Chocolot

http://www.temkininternational.com/?index#/products/bags/lip_n_tape_bags/12 Any of these work for you?

Sorry the photos are all on their side. Today was about Easter eggs. and Fresh Mint and Root Beer Float

I have Pralus and Valrhona. Much prefer the Pralus.

Yes, you need to adjust. Test your thermometer in boiling water. What ever it reads, subtract it from your recipe. Example: I am at 5000 feet. Water boils at 202 on my thermometer. I subtract 10 degrees from recipes written for sea level. Usually, the adjustment is 1 degree for each 500 feet in altitude.

What happened to your "old" one?

I would also love the recipe.

Kerry, did you replace any evaporated liquid? That might account for the reduced aW.

I was lucky enough to take a short course from Greweling last summer. One of the many things I learned was that you can totally trust his formulas. We made many of his confections over the course, and they work. You have to keep in mind the differences in chocolate, cream, butter etc. Take his formulas and tweak them and make them your own. Come to the workshop in Niagara and we can all play and learn together.

I think he is referring to cream ganaches, not butter. Also, that is a general rule, not always. His Dark and Stormy has less liquefier. White chocolate in a ganache can be tricky to work with. If you get the chocolate out of temper, it won't set up for a long time and when it does, it will be grainy. It is the lovely challenges that keep us all interested.

Southwest Airlines are running a good promotion that is in effect for our dates. Have to purchase by tomorrow.

Put it in the fridge. Should last a few weeks. Might need to stir it again.

Minas, what pectin are you using?

I am no expert, but I looked in Petit Macarons and she says it is your oven. Too low a heat. If you are opening the oven to turn pans, do it quickly.

So glad you went to the market. My favorite spot in San Francisco. Keep reporting--I'm living vicariously through your posts.

I think you have to have a very high amount of alcohol in there to act as a preservative--so much so that you can't legally sell it in most states. Think I read that in Wybauw.

In my experience, if you pull the chocolate out of temper in a cream ganache, you will have a grainy texture when it sets up. It all depends on how hot the cream is, how cold the chocolate is and at what temp you emulsify. I use a Robot Coupe and don't usually have a problem of it getting out of temper.

I think you are on the right track. I would spread tempered chocolate on acetate, score with a needle and lay inside a cylinder like a cut PVC pipe. When set up, peel off and and the cut edges should separate.

They sure look lovely, very nice feet on those macs! Ruth, did you use an Italian meringue or French? French. I have better luck with it than Italian.

Finally had some time to do a little baking. Macarons are not my specialty, but I try. White ones are lemon, chocolate ones have a peppermint filling. Actually, I used leftover ganache on both flavors:-)

I will include 6 photos I took today of shelling and closing. They are far from perfect and holding the phone in one hand while working is a bit difficult:-) shells filled closing swiping Jim, I'm not sure where you are having trouble, but hopefully these might help.

OK, I thought your problem was more when you were closing. I do like Kerry, fill, rattle on the counter, dump and tap. Scrap while still inverted. Place on counter and scrape the top again and clean sides. It truly takes less than a minute. I clean off spatula with other spatula between each mold.

I'm fortunate to have tempering melters to work with. I up the temp on the tank, and just scrape back into the pot. I can do it all day. I don't see why it is such a problem to get it scraped off. It should only take a few seconds, certainly not enough time to cause problems. You should plan on coming to the gathering in Niagara on the Lake in April:-)

How long does it take your test strip to set up? When I bottom mine, I like to have my chocolate a bit warmer than usual. If your molds are not "clean" when you bottom them, they will bump and drag all over the place. I like my molds to be very clean and free of chocolate when I go to close. I put a lot of chocolate on the tray, slant it over the bowl, and do as Derrick does in the video--slide off half and then drag the top half over the same shells. I then clean off the sides of the molds. If they look a little rough, I tap them on the counter to level the chocolate. I use two scrapers, cleaning one with the other constantly. As has been said previously, chocolate is always in charge. It lets you have success sometimes, but not always. I guess that is what keeps us interested. If it was easy, there is no challenge and anyone can do it:-)

How cold is your room?

I use a caramel cutter and I use it to cut, not just mark. I have the large 5 or 6 inch blades. I only have about 8 blades on it because that is what I can handle. I have another knife that has 15 blades. It is too heavy and awkward for me. The pastry wheels are not very sturdy. I don't think you could cut caramel, only mark. I like my squares to be even and I think the round knives are the best way.