Chocolot

Are you tired yet? We were too:). If you are looking for some unusual flavors, I have just the place for you!! Onyx Chocolates. Also, one of the nicest people. Gabe was delightful. He explained their flavors. All are Asian inspired. They are beautiful and some are an acquired taste. He explained that his partner is Asian, and they are based in Chinatown, so they like to play with those flavors. I am not very adventurous, but I tried the Durian and Dragonfruit Black Sesame. I did not try Pei Pa Koa which is a cough syrup, or the Char Siu. I'm sure they were delicious.

Then it was off to SOMA. We went to the wrong location (not the factory), but we forced our selves to try their fabulous gelato and purchased some lovely chocolate bars.

Next we went to Chocolate de Kat. Visited with Kat and Hannah and sampled their delicious bonbons. They just moved into a beautiful new kitchen.

Fun visit with the creative David Chow.

It was Yeti.

Jim, when we scrape, it isnt when the ccb is dry. We scrape excess ccb and reuse the next time, while it is still wet. It would be very difficult to do this alone. I don't spray heavy and I use paper towels if I am doing it alone, which I plan not to do:). Also, I never temper the ccb. I wait until temp drops to low 90's, and shoot. If I wait until cooler, it is a mess to get off molds. I rarely have sticking unless I let the ccb get too cold.

Reservation made!

I’ll be there. Willing to help in any way.

Why put extra in refrigerator? It will only pick up undesirable moisture. Wrap and leave at room temp.

Be sure you check temp for your altitude.

Any pre-made fondant is going to be water based. You are going t owant to make your own cream based.

The old See's chocolates were fondant based, rather than ganaches.

Personal takeaways: I can make caramel with the wet method and be happy I think I can now make sponge toffee I can make my own colors I know what to use for small decorations in molds Vegan isn't a dirty word That Rodney is an incredible baker That we belong to an incredible group of people who enjoy teaching each other and learning new things. Looking forward to next year!

Now a word from our sponsors. Tomric was fantastic. What a facility, employees and equipment. Bahvani from Melangers.com was very generous and came and demonstrated his machines and gave great advise. Thermoworks. chocolat chocolat Fuji Chef Rubber Mec 3 Callebaut Guittard chocolate Gouter EzTemper Boiron

Breakfast and lunch were a hit, thanks to Rodney and Patty. So much work to put on one of these workshops! Rodney is a magician! So good. Worth coming to the workshops if only for his pastries.

Our supply table. Some from sponsors, some from Kerry. Had lots of ingredients to choose from. A huge thanks to our sponsors for what they sent. And Tomric was wonderful. What a facility. Brian, Ben and Meredith were terrific help. Brian even got to show us how to change guitar strings:).

Liron piping marshmallow and making a crunch layer. Dave and Donna watching something. Maddie helping Dave. Kerry duplicating a coconut treat that Bob sent us to try. She nailed it on her first attempt.

Haley and Britnee showing how to decorate molds. They are both very artistic. Gaylene showing a pipeable PDF Willow making a vegan caramel

We tried something different this year. We asked various attendees to show us one of their skills. It was certainly optional whether or not you watched. Elizabeth showing us how to make our own colored cocoa butter.

Willow and Gaylene have the same birthday. May 20. Rodney made them each a special cake and we celebrated.

Now, back to business. I will post some random pictures and see if I can remember what we were doing at the time. Bernie showing us all his secrets to making Sponge Toffee.

We were still on the UWS, and we were seeking pastries. Tara suggested Breads Bakery as having really good chocolate Babka, so off we went. We got several lovely pastries there, but must have been too busy eating to take a picture. Next, we walked to the original Levain bakery and went down those steep steps. The cookies are huge! the chocolate chip is the iconic one, but I liked the chocolate peanut butter chip one. We were then on our way to the train, and as we walked by a shop, William Greenberg, I asked Tara if there was anything more we needed. She said, of course, you need a black and white cookie. Who were we to say no? In we go for more cookies. I ordered two so I could take back to Willow and Gaylene. I didn't realize until I got back to the hotel, he had put 4 in the bag. Karen said he told her that it was the end of the day, so he included extra. Just what we needed:). They are huge! Really good, but more like cake than a cookie. This ends our NYC food tour. Hopefully Willow and Gaylene will add.

The next day, Gaylene and Willow went off for their own adventures, and my friend Karen and I did ours. Karen wanted to go to the upper west side as she a goal to get some chocolate Babka. As we walked over from Central Park, I texted a friend who lives there and told her we were in the area. Tara Bench, @tarateaspoon, has worked for Martha Stewart, Ladies Home Journal, is on the Today show and other national shows, cookbook author, food stylist and on and on:). Anyway, we were lucky enough to have her join us for our own short walking tour of food in the UWS. She showed us around her neighborhood, all the produce vendors right on the corners, and the local shops. It is a really nice area. If anyone is interested, check her out. Anyway, we went to Kee's Chocolates. If we thought SWMS was small, Kee's is tiny! The clerk didn't know much about the flavors and referred us to the website. They aren't as flashy as SWMS, but she has really nice flavors. Also, the Creme Brulee has a shelf life of 3 days if refrigerated. The rest are 1 week.

Then on to our real purpose of the day--Stick With Me Sweets! What a cute, tiny shop. The gal helping was wonderful. She explained each piece, and carefully packaged it and added cold packs. Didn't want to leave, but eventually we had to. Not enough room to hang around.

Now to the sweet stuff! We hit several pastry shop and bakeries. We tried to visit Gabriel Kreuther, but it wasn't open. Mixed reports on whether it is temporary. We consoled ourselves with pastry at a nearby shop, Maman NYC. Kouign Amann in a different shape than I am used to.