and flour, and baked until golden brown. It's a crunchy shortbread. I've tried pre-coating the cookie in untempered chocolate b/c I thought that maybe the tempered chocolate was contracting too strongly directly on the cookie... but it didn't make a difference. Neither did baking them the night before, and putting them on paper towels to soak up some fat. Maybe some sort of starch would help? I want to keep it as crunchy as possible, though...

Thanks, choux! I missed that passage. I'm not too crazy about his logic, though. To me, it's just as easy to scale out a fraction of an ounce as however many grams. Oh, well. I guess I'll go with the metric, like Kerry.

So... I want to try out some recipes in this book, but the measurements in ounces and grams are inconsistent with each other in a lot of places and I'm wondering which measurements people are using for the recipes -- metric or imperial? I'm used to thinking that 1 oz = 28.35 g, but I'll accept that it can be rounded to 1 oz = 30 g. But throughout the book, 1 oz can equal anywhere from 20 g to 40 g. With confections, that can make a huge difference! For example, on p 315, for nougat montelimar recipe, here's a sample of the ingredients and measurements: Sugar 30 g / 1 oz Fresh Egg Whites 50 g / 2 oz Hazelnuts 70 g / 3 oz See what I mean? The more I look through the book, the more I see this issue pop up. Am I missing something? I guess a solution would be to go through and recalculate the weights based on the percentages that he gives, but that sounds... a little tedious. Any thoughts? I bought the book immediately when it came out -- maybe I have some kind of faulty edition?

If there's a Smart & Final near you, they should sell 1 pound canisters of Knox gelatin. I don't remember how much I got mine for, but it was less than normal for that amount. I've made plenty of gelations and marshmallows with it, and still have lots left! So far this summer, I've made strawberry and champagne (alternating layers; in the French Laundry Cookbook) and this red currant gelee recipe topped with diced peaches, whipped cream, and ollalieberries (http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/red-currant-gelee-with-blackberries). At other times of the year, I like segmenting grapefruit and gelating it in its juices, and steeping mint in tangerine/orange juice is also good for it. The watermelon sounds fantastic -- can't wait to try it!

I'd use a cookie that favors brown sugar, liquid sugar (molasses, honey, lyle's, agave, glucose), alchohol, clarified butter, or liquid fats (oil). They shouldn't freeze that hard. In my experience, regular butter and cream cheese freeze hard in cookies -- I nearly broke teeth on frozen snickerdoodles and walnut cookies in ice cream sandwiches -- but as long as they're softened by other ingredients, they'll work. Sorry, I don't have any recipes handy, but I know that that the molasses cookies in the Lucques cookbook worked really well for ice cream sandwiches when I replaced clarified butter and oil for the shortening (I just happen to not like shortening). Those were amazing with plum sorbet