chocoera

how did you make those gorgeous leaves?!! did you paint a million leaves with tempered chocolate? if you did, then how did you get those ones to bend?! wow...amazed

seriously naughty

this carmalized onion tart you talk of....is that the stuff you made at the conference? do you have the recipes for those two baby tarts for our "legend" dinner? (one was onion, one had apricot something on it.) anyway...for tarts, at least sweet ones, i love pierre's almond tart dough in his chocolate dessert book. super easy, and great flavor. but i'll give this one a try with my next tart! process looks easy enough... (famous last words?!)

yea! count me in! *way to go steve!*

I used the Belcolade Papau New Guinea single origin. It already tastes quite tobacco like. ← Yes, it does. Very cool. edited to add gfron, so happy to see you post. We were wishing you had come so we could meet you. I always check out your stuff on the sweets thread. ← can i also add that i too really really wanted to meet gfron....you better not disappoint us at the next conference...we expect you to be there!!! i always love following your blog and the pics and tips/recipes shared on the threads here...also, the wedding cakes are totally bitchin (can i say that on here!?) and ditto on the black pepper...it is awesome...and it is the brain child of the matts...very cool people BTW lastly, john depaula....your pictures are beyond beautiful! it was fun to share them with a fellow photographer, brad thanks for posting those and thanks again for being my travel buddy!!!

Thanks Steve - yes we definitely would. A day's drive to the DC area would be perfect for us, and this time of year (AFTER Easter rush) works well. If you do, let me know and I could arrange a field trip, for example: > We could go on a winery tour just an hour away across the river in Virgina (Kerry will be happy to know we pass through Beallsville, lol). The winemaker there is Canadian - a graduate of Niagara College's teaching winery. > For anyone travelling from the North by car, I could arrange a private tour of a very large chocolate supplier in East Greenville, PA. It is about 3 hours away from DC, and would add about 2 hours in driving to the trip from Buffalo (it's more enroute from NYC). They are not open to the public or set up for tours, so it would have to be a small group (12 or less). You would be able to see the whole process from bean roasting, winnowing, butter pressing, cocoa grinding, conching, tempering, depositing and molding (10lb bars). ← *as for the wine....*whoop whoop! you always know i'm up for wine!!! *as for the chocolate supplier tour...darn it, i'd love to see that. don't suppose a lonely nebraskan could arrange to go on that too? *also, note to steve: would do the conference again...loved it...doubt anyone would come to the midwest, so i guess i'd be traveling, so location makes no difference to me...the only request would be somewhere that we could maybe take a field trip and see a couple chocolate retail shops too? i love to see people's shops, its inspirational and educational for me...besides...who doesn't like eating other people's chocolates?!!!! *ps art: glad to see you're on line...hug wilma for me! and brad (husband) is in love the those crazy cashews of yours!

hi! the cocoa barry chocolate kit had a set of chocolate handling gloves made out of a nice cloth, a super long and sturdy sturdy sturdy "stir stick" (which i already used last night when stirring a triple batch of fudge!) a long straight spatula, a "spackle" spatula (i don't know the proper term, but it looks like those you would buy at home depot...but really really nice!) a dipping fork, and a huge supply of disposable piping bags...all in all, a very well-rounded and appreciated gift!

See this post for answer. Also, that picture is not me (easy way to tell is that there is no ring on the left hand). ← I think that pic is Matty. ← Indeed, I think you can tell who's in that pic by the colour of his apron. And---since I wasn't there to see the end product---what did they wind up like? Did they actually cut into squares that you could handle, or were they all something that might have been better off just piped into shells? MelissaH ← We found that, with the Wybauw method, the slab could only be cut into squares after being chilled, and had to be rechilled while we were dipping it. I thought I had heard reports that the Greweling slabs came out more firm, but I didn't get around to checking. Also, I've thought of another newbie question that I meant to ask but forgot: Greweling talks briefly about making truffles using "hollow shells" (p. 92), but the shells pictured look quite different from the shells we molded. Are they in fact a different product? If so, how are they made? ← hi darling i believe you are talking about shells that have already been made. you buy them, they are round and hollow, with a hole in the top. you fill with your ganache of choice, let crystalize, and then (not sure about this) you can cap them off and dip the entire shell/chocolate in tempered chocolate of your choice, or maybe you don't have to cap them off? and just dip because your ganache already has a "skin?" i don't use them, so i'm not sure...but i believe chocolat chocolat sells the shells....

ok, so i am not going to post 60 photos...that would take up like the whole thread! but here is an album you can view, just click on the link!!!! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109...04&l=f468c1c417 also, a few questions regarding that packet of info kerry handed out: i did a wybauw ganache..thought the texture was very smooth and flavored carried well but it turned out super soft. we pre-coated the bottom and let set in fridge to harden, it helped when using the guitar cutter, so no worries...but would like to know if we think we just didn't have enough chocolate? (270 g, 250 g cream, 25 g invert, 50 g butter) or if it was the method (mix 30 C cream with 30 C chocolate, then add room temp butter) any thoughts? should chocolate go up to 300 or 320 g? next: the chewy caramel recipe from chocolats et confiserie...has anyone tried this before? thoughts on flavoring and texture? could you make a big batch, spread on parchment paper or rulers, and cool, and then break off chunks and use when needed? i like to have caramel on hand for turtles, apples etc, but don't always use a full recipe, is there a problem with continually reheating and cooling a batch? does that change the texture? i like a pretty soft caramel, but i don't want it sliding off the apples...that's annoying...especially since i will then coat with chocolate after the caramel love the buttercrunch toffee. nice job matt n' matt. next: for our next conference (because i know we are having one...ask steve...he promised to set one up...there are witnesses) i was hoping to work on pates de fruits. i have tried three times and failed. any tips on this? can i sub tartaric acid for lemon juice or cider vinegar? what do you pour a pate de fruits in and how long can they last? (enrobed like kerry's cigar chocolate, or un-enrobed like a traditional pate de fruits) has anyone tried the recipe found in our packet? ok...that's it for now! love you all!!! wait. one more. i know passion fruit is like crazy compared to other fruits...if i wanted to sub a different fruit in the liquid passion fruit caramel or the passion/mango caramel, will that cause a problem in the final product texture? ok. that's it. xoxoxo

love you guys!!!! i will try to post photos soon...and they will look nothing as good as those already posted, or as beautiful as john's..but they will be up nonetheless! i loved meeting everyone and made some great friends! (well, they are friends to me...not sure how the feeling is on the other end...) *ha ha ha* but yes, wonderful company, amazing food, and such an exciting time at the conference! PS-thanks to those who found my spatula

I do find that the powdered colors don't seem to dissolve completely and was a little concerned about that. Chocoera, I use the lemon jelly in place of the jam in butter ganache. 80 g lemon jelly, 40 g butter, 120 g tempered white chocolate, 1 TB lemon juice. ← thanks! i'll give it a try

those looks amazing!!!! what do you do with the jelly? do you layer it, or mix it in with the butter ganache formula? i've never tried making a jelly...is it difficult? my husband LOVES lemon, so this would be a surprise treat

hi lior the white thing is a cake board, covered in fondant, so that it completes the cake, and doesn't just look like cardboard. then you can decorate it or label it or whatever...but its white fondant, with gold luster dust painted on with vodka, and then i used edible marker to write "XO 60th" since it was our chapter's 60th bday!

this is a cake i made for my sorority, chi omega. i'm alum now, but we had a make a wish silent auction this last saturday, so i donated this cake. as for the owls, they're our mascot, so that's why i chose them! the cake is chocolate with kerry's chocolate-caramel ganache as filling, then iced in italian buttercream, covered in marsh fondant. the owls are made out of fondant too, and then we have a milk chocolate wrap hope you like it!!

*ha ha ha* you're right, in my haste to post pictures, i forgot to write down you need 2 egg whites with the sugar mixture! *sorry!* so it should be 1 1/3 cup sugar, mixed with 2 egg whites, 1 T corn syrup, and 1/3 cup water. Mix over double boiler on simmer till firm peaks. add 1 cup mini marshmallows and 1 tsp vanilla. and voila!! thanks for pointing that out (you're so clever!!!!) , i completely didn't catch the mistake when i wrote it! so please, try it, its super yummy!!!

i'll try that chocolate crust next...sounds fab-o! ...and of course, post pics!

well, i made the nutella tart...and loved it! before, i had made the choco-raspberry tart, (also fabulous) and froze the rest of the dough, and this dough was just as perfect as fresh dough! i also, at home, make my version of nutella s'mores (take baguette, cut in 1/2 lengthwise, broil till crispy, spread on nutella thickly, cut big marshmallows in 1/2, lay on nutella, broil again till crispy and browned, so its like it was cooked on a fire!) anyway, i did not add as many hazelnuts as called for, and also topped the tart with marshmallow icing, so it seriously tasted like a s'more! *icing recipe if you want to try: put 1 1/3 cup sugar with 1 T corn syrup and 1/3 water in a bowl over a double boiler. use hand mixer and mix (with the double boiler at a simmer) till firm peaks are formed. Then stir in 1 cup of mini marshmallows and 1 tsp vanilla. pipe on tart, and torch it baby! top with chopped hazelnuts *

thanks you guys!!!

one more picture?

hello friends! thanks so much for all your help! this is the finished cake... it was white cake torted with strawberry buttercream, and then iced in buttercream and covered with marshmallow fondant. there is a pastillage "5" and ava's (the bday girl) nickname is "nay nay" so that's what i wrote on the cake with edible marker. the "sketchy" look is on purpsose, to mimick dr. seuss' art...and looking back, there is plenty i'd do different with applying fondant, and not having as thick a covering of buttercream before the fondant,...but i'm just thankful it looked like a hat, it's stablized with rods, i "sculpted the cake" and used a "folcrum" for cutting! and the customer, tiffany, loved it...said she couldn't believe it tasted as good as it looked! so thank you friends...i couldn't have done it without you! PS- one photo is mine, the other two were emailed from tiffany (that was sweet of her!)

you are so awesome lior! makes me really really really really want an airbrush/air gun/compressor thing and his eggs are GORGEOUS! i'm going to watch all his videos (wish i knew what he was saying though!) as for the prize....hmm....just looks like some non-edible toy or something? as for my eggs...just did 2 more batches last night following everyone's advice...and this morning? flawless. perfect. its like i don't even remember my past frustrations!!!

do you think you could just use the molds for the panna cotta, and just pour a chocolate glaze over the panna cotta? i know some glazes (basically a ganache with a bit more corn syrup) can set pretty firm, and get that "crack" you look for with a nice tempered chocolate shell....

do you ever worry about your filling going bad? i shy away from bavarians and mousse and such because of the idea that it might deflate, or go bad, or something like that. do you know how long something like that can be out without it being in the fridge? or how long it could stay in the fridge and still taste good? (ex: you make on monday...but don't eat till.....wed? fri? could it go a whole week?)

you guys are tooooooooo awesome! thank you for the sweet comments can't wait to see ya'll in a couple weeks!!

thank you for all your help! these are some pictures of Easter eggs! you guys rock!!