cheripie

You were right. Finally got a response today. Since I'm probably going to have to send the machine in, I just wish I hadn't wasted a week. Hand tempering here I come!

I've been trying to get ahold of Chocovision for almost a week. Left two messages with no return call. I'll try again tomorrow, but just curious if anyone's been in touch. Unfortunately the bowl is not spinning on my 3210. There's no tension on the spinning thing, so I think something's wrong on the inside. Just in time for Easter!

In NY you can check the Institute for Culinary Education - ICE - www.iceculinary.com They run classes for recreation and professionals throughout the year. They also have a career pastry program. Jean Pierre Wybauw and Andrew Schotts have both been there.

Excellent! Thanks.

I'm looking for molds for making peanut butter cups. I've seen Greweling's book where he shows how to make them individually using foil cups, but was wondering if anyone's seems molds where you can do a number at a time. Thanks!

You can use Gum Arabic to give the nuts a glossy coating. I got information on using it here, some time back. I've found the post but can't figure out how to link it. Anyway, it gives the nuts a gloss, and I don't think they end up sticky. But it's not a sugar coating, so you won't get that effect, if that's what you've after.

I was 42 when I got laid off from my Pension Consulting job. Now I'm a chocolatier. I like to tell people that now I use the other side of my brain. The first thing I did when I lost my job was take a week long "career discovery class" at the CIA Greystone in Napa CA. It was exposure to all aspects of pastry including bread and chocolate. The week long class gave me some idea of the skills I felt I lacked in terms of getting a job in the industry.After that I decided to go to a six month culinary school-specifically pastry. I had thought about it for years, but never had the nerve to give up a good salary. School was good for me but is certainly not for everyone. In the beginning it was like boot camp. In the end it was a great experience. I've also taken several classes at the Notter school. As someone else said, it's a great alternative to pick up some skills from top chefs without the huge expense. I've worked a several jobs (usually starting at 4AM) including stages at a restaurant, and a bakery/chocolate shop. I now have my own small chocolate business and at this point in my life it's what's for me. You may be able to get a position at a local bakery or supermarket without training. It really depends on what they need and how persistent you are. Taking a few basic classes wouldn't hurt. One last thing: in my past life, when I would meet someone and tell them what I did for a living, their eyes would glaze over. Now they get all excited and ask me if they could be my taster. You can't beat the joy of seeing someone enjoy a great piece of chocolate. Good luck to you in whatever path you take.

Sorry, I didn't catch the brand name. You might call the French Pastry School or send them an email and ask. ← Thanks David, I didn't even think of that. Luis ← Luis, If you were in FLA at Schott's class you could ask him what he uses! Sorry you couldn't make it. I'll ask him for you tomorrow if you like. Cheri

I won't comment on Wybauw's class because I haven't taken it yet. As to Schott's class: -He gave us great recipes to learn from and build on. Working in teams of two we were all given several recipes to work on, but he then went through all of them with the group -He talked about enrobing chocolates, and we got to work with an enrobing machine, as well as cutting with a guitar, and using transfer sheets/structure sheets. -We went through filling truffle shells and finishing them -He demonstrated airbrushing techniques and filling molds. -We learned about different types of packaging and how to make it all look attractive. -We made marzipan -He demonstrated panning -He did demonstrations based on our questions. Anyone who wanted to try something hands on, got to. There was a lot packed into a 3 day class. He was very available to answer any and all questions. I'd say that there was a range of experience from not very, to chocolate practitioners and store owners. He said his book was geared more to home chefs. The recipes we got to work with were for professionals. If you need more info, fell free to contact me. Cheri

It's New York Cake and Bake Distributors 56 W 22nd St # 1 New York, NY 10010 (212) 675-2253 I like to go to JB Prince for molds an other chocolate stuff. Just be aware that they're in an offoce building so you need to go upstairs - no store front on the street.

I bought the cherries without the pit (maraschino). I didn't really want to double dip because I thought it would come out too thick. I think I covered the stem, but certainly didn't try to make sure it was covered. I'll make sure next time... The pop rocks idea is great! Now I'm thinking I could dip them in nuts too. Doesn't solve my leakers, but a great thought. Thanks

I'm making chocolate covered cherries and they're leaking. I'm drying cherries (with stems), covering them with invertase laced fondant. Letting the fondant crust a bit, them dipping them in tempered chocolate. A few hours later some liquid is leaking through the chocolate where the stem is. Any ideas?

I needed to make a nut free carrot cake at work for someone with a nut allergy. Our large batch had nuts in it, so I made one without nuts. I started decorating it for the person who was coming in later that day. As I started putting the chopped nuts around the edges as was our normal decorating style, someone yelled WAIT!!!!. Too late. Back to the drawing board.

I was thinking it might be the chocolate, but it came out fine when I did it by hand. The box was opened just recently but I remember it happening with a past box too. I don't use white as often so I've put off dealing with it. I think the machine may need to go to the shop, but I need it next week - if only to do work with dark chocolate which does come out fine. I can adjust the temps on the rev2 but I'm not sure if the streaks indicate that the final temp is too cold, or if it's the intermediate temps that are off.

31% guittard

I've been having trouble tempering white chocolate lately with my rev 2. The final product often ends up with white streaks and gets stuck in the mold. I've tried agitating before I pour, heating up the mold slightly with a heat gun, cleaning the mold thouroughly with cotton, being very patient before I turn them out. I'm getting frustrated because I need to have something done today. I don't have a problem with milk or dark. Are the temperer temperatures (try saying that 3 times) off? I don't really think it's the mold, because if I just pour out extra chocolate at the end of a run, it gets streaky (and you can see some layering). I may have to do this by hand for now, but any insight would be appreciated.

You're welcome. I don't taste any difference from the normal pistachio taste. The enhanced color and the slight increase in crunch really works for me. I haven't tried any other nut. Thanks again for the help!

I ended up following the basic recipe from Kerry, but I added proportionally a bit more water since I used chopped nuts and the amount of surface area seemed to need it. (I used 200g nuts and when everything else was scaled down there was so little liquid.) I got what I was looking for even though the amateur photographs don't show it. Picture 1: You can sort of see the difference between the nuts on the left which were varnished and the nuts on the right which were not. Picture 2: here was my purpose Also, I did not put them in the oven. Mine wouldn't go that low.

I'll give it a try tomorrow. Thanks for the help!

Thanks, that would be great.

I took a chocolate class where we used gum arabic to coat pistachio nuts to make them shiny for the top of chocolates, but I don't have notes on it. Does anyone know the other ingredients? We didn't use a panning machine, just on top on the stove.

Well I got the sale yesterday! Thanks in no small part to the preparation I did with the information from egulleters. I feel like I got a good price and was knowledgable discussing the points raised here and it other posts. Now I will be concentrating on pesky items like insurance. Also, I would highly recommend a class with Andrew Schotts any time you get the chance. He was so giving of his experience and knowledge. I feel that class gave me the tools to take my chocolates to the next level, and I got the benefit of that when the people that owned the shop (who buy Cluizel, Vosges and others), thought my chocolate was worthy. Truffle Guy, Best of Luckon your venture and thanks so much for taking the time for putting down your thoughts and advice. Cheri

Great information. Would you set your prices with 10% profit whether you are selling wholesale or retail? Thanks for the links; very helpful.

Any ideas on pricing and shelf life?

Let see if I can keep this short. My brain is on overload. I've finally put myself out there, meaning bringing my chocolates to an upscale chocolate shop (they don't make their own, only sell) to see if they'd be interesting in selling mine. I've been selling to friends, friends of friends, and at small vendor fairs, so this would be a big step for me. I've been doing this for some time (and learning loads from this site as well as books and classes) so I'm stressed...OK this is already too long. Another aside - I'm out of town and don't have access to my Schotts book, Wybauw book, etc. so I appreciate any help. Now to the questions: 1.How long do you tell a shop to keep chocolates on their shelf. I'm using basic gananches, some with trimoline, but most without. If you sell a number of different fillings, do you go with the one with the shortest shelf life for all? (I assume one with a fruit puree would be the shortest?) 2. How much do I need to worry about how their storage is? The day I was in there, it wasn't as cool as I would have hoped, but it's a small space and the door keeps opening... 3. How do I decide on pricing? I know how much the ingredients cost me, and I know how much I sell them for (mostly based how much the market around here will bear) but what's a reasonable price for me to sell to them. Do you reduce prices for really large volumes? 4. Any other tips? Well this certainly wasn't short, but I hope you'll be patient. More questions will probably pop into my head as I restlessly try to sleep tonight. It's all good!