merlicky

Getting into the chocolate business is something that I would like to do at some point. I am not at that point yet, as feel I am still too novice to produce a competitive product. But, I am curious about a couple things. Reading other threads about starting a chocolate business I see that people on here range from small direct sales to selling via the internet to wholesaling to owning a boutique. A lot of focus in other threads has been in starting a wholesale business or opening a boutique. I’m curious about the direct sales or internet sales side of the business. What rules are involved? Do you need to work out of a commercial kitchen? Are there labeling requirements? Etc… I guess I’m looking for the minimum requirements to be able to sell chocolates. Obviously I know nothing about this stuff. And as I said before, I am not ready to start being a chocolatier yet, but I’d like to know what it entails when I am ready. Thanks.

In the grand scheme of things I’d say that I would use a small amount, a pound or two would probably be more than enough for now. I’d be willing to buy more because there are other places I could use this chocolate, but probably not more than the 6-11 lb bulk packages I’ve seen with other chocolates. When I cover these vanilla truffles with dark chocolate, I use the Scharffen Berger 70%. I don’t get a great price on these either, as I buy them retail (6 oz boxes) for $12.64/lb. But, that retail price for the dark is better than anything I’ve been able to find for their milk.

Maybe someone can help me with this...I'm looking for a place to get some Scharffen Berger Milk 41% but I can't find a good price anywhere. I've had a lot of requests for a milk chocolate around my vanilla truffle so I've gone out and tasted many different milks. The Scharffen Berger seems to have the right flavor combination for what I'm trying to do. The problem is that I cannot find it in anything but the 3 oz bars and the 9.7 oz bars and typically at around $13.50-$19.00 per lb. If anyone knows where I can get this for a better price, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

I let the truffles set in my basement, which is not really very warm. But, before dipping them I had them upstairs for a few hours and they were at room temperature…not sure exactly what that is, but we usually keep the house between 68-71 degrees. The dark truffles were no different in temperature than the vanilla and milk truffles that didn’t crack. I used E. Guittard to coat the dark, Scharffen Berger 70% on the vanilla, and Lindt for the milk. I really didn’t start noticing cracks until I started using the E. Guittard. When I first started making truffles I used Ghirardelli’s and had no problems with cracking. I have also used Scharffen Berger a few times and have not run into these problems. I like the taste of the E. Guittard in some of these recipes and don’t really want to change it. I guess I could play with my ratio a little bit. Could it be the amount of butter that I am using (I used a little under 2 tbsp with about 6 oz. of chocolate)? I also let these sit for about 1.5 days, would it help if they sat a little longer before dipping? Thanks.

Again with the cracking...this time it is with my dark truffles. The vanilla and milk truffles have been corrected, but now anything I use with dark chocolate is cracking. I am using about a 1:1 ratio of chocolate (E. Guittards 61%) to cream and I'm adding a little butter. Any sugestions?

devlin, I've had really good luck with the Lindt white in my Vanilla truffles, but I'm not overly impressed with their dark chocolates.

I used to like Ghirardelli’s but now I can’t really stand the stuff. Sure the texture is better than Hershey’s or Nestlé’s but they substitute some cocoa fats for milk fats and it really comes through in their chocolates, especially the darks, as kind of a rancid flavor. I haven’t played around too much with semi-sweets yet, but of the 60% range I like the E. Guittard and the Michel Cluizel. And the 70% range I really like the Valrhona (and the Scharffen Berger depending on the application). The E. Guittard can be bought, with shipping included, from chocolateman.com for a little over $6 a pound.

I can't imagine that they wouldn't like the Lindt or Valrhona better either...I'm just curious I guess, because when my wife tasted the ganache she commented about the caramel flavor - not in a bad way, but it got me wondering. I did make them with the Lindt and I think they turned out pretty good. I'll find out tomorrow if the caramel flavor is good or bad for them. Also, I've read in other threads that milk chocolate is hard to work with and hard to temper...am I just lucky that everything turned out perfectly, and does that mean that I will get bit the next time? Anyway, thanks for all the responses.

I am trying to make some Milk Chocolate truffles for some people that are big milk chocolate fans…the problem is that milk chocolate to them is a Hershey bar or similar item. And I don’t like the texture of the truffles using Hershey type chocolate. I bought some Valhrona milk (great taste, but it was too expensive) and some Lindt (which I ended up using because of cost). Both of these are much smoother and tastier than a Hershey bar, but they both have a distinct caramel flavor. Are/will people that expect Hershey bar flavor be turned off by the caramel taste?

schneich, when you emulsify, do you first mix with a spatula and then blend, or do you let sit and then immediately hit it with the emersion blender?

Melting the butter with the cream or pouring cream over both the chocolate and butter seems to lead to more broken ganache though. A few have worked out, but most seem to break (once it broke and would not go back together no matter what). This is probably due to what alanamoana said, “…butter is an emulsion, so is ganache…” Melting the butter brings it out of emulsion so then you have to emulsify both the butter and the rest of the ganache. I’ve been reading up a bit on emulsions today and it seems that temperatures are the biggest key. The closer the ingredients are in temperature, the better the emulsion. This would be why you let the chocolate sit in the cream before incorporating…to let them come to the same temperature. This could also be why you can get grainy ganache even without butter. If the cream is stirred into the chocolate before they come to the same temperature, the cocoa butter fats may form lumpy crystals. I think the 95° F is used to add the room temperature butter because temperatures of 93° to 95° F are in the melting point range of both butter and cocoa butter. Adding the butter at this temperature should not quite melt the butter and keep it in a similar state to the cocoa butter. --- David, I usually let the butter sit out and I have had much better results. Those two examples were times when the ganache didn’t work out, and the things I figured caused the problems.

1) Here’s what I did when the cream was too thick: Chopped chocolate. Heated cream to very slight boil with orange peel. Let steep for 15-20 minutes (here’s where my problem was, because I got distracted after I covered it and accidentally left it on the heat for a couple minutes – thus thickening it up). Heated back to very slight boil. Poured cream through fine sieve over chocolate. Let sit a couple minutes. Stirred. Added butter at about 95° F. Stirred. Poured into shallow dish and let sit out a few hours uncovered. Cut ganache into squares. Rolled squares into balls. 2) Here is what I did when the butter was probably not soft enough: Chopped chocolate. Heated cream to very slight boil. Poured cream over chocolate. Let set a couple minutes. Stirred. Added butter at about 95° F. Butter didn’t totally mix in. Used stick blender to get butter to incorporate. Poured into shallow dish and let sit out a few hours uncovered. Cut ganache into squares. Rolled squares into balls. --- Chocofoodie, I mixed the second one more because the butter wasn’t melting well. The first was not really mixed very long. Also, there was no further mixing once I let the ganache set; actually they set fairly well within an hour. HQAntithesis, you are probably right about the “grains” being fat. The ganache that ended up grainy didn’t cool any faster/slower than other ganache that I have made. I wonder if the cooler butter on the second one may have had that “shock” effect on the chocolate. Perhaps it set too quickly around the cooler butter and formed fat crystals? But, why would the surface always be smooth? Maybe because of a more even cooling due to direct contact with the room, while the ganache underneath set quicker around the cooler butter?

I have had this (graininess) happen a few times now (albeit I haven’t been doing this long). I don’t know what’s causing it (and based on most of the responses it looks like no one knows for sure) but I can mention a few things that have been different when it has happened. I don’t put the ganache in a fridge or anything, so that can be ruled out (at least in my cases). -One of the times the butter was not as soft as it should have been. It melted and seemed to blend in with the ganache, but it ended up lumpy after sitting out. -Another time the cream got thicker than normal. It also emulsified and looked fine, but after sitting out it became grainy. The “grains” are hard to figure out…they can be felt in your mouth because you are expecting a smooth ganache, but they melt right away. I cannot look at an individual grain by taking it from the rest of the center because with even the slightest pressure or heat they disappear. So, I don’t really know what they are. --- Some random thoughts that maybe some of you chemically inclined might be able to help with: -If the butter is too cool/stiff when mixed in with the ganache could it cool at a different temperature and cause these lumps? -If there was not enough liquid (say from cooking the cream too long) can you get a “condensation effect” in the ganache? Basically, as it cools could some of the suspended particles be forced out of the emulsion and end up sticking together in these clumps?

I made some vanilla truffles (white chocolate, cream, vanilla bean, and butter). I let them sit out overnight and rolled them. They were still semi-soft, so I let them sit for another day. I then tempered some Scharffen Berger 62% and dipped these along with some almond truffles and some orange truffles I made. The almond and orange truffles turned out fine. But, the vanilla, a day and a half after being dipped, started showing cracks in the coating. The temper had a good shine and a very good snap to it. Does tempered chocolate shrink a little when it hardens? If so, how do you avoid cracking? Also, why would my vanilla truffles crack, but not the others? Thanks, Mike.

(I’m not sure if this should be in the tempering discussion, but that thread seemed to be more about the techniques of tempering and not fixes for chocolate that had bad temper.) This morning I tempered some chocolate and dipped my truffles. The temper was good and all the truffles stayed glossy. But, right near the end (before I had to leave for work) I wanted to dip a couple more. The chocolate had started to get thick so I hit it with the hair dryer. But, being in a hurry I wasn't very careful and over heated the chocolate. So I stopped dipping. However, I now have chocolate with some bloom on it and I'm not sure what should be done. Can this chocolate be melted back down and reused/re-tempered? Or is it now relegated to the eating or hot cocoa chocolate pile? Thanks, Mike.

Has anyone tried using a creme anglaise as a base for a truffle ganache instead of cream? The regular vanilla ganache with vanilla bean, white chocolate, and cream seems to be lacking something. I want to get a good French vanilla truffle and I’m not sure how this will work. And, I’m not sure what the egg will do to shelf life. Anyway, I’ll probably be trying it out this weekend.

Tammy, I checked out Assouline and Ting and their price is better. What is their shipping charge? Is it the $30 FedEx overnight charge that is mentioned on the Caviar Assouline homepage? worldwidechocolate.com offers shipping options from UPS ground to UPS next day air. The prices range from about $10 to about $40. With UPS ground, the total would come to less than the Assouline and Ting if it ships with FedEx overnight at $30. How should chocolate be shipped? Is UPS Ground okay, or do you really want it to be shipped priority? Thanks, Mike. P.S. I found some Scharffen Berger on sale at Meijer (regional retailer) for $4.74 per 6oz box. $12.64/lb is more than I want to pay for my normal use, but I picked some up to do some testing until I can place an online order. Anywho, I used the 70% to make some almond truffles and coated them with the 62% with a few crushed almonds sprinkled on top. They turned out really well. By the by, does anyone else have issues with the yield numbers in the Shotts book? His dark chocolate truffle recipe says it makes 30 truffles. I made some fairly small truffles and can only get about 20 pcs from his recipe…and that is after adding a little liquor and crushed almonds too.

Rob, I would definitively like to move up the chocolate ladder but I want to keep costs at a minimum for now. --- I was wondering about the E Guittard “sunrise” and “sunset” chocolate wafers since I can get these for around $7-$8/lb on worldwidechocolate.com. -As wafers, do you have some of the same problems with tempering and such that you do with chips? Or, do they act more like bar chocolate? -Also, the “sunrise” 61% bars mention that there is a raisin note. How strong is the raisin taste in this chocolate? Does it taste like raisin or just add some sweetness? A few others that I have found for relatively low prices on gourmail.com which I don’t know much about: Cacao Barry - Barry Concord Lenotre Bit-Sweet 66% Cacao Noel - Noel "Royal" Bittersweet 64% discs Cacao Noel - Noel "Noir" Extra Bitter 72% discs Callebaut Bittersweet Chocolate 60% (Belgium) L60-40

Thanks. I figured you didn’t need much since I’ve gotten them to turn out without much, but with that last batch that just wouldn’t hold I began to wonder. Also, I’m not completely familiar with terminology for some of these things; is a stick blender and an immersion blender the same thing? And, what is a good brand to buy since I’ve seen some comments in other threads about some less expensive brands not working very well? Mike.

Okay, I’ve made some ganaches and most have turned out. I have now had a few that haven’t. I’ve saved some by adding corn syrup as described in Making Artisan Chocolates and I’ve read a few threads that give plenty of other options too. But, I also had one that wouldn’t come together. I’ve arrived at the conclusion that I do not have all the equipment that I need to make chocolates (or at least to save them). Any recommendations on the essential tools that I need and what the best brands (that are also economical in price) would be? Thanks, Mike.

I also have some ganache questions. In the Godiva Dark chocolate truffle recipe online they use sugar in their ganache. What is the purpose of the sugar? Does it just add sweetness? If so, then why would you want more sugar in a Dark chocolate truffle since it is dark because of having less sugar in the chocolate? They also melt the butter in with the cream and sugar before pouring it over the chocolate. Everything I have read says to add the butter later. What effect does the timing of the butter addition have on the ganache? Thanks, Mike.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I’ve got the Greweling book on my Christmas list already (I ran across it at Barnes and Nobles), and I’ll take a look at the others. Vanessa, I do need some very basic books too, but being very analytical about things I always like to also know how/why things work. I am probably getting ahead of myself though (a nasty little habit of mine). An aside (a long one): My chocolate adventures really began last night…I will never look at chocolate the same again, never! This is the heartwarming tale of a beginner (and little did you know just how much of a beginner he was) that got his first true taste of the “food of the gods.” It all started with a post and an idea; a post on the eGullet Society forum and an idea inside my head. It was about 6:30 in the evening; dinner was finished except for my daughter still picking away at her hotdog. Being a fickle two year old, it often took some coaxing to get her to eat. My wife had just left for a tech-week rehearsal with her ballet company and it was just my daughter, the baby, and me. And I was going to get her to eat. Even at two she’s a typical female , her favorite things are chocolate and shopping, so I thought I could use this to my advantage. If she ate, I told her, we would go to the store. She got excited but not excited enough; she was on to me. I guess it had been one two many times I had tried that trick; she knew I wanted to go to the store whether she ate or not. So I had to pull out the ace – and my big idea – from the hole. Chocolate…I told her we could go to the store and buy some chocolate. She finished her hotdog with no further complaints. Earlier in the day I had started this thread and mentioned three chocolates, Valrhona; E. Guittard and Scharffen Berger, none of which I knew where to buy or which I had tasted. Somewhere along the way I had the crazy notion that World Market might just carry at least one of them in their chocolate isle, so I packed the kids in the car and headed out. To my delight they had all three! I spent more money buying chocolate than I probably should have, but I didn’t really care. My receipt consisted of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate 60% (as a reference point since I have used this chocolate before), E. Guittard Tsaratana 61%, a Scharffen Berger sampler (Semisweet 62%, Bittersweet 70% and Extra Dark 82%), Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71%, and Ghirardelli Evening Dream 60% (to compare the higher end of Ghirardelli). I also bought a little candy for my daughter, she was thrilled. At that point it was just a matter of getting the kids to bed and waiting until my wife got home to break out the chocolates. Later in the evening my wife and I planned to taste the chocolates and watch a movie; it didn’t take long for the movie to become an after thought. I was not expecting much upon my first tasting good chocolate (really, good is not a strong enough word to describe it), maybe a slightly different flavor or texture. But, what followed was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I opened the Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate 60% first since we had it before, and we wanted a reference point. Both my wife and I took a piece and let it melt in our mouths while paying attention to the flavors and textures as best we could. We both thought it was good, that it was chocolate. Neither of us had any problems with it and we thought, “Okay, what could a better chocolate possible be like?” Well, talk about a revelation! I next opened the E. Guittard Tsaratana 61% and broke a piece off for both of us. Upon the first bite a wave of disbelief washed over me; it was like nothing I had ever tasted. My palate may not be advanced enough to have picked up all the flavors on the first bite (I could really taste the vanilla bean though), but the texture jumped out at me instantly. The smallest bite was both crisp and soft, and seemed to wrap itself around my tongue. There was no residue left in my mouth, yet the taste continued to float throughout my senses. I looked at my wife, who was having a similar reaction, and said, “Oh my gosh! This is soooo good, so much better.” After that we were both anxious to taste the other high end chocolates, so I opened the Scharffen Berger sampler and we each took a Semisweet 62%. Divine! It wasn’t as sweet as the E. Guittard and hit you with more chocolate flavor upon first bite. Then the Scharffen Berger Bittersweet 70% which completely lived up to my new chocolate expectations. It was by far the best bittersweet chocolate I had ever had…up to that point. We opened the Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71% next. It smelled earthier than the other chocolates and the taste was wonderful. There was a hint of the flavor you get when cooking over an open wood fire. It was crazy. I have never though of myself as having a discerning taste, but there was so much going on with the flavors in this chocolate. It really surprised me. Another thing I noticed about the three brands of high end chocolates was three very distinct stages of taste. There was a flavor on the first bite, another as it was melting in your mouth, and another as/after you swallowed. This was something I had not noticed with the Ghirardelli chocolate. At this point, both my wife and I were in total amazement…where had this stuff been our whole lives! We wanted to make sure we could really tell the difference between these new chocolates and what we had always thought of as good chocolate, so we each took another bite of the Ghirardelli 60%. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for what happened next. As each of us bit into the Ghirardelli chocolate the wonderful sensations that lingered from the other chocolates came crashing down. We had expected the taste to seem bland compared to the others, but it was not. It was strong, and not in a good way, the Ghirardelli chocolate tasted truly bad – putrid really! So shockingly so that I actually gagged on it and spit it out into my hand. Holy cow! I would have never thought I’d ever spit Ghirardelli chocolate out because of the taste. So we had the Ghirardelli Evening Dream 60% still unopened, and after just spitting out the Dark neither my wife nor I was too kicked in the head about trying it. But, we forced ourselves to give it a shot. The taste seemed a poor imitation of the E. Guittard chocolate – kind of like if I tried painting the fine details of a Rembrandt with a 3” wall brush. And the texture seemed so cold and institutional compared to the others. We both took another bite of the E. Guittard to leave ourselves with a move welcoming flavor. And, the funny thing is, even this afternoon I can still catch a little hint of that flavor in the back of my throat. Mike.

Wow, I’ve been reading through numerous threads here and just have no idea where to begin…I guess the beginning is always a good spot! I’m brand spankin’ new to the world of pastry and baking (outside the occasional chocolate chip oatmeal cookie which ends up mostly gone before I get to the baking part), but totally into learning about it…especially about chocolates. I’ve tried my hand at making a few different kinds of truffles. I can follow directions pretty well, so they typically turn out tasting pretty good. However, when I try to freelance and make a flavor for which a good recipe is not readily available (French vanilla for instance) it takes the crash and burn approach (then multiple trial runs before it gets to be even remotely palatable). Books and chocolate…those are the questions I have my mind on right now. What are the best books for a beginner which contain more than just an overview and recipes? I have read Making Artisan Chocolates which was a nice introduction, but it doesn’t have great depth of detail. Give me some classroom style material that tells me the whys and hows of the way things cook. I’ve read a lot of threads on the best chocolates to use: Valrhona, E. Guittard, Scharffen Berger, etc… The only problem I have is where to get them. I live in Southwest Michigan, halfway between Chicago and Detroit, and I know of no where that sells these chocolates. I am probably missing some obvious places, but not coming from a food/restaurant background I do not even know where to start. Is the net a good place to buy chocolate? So far in my experiments I have used Ghirardelli chocolates to make my truffles since it is readily available. I see that may not be the best approach for a few reasons; the flavor and quality does not compare (though I have not yet been able to sample the higher end brands), and the retail cost is more per pound for the Ghirardelli than some of the prices listed here for the higher end chocolates (if you know where to get them). So there ya go, that’s the beginning, an introduction, and a few questions to boot. Any input would be greatly appreciated for this beginning chocolatier. Thanks. Mike.