chocofoodie

Hi, Can anyone recommend sources to get chocolate couverture in bulk in the US? Like in 5 Kilo boxes? Thanks!

Oh! Didn't realize that it was a gianduja. So I should make a ganache with cream and add peanut butter? What if I added things like butter or maybe cocoa butter would that make a difference? I really want it to stay runny.

Hi everyone! I had a question I was hoping someone would be able to help shed some light on. I've been making a peanut butter ganache (basically peanut butter and milk chocolate) that is really nice and fluid when first molded but after like 3 days it becomes more like a praline in texture (drier, harder). How can I keep it gooey? Any advice or tips? Thanks!!!

Kerry, shelf life is not a factor. They don't generally last more than three days lol! The chocolate is not particularly acidic, it's the lowest dark chocolate the 55% or whatever I'll check it when I'm near it. I think it's the way I incorporated the butter that may have broken the emulsion. I think I should add the butter after I've incorporated the cream into the chocolate. But this doesn't explain why I couldn't fix it.

I thought too much agitation breaks the emulsion? So can I blitz it and then add the hazelnut chunks after?

The round one is the first try the 50:50 and the oval is the second botched attempt outlined above. I added butter and cocoa butter to improve mouth feel but neither has a nice mouth feel.

Oh I ended up adding about two Ounces melted chocolate to it as well which is why this morning it's quite hard! Oh and Rob: I'm American even though I live in London lol! I'm actually comfortable with both but it just happens that I measured this out in ounces probably because I was looking at Andrew Shotts book.

I heat up the cream with all the rest of the stuff until just before boiling and put it on top of the tempered chocolate pellets (cocoa Barry). I then wait before mixing gently. Maybe the problem is I add some hazelnut bits after this? I don't know with the first pic above, the undecorated ones, I actually attempted to repair the ganache by heating it and then by adding glucose syrup and finally by adding some milk and it still ended up looking like that.

This image shows the above recipe

Hi all, 8 oz dark chocolate 4 ounces double cream .5 ounce cocoa butter .5 ounce butter .5 ounce glucose syrup small spoon vanilla Is this ganache to fatty? I feel like it's not setting up properly but I'm not sure if it's the proportions of the ganache or something else. Also it seems runny. Should I add more chocolate? I'm trying to make a filling to go in shell cups. So the ganache shows, I don't cover it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :-)

No I've never checked the temperature. Thanks for the tip! I'll try that next time!

I'm glad you posted this problem! I am having the same problem. The thing is it doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes yes, other times it's fine. The other annoying thing is that in the same mold some will come out shiny and others dull! I can't understand what I'm doing wrong. I warm up the cocoa butter until it's liquid, shake it up, and use it to paint the molds. I let it set before I pour in the tempered chocolate.

I don't know why the second picture posted upside down!

Augh I responded yesterday but I must have forgotten to hit post or something. So the white chocolate I'm using is Belcolade. I tempered it on the marble slab where I had tempered the milk chocolate the day before so maybe it mixed a bit. I let the ganache set overnight. I didn't think it was a gap I thought the ganache was just so soft that it collapsed a bit when I cut it open for the picture. I'm attaching pics of the latest ones. The shell is more even but after coating it twice it is still really thin. The chocolate just pours out. I'm going to try to leave it for a minute tomorrow. The other thing is that the shell has a nice snap to it and fell out effortlessly but before I piped in the filling there was some streaking on the inside. Also, when I test the temper, it doesn't set up within three minutes at room temperature but sets hard and streak free after a minute in the freezer. I'd like to try a white vanilla filling in the dark chocolate tomorrow. Does anyone have a recipe they could share?

Just wanted to check in and say today I flipped over a mold and for the first time ever the chocolates just dropped out, effortlessly, like they were in a greased pan. AMAZING!!!! Thank you guys so much for all your tips and suggestions. And gfron1, they were filled with your fruit filling, which was such a joy to work with and eat up! Ok so my shell is completely uneven.. but one problem at a time lol

OH! After rereading it like 20 times I finally get it... there is no cream! Oh dear it's been a long day!!!

But how much cream to use?

I'm pretty sure too warm isn't my issue being in London. I'd say the room average is about 70 degrees. hmm just thought it was worth exploring as a possible explanation for the temper not setting up perfectly.

Phew! Great one more thing to cross off my list of possible things I am doing wrong!!

Wait! Where's the cream in the recipe? Sorry if I am missing the obvious... and asking yet more questions!! Lol

Hahaha.. Thanks Kerry I knew there was something off with my googles

What would you say the margin of error is on that? I keep reading that the room should be at about 68 degrees.

Thanks gfron1. Interesting idea. It got me thinking of other things that could be off. Do you think I could be over seeding? I learned that you should seed with a max of 10% of your whole. The truth is I don't actually measure, I just keep throwing pellets in until I get to the right temperature. When I try again this weekend I'm going to actually weigh and measure everything out.

I've been reading that you should heat your molds before pouring in the tempered chocolate. Does anyone do this? If so: 1. How do you heat your molds? 2. How do you check the temperature of the molds? Thanks!

Hi all, Does anyone know a source for chocolate decorations for molded chocolates? I'm looking for colored cocoa butters, luster dusts, that kind of stuff. Thanks!