Lior

thanks everyone for the input! Tri2cook, it is a very curious idea to make truffles but not as a confection. I really like that idea. I will also get to that idea one day, but I must stay on task! Yes,jrshaul,although I do not know what a red velvet cake is-I googled it, but yes, if there are carrot cakes, zucchini cakes and beet cakes, then it would work for truffles as well. Darienne-do you like vegie cakes? I do want the taste of the veg to be up front. And although I am not mad about white chocolate, it is so hard to give up those amazing colors that come naturally from the veg. SO the dilemma. My first carrot truffles were interesting as I did not want to boil the carrots to mash, I processed them but the graininess was always detectable of course. NExt, I cooked and mashed and added natural carrot juice to replace some of the cream. The ganache was very pretty-a light orange. Then I thought of trying coconut cream to the carrots instead of cream. I am not sure though. I now realize I could caramelize the carrots. I need to go back and experiment. Keep the ideas coming. Thanks!

peas with mint does sound good! Pickled beets? haha! never thought of that. Now peas and mint would not go with white-do you agree? CArrot and caramel? Hmm, I feel milk would suit that. I cooked and mashed and then added carrot juice or pea "juice" for flavour and color. Any suggestions? Have you made something with vegies? A kind of Borsht truffle? Borsht gets served with sour cream...

Lately I have this odd desire to make weird ganaches. I have made pea ganache, carrot ganache and next is beet ganache. I want to be able to taste the veg and see the color. I am interested to know if anyone else has experimented with this, so we can discuss the hows and whiches and why's. I have used white chocolate in order to let the color through, and coated with dark. I am interested in doing it with dark and milk, but need to push myself and get motivated to do this. Hot sticky weather is not good for motivation.

minas6907! I did not notice your reply-so sorry!!!! Did these friends love it?

Thank you! I think I get it. Can you take a picture next time? I must add that the effect of molded letters (if this is what I think you do-like on a cake you posted?) is different than writing with a piping bag. I do have polycarb molds with letters-in English letters (Latin/Roman alphabet). I usually need Hebrew. I feel it would be perfect if I could have the writing under an acetate sheet and then write on the acetate- but then the writing will not be on the card! Perhaps hand writing or decorating is a skill that takes much effort and time to perfect- I am in the 3rd or 4th grade!

ANother card order-what is going on?? It is odd that the customer loves it and I am not pleased. Does anyone do writing in chocolate-words/sentences?

Isnt 45 secs a long time? I actually have never timed myself-never though of that! Now I wonder how long I do it for? editted to add-really cute topic title!!

The cupcakes with the "Johnny ups" are lovely. I also think no sprinkles! But, yes, the kids...

I have thought of this,and it is a nice idea for sure-thank you! The problem is the letters get spread out when chocolate is pored over them and the look is not the one I need. I made another card yesterday and although the customers are enthusiastic about the cards, I feel it is not perfect enough or professional enough and this bothers me to no end! I am sure other professionals would totally agree with me about the cards. Oof!

I use them in soup all the time

got it! I will try tis tomorrow-thanks.

But you can spray the pure natural honey with cocoa butter to create a membrane. If you don't know how to do this there is a cb spray can-kin of like pam oil spray... As in my second picture-I did not heat up the honey at all.

I can try this- although does the spacing become an issue? A scratch is thin and piping is thicker. I guess practice helps here. I think I did not quite understand the stencil idea of yours. Do you place the stencil on the cake icing?

Hi I wonder if you could infuse the honey with plants that suit your needs? If you caramelize the honey, you can roll it into a ball and then coat this with something. After a day or so the honey goes back to being quite liquidy.

Totally cool for a teenag son after school!! Wow! Darienne, I used posicle containers-old tupperware ones and other cheapie ones I have collected over the years from the superm. BTW, I have a recipe from Sherry Yard's book for real dog biscuits- do you have this? WHen my dog is feeling better I plan on making her a batch!

I do not know if this hepls but I have had in the past requests from people who bee farm for bonbons filled with honey. I tried many different things such as reducing the honey etc. In the end, I filled shells with honey, and then sprayed the surface with cocoa butter and waited a day and closed it all off with tempered chocolate. The cb created enough of a surface membrane to enable this. Caramelized honey rolled into a truffle-it rolled! Shell filled with plain honey-unclosed and closed:

I keep getting these requests for making a card out of chocolate-about the size of an A4 paper folded in half or even bigger. Often up to 4 or more sentences have to be written on this in chocolate of another color (A short poem to a mom etc). What I usually do is pour chocolate into a frame using caramel bars with a clear transfer sheet as the bottom surface, which becomes the top of the card as it is smooth and shiny. Then using a piping bag made from b.paper, I write on the card and decorate it etc. Does anyone have a better way of making cards or of writing the "blessings"? I am always worried that I will make a mistake or do an ugly letter and then it is a disaster. The caramel bars are too long also, IMO.

Perhaps a frozen hotdog? Which serving dishes/containers are you interested in? The pop ice ones? I can take a phot no problem. Or someting else??

Well I used reduced a syrup that I had made from last fall's poms, reduction of water and all. I rconstituted with some water till it tasted less syrup-y but not like juice. To this I added vodka. It tasted quite concentrated and vodka-ish so I added a bit more water. I did not measure! They came out a bit tart-which I like and left a bit of a dry mouth-what is that word??? AH yes, astringent. Also due to the vodka, they were a bit between sherbert texture and posp ice texture. I am so sorry that I did it all so fast that I did not take measurements. I was preparing a "scandinavian" extended family dinner (far from the far east) for the home welcoming of my son, from over half a year in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Laus, and -I cannot remember where else. After the meal I felt a cake did not suit for dessert as it was a bit heavy-quiches, salads with cheeses in and lox etc plus summer heat and this forum led me to these pom/vodka ices for dessert. I felt it was perfect so I rushed to make them in order to get them to freeze! I loved them-the "kids" less. Well I guess it was that astringency thing. Wll mail you about the dog...

Darienne! YOu do amazing things! A dog party! I wish I could come! My pom/vodka popsicles came out great! I need to get more molds.

Oh my gosh! What a como! I love both! Will make right now for dessert!

ISn't there a dishwasher cycle good for vegies and fruit?

I still have some ice pop molds from tupperware! I wonder if there are new ones. WHat a nice topic! ANd for adults? WHat a great idea? I used to freeze juice for the kids but now all sorts of new ideas pop into mind-thanks! I remember when nieces and nephews stayed with us for summers and I could not keep enough ice pops. I started using plastic cups with teaspoons, re used yogurt containers, and then the kids would try to find all sorts of odd and creative containers for their special ice pop! Lovely memories!! (Here we call ice pops "Artics"!)

good luck!

loved your pictures! And the Kitties!!! What do you do with the vegies? DO you eat fresh or cook? Will you have enough to freeze for winter?