Darienne

I don't have enough experience or knowledge to be sure that I understand what you mean. Is it the working of the chocolate which makes it become overcrystallized? I will look in the Wybauw which I have on ILL right now and see if I can find out there. ...... Just read through his section of over-crystallization and must admit frankly that I don't understand it. ........I'll simply try your method and go from there. Thanks for trying.

In one recipe, you have managed to include just about all my favorites. Pecans are the best. And oranges. And ginger and cinnamon. And sugar. Perhaps they should then be dipped in 70% dark and you would have them all!!! Today for sure. Thanks.

Thank you both for the information. Would that you two were writing the instructions!

Today I precoated some Divinity and some ganache before dipping them. My first time ever. However, I guess I let the chocolate get too set because when I cut the precoated slab with the chocolate bottoming on the top, the chocolate shattered at the cuts. I turned it upside down and the same thing happened. I looked bottoming/precoating up in Greweling and the other books I have with me. Tried various eGullet threads...found a wonderful one by Trishiad, a demo on basic molded chocolates. No one talks about cutting the precoated ganache. Please some information.

Michael Recchuiti has a recipe for sugared hazelnuts which are then dipped in chocolate in his book, Chocolate Obsession. I don't have the book but have used it.

There is the best candied ginger recipe in eGullet in the recipe section from Andie. I tried it with great success and even dipped the finished slices in chocolate. Then following Andie's instructions, I planted the extra little ginger knobbies and made hard candies out the leftover gingery flavored syrup. Good luck!

You can make invert sugar very easily. 4 cups granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups water 1/4 teaspoon citric acid or juice of one lemon. Combine all ingredients in a heavy 4-quart pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. Lower heat and simmer for 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. Store in tightly covered container. That's it. It has worked for me.

Using Andie's recipe for candied ginger and with some e-mail help from her, I made some candied fresh ginger last week. Next step was to dip it in chocolate...and plant the leftover nubs to grow my own ginger. Last step, this morning, was to make hard candies out of the leftover ginger-infused (is it infused? flavored?) syrup. Very very nice. And I feel very, very good about it all. The most interesting thing is my DH, who doesn't like ginger, wouldn't taste the candied stuff or eat a chocolate-coated piece...except by accident...is eating the hard candies. Thanks again, Andie. Next: gianduja

Thanks for the information Desiderio. I still think I will give it a try. Stubborn and I just want to.

Such glorious presentations! They are all so beautiful and inviting.

Good idea...about the seasonal additions to the logo. And thanks to a number of eGulleters, I do know what a ballotin box is now .

My self-appointed task while in Moab is to try to make all the basic confections that I have never made before, including Gianduja which is to be next. - any one made it? I did look it up in eGullet and couldn't find much that spoke to my concerns. I am not good at looking up things in eGullet yet. - with almonds or hazelnuts? - is there a better /easier/ different recipe than in Greweling? There is very little in my other books or even on the web. There is one recipe in eGullet and it is not what I am looking for, although it does look tasty. - do you have to get all the skins off the hazelnuts? - could you start with a commercial almond/nut butter if you wanted to? If you could find one without salt or sugar? - can you temper it in a tempering machine after it is made? So far I have decided to make it with almonds, ground in my Champion grinder/juicer and mixed with only 2/3rds the amount of sugar called for and 63% dark Guittard chocolate couverture. Please feel free to answer any or all of my questions and comment on my tentative plan. Thanks.

Thanks very much for the photo and the information, but exactly HOW does a ballotin box differ from some other box? The photo does not show if the lid is part of the box, or separate, or what? Thanks

Got it right the first time!!! Here is the back of Ruth's Chocolot box, rudely ripped to get at the contents. It is incredibly clever and useful...expands to seal a larger box, overlaps for a smaller box. I like it!!! NOW!!! What is a ballotin box, please

Aaarrgghh. I have to relearn the process each time I do it. Here it is, complete with lovely and delicious contents (That's a 'yum', not a 'raz') Omigod, I had to do it 5 times over before I got it right!!! It's because I have pop-ups blocked...I think. That band goes all around the entire box and has printed on it both contents identification and address information

Always the questions. The online dictionary says a ballotin is the officer who has charge of the ballot box. What exactly is a ballotin box? My confectionary partner and I are not in business , have no licence to sell and thus give away much of what we make. But we do have a logo...the little lop-eared bunny in my posts...I just adore him...and a name "Cheers & Chocolates" and using the computer are able to make lovely sticky labels that we can stick to anything we package. And we have a business card...same method. Not professional at all, but it works for us. Ruth Kendrick of Chocolot has a very lovely box with a very clever and useful multipurpose sticky strip label. I would post a photo of it with her permission.

Thanks, Pastry Girl. All good to know. The Flatlander

Thanks, Kerry. Denny picked semi-sweet without any discussion. There we were, armed with coffee beans, chocolate and three slightly differing sets of instructions. By the time we were into coating #3, we had it figured out and under control. The trick was balancing the bowl of chocolate and beans in ice cold water while stirring like mad , and the answer was our dog water bowl which I had grabbed off the floor and dumped ice cubes into as a last resort. We could nicely tip the mixing bowl on its side in the dog bowl without having the bowl slide or risk getting water into it. And now the beans did separate so nicely as they cooled and were manipulated. Yes, just remember the dog water bowl solution. As for using one bowl versus two bowls, we never quite got that one right. We merely cleaned the one bowl over and over again after each use. And two sets of arms were better for the stirring than one. I might think about that coffee can set on a drill panning machine idea. Doing something for the first time is always exciting and a bit nerve wracking. Doing it again is very satisfying and I might try it again soon with sugared nuts which appeal to me more than coffee beans. I think I just like bittersweet on everything!!!

Thanks for that link. Downloaded it and will read it pronto. Never gave a thought to the difference the altitude could make in cooking.

Completely forgot to ask... I am going to give my friend the choice of dark 63%, dark 56% and milk chocolate in which to dip her coffee beans AND she is going to say, FOR SURE, ...oh, whatever you think is best. Well, I have no idea what is best. Any thoughts? What do you dip your coffee beans in: bittersweet, semi-sweet or milk? Thanks

Very interesting rambling !!! I was telling my friend about this problem and she said that dried beans can take forever to cook up here which is still lower than where you are. That could well be another thing. I have cooked rice, made scones...the scones showed no changes from sea level...mostly biscuity things. No problems so far. But no Yorkshire puddings or cakes either. We cooked both fresh and dried pasta. Ed cooked the dry...it did seem to take a long, long time as I recall. So I used the Revolation this afternoon, with Guittard Eclipse a dark of about 56 % I think. First time using Guittard chocolate. Was the lowest viscosity chocolate I have ever used. Very liquidy. Another little glitch in a world lately of confectionary glitches. However, after covering myself and everything else it seems in chocolate, it all worked well. The resulting dipped things are glossy and have a snap. Following Kerry Beal's advice, I'll just let them sit for I can't remember how many hours. Well, overnight anyhow. Except for the ones we eat now. Thanks again.

HOST'S NOTE: Moved here from a discussion on tempering chocolate at altitude, which can still be found here. Thanks Lisa, every bit of information helps. Would you please tell me the names of some foods which do not cook well when boiled at high altitude. I see the explanation, but am curious to have an example to know. Boiled vegetables? Crustaceans? All new to the flatlander. I have the Revolation working as we speak with 56% dark Guittard in it to dip the results of yesterday's hardwon caramels at high altitudes lessons. Thanks.

Thanks for your response. It makes sense. It's fat molecules, not water we are dealing with. Since I wrote the post, I have been delving about online and have found articles...not read yet really...that support changing the temperatures for high altitude and the opposite. I'll just try the Revolation later and report back my own findings. Thanks again. edited note: Come to think of it, I don't know why the altitude should not affect fat molecules in the same way it does water. But then it's all a bit beyond me sometimes.

Ruth and I have been discussing my disaster with making caramel yesterday...all turned out well in the end...and the temperature changes for cooking at higher altitudes. I suppose that this holds true for tempering chocolate too? I have a little Revolation I with me for tempering purposes...yeah, yeah, I know ...will it work fine at this higher altitude? About 4000 feet. Or is it somehow internally geared to work only at sea level???? I'll obviously try it this afternoon and see. As for tempering by hand...should I subtract the 8 degrees from each of the chocolate prescripted temperatures? Makes sense, I know, but I feel a bit uneasy about it. Thanks.

The only advantage I found to the single dirty bowl was that the subsequent doses of chocolate hardened more quickly than the first. (I suppose the chocolate on the beans might have the same effect). I know that with the coating pan the first application of chocolate takes a long time to harden up, and you actually drizzle chocolate on the sides of the empty bowl and wait for it to harden before you start - it helps the product tumble better. I wonder if it helps it harden faster too? ← I love it when two experts begin trading suggestions back and forth. Thanks, guys. Tomorrow morning is now set for the coffee chocolate coating event. My friend/landlady/next-door-neighbor has never worked with chocolate before and I am hardly an expert in the field. Should be fun.