pringle007

I have found the cost to be very effective if you can get it in bulk.

I use powdered egg whites, either in bulk from the local amish market, or Just Whites, in all my mallow cremes and fillings. I dont think you can taste any difference and they seem to give you more room for error when beating. I use a 2tsp - 2tbsp ratio for each egg white called for in a recipe, but I have been experimenting a good bit lately and have found 8 tsp can easly give you the same effect as 5-6 standard whites. And I just leave mine in the bulk foods bag they came in from the market. Once mixed, they must be treated like true egg whites.

When using oil, do you want to add it to the end of the cooking process? Like say yo wanted to make a peppermint flavored syrup..would you add the oil after the soluton had bouled or should you add it in the begining?

I can just say, when I firswt started making choolates and was less informed, I did try buttercreams enrobbed that way. And yeah, it did make an *explicitive* mess On the other hand, I just made a soft batch of "Birthday Cake" mallows that I plan to dip in chocolate later this evening.

I did a tribute to Elvis last year where I did a banana ganche molded in chocolate. I put a thin layer of a Peanut Butter ganache I made. They had a VERY short shelf life!! The banana in the ganache seemed to turn very quickly. I used fresh bananas and made a puree with a bit of Confects sugar, but after just a few days the ganach darkened up a bit and had that "bad bananas" taste

Make a blood orange marshmallow creme as a topper

Have you tried the caramel yet?

I toyed with a low carb online bakery last winter. Between online sales and sales from a few forums I posted to, I was doing around $125/week in sales. Not bad for something I didn't put much thought into, so the market is there. One thing to watch.. Many of the sweetners, like Splenda, contain alot of carbs. I beleiev Splends has like 24 carbs/cup.

Would I need to refrigerate a product made with powdered egg whites if such things were the only perishable item n the product. Say, for example, if I were to make marshmallow cream with powdered egg whites as opposed to real whites?

Thanks Kerry! Im familiar with coconut oil and have some onhand already. It never occured to me that was the "coconut fat".

In several of the Greweling recipes in his text, he calls for the use of coconut fat. What is this? Coconut milk? Creme de Caco?

I have been on Atkins/Keto diets for the past 14 months. I have lost almost 140 lbs, so this question is right up my alley. I dont think Atkins has changed much of the way people eat. People, especially those in the Low Carb community, still splurge. When they do, they hit bakeries. I am a member of countless Low Carb/Keto/BB forums and sooo many people hit up bakeries on their carb days. However, if you are worried about that nitch, add low carb or sugar free cookies, cakes, etc to your menu.

Chris, I made those same chocolates from his book, but instead of using Absinthe or Pastis, I used Jagermeister and they were amazing. They remain my all time favorite chocolate!

Thank you all so much! Excellent, honest opinions. And great advice on other temper machiine makers to check out!

I am thinking of buying a chocolate tempering machine. Is the chocovison worth the investment?

Amazing ideas guys! I like that Great chocoLakes..hmmm

My gandmother used to candy rhubarb every summer. She sliced it thin, into about three or four inch strips, then took the raw rhubarb and dipped it in a sugr syrup. After that cooled, she oured another suagr mixture over them. Shes gone to the big kitchen up in the sky now, but the stuff was great. I inherited all her cookbooks and journals, and I have never found here canding method anywhere.

Ok, I know this may not belong here, but I come here and read everything you guys have to say and I have come to respect the opinions of many of you. I never post pics of my work or get all that involved in the forums..I guess I am a silent member, but believe me, I check in several times a day! My question. Im opening up my first confection shop in a small, indoor market that will be open through December. If businees is good, they go year round. Last weekend, the market did 20,000 visitors (Yeah, its in a high traffic tourist area.) I have a shop in the market reserved, and I need a name. I do chocolates like most of you, but 70% of my business the past 1.5 years has been my marshmallows. I do 42 different flavors, and I even dip a few in chocolate. Should I use a name that focuses on mallows? I already own the domain/website/copyright to Marshmallow Heaven. But I will be selling my choclates too. In the past, most of my selling has been done at fairs/festivals where chocolate was unable to be sold due to our high temps. I just want a general opinion of how I should go. Should I do something like "Great Lakes Confections" or maybe run two "shops" out of one. Keep Marshmallow Heaven and then created a new name for my chocolates? What do the experts think?

I am looking for a heat sealing type device that will allow me to package popcorn into clear bags, then seal it. I have no idea what such a device is called, or where to even begin searching for one (its hard to find and item when you don't now its name!)

I searched through the thread (Thanks for pointing me int he right direction!) and came up with another question. Wouldn't the white chocolate bring a different level of flavor to the piece? You'd have a thin layer of white chocolate to back up the colors, then you'd mold the chocolate in dark chocolate. It dosen't harass the flavor?

I was flipping through the Food Newtork (or maybe it was Travel Channel.. it was late, and I had been sampling fare at the local pub) and saw a choclatier running through a demo on making diamond shaped chocolates. After using his finger to rub colored cocoa butter in the mold in a variety of vibrants colors, he then rubbed a small bt of whte chocolate into the molds to help make the colors pop, then molded as usual in dark chocolate. I know some chocolatiers use a fine layer of white cocoa butter to as the final layer to make things pop, does anyone use this white chocolate method?

was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of about how to pop corn at home? I know, its corn kernels in oil, but do I just need a thin layer deep enough to just cover the kernels? How hot do I want the oil to be? 400? Also, how do you guys store popcorn to keep it fresh?

I have had some for about three years. I store them flat with plactic wrap between them to protect the designs. I place sheets of cardboard at the bottom and top of my little stack for added protection, then lay an old and worn out cookie sheet on the top of the stack to keep them flat and weighted down to prevent them from curling

I did a lemon curd bon bon, also a lemon curd-basil bon bon last spring. I used a small amount of cocoa butter in the curd to firm it up a bit. It set enough to cap without any troubles, and I dont remember having any leaking issues. They still are on of my favorite creations.