Darienne

Congratulations! You go, girl!

Thanks Kerry. Tomorrow for sure I am making some!

Kerry's Buttercrunch. Yummmm... I see that the RecipeGullet is still not back up. Is there any chance that a kind soul will give me the buttercrunch recipe? Suddenly I have this urge for buttercrunch dipped in chocolate. Thanks. (That's supposed to indicate 'yummy')

Although I cannot go far afield for confectionary classes, I am hoping to take some classes from Kerry Beal when we return to Ontario in January. I too would like the buttercream recipe. Invert sugar is not hard to make and it keeps a very long time.

The Recipe section should be back in operation soon and I'll get it then. Thanks. And thanks for always helping me navigate this amazing organization.

I agree that the Greweling book is top notch and I am currently waiting to get the Wybauw book through the local ILL to see if it warrants my spending additional money right now. (I should add that I am a novice and feel I should learn as much as I can from my current books before indulging in buying others.) However, I am very curious to know why Schotts is out of favor. His is the first chocolate book I ever bought and although I prefer others to it, I would still like to know why he has slipped in favor.

I typed 'Kerry's Buttercrunch' into the eG search engine and got back more entries than I could deal with in a week. Pray tell, what is Kerry's Buttercrunch and how do you make it? Thanks.

I have ordered the Wybauw book through inter-library loan and then will decide whether or not to purchase it outright. I don't know what it costs, but I suspect that it is a lot! I just hope that it is available through ILL.

This thread is almost too much to bear. One scrumptious dessert after another. I have not made very many fancy desserts in the last decade...this whole idea of making delicious things again being new to me...but we have recently picked up one supper tradition which stands us in good stead. And tonight's the night again. About once a week, we simply have dessert for supper. Dessert and only dessert. Tonight's dessert will be orange flavored scones covered in fresh raspberries and whipped cream. Nothing special, but still, O so good. However, I am going next for that incredible looking peanut and chocolate pie by Lisa2K.

Then who is using anhydrous butter in their ganaches and is this something one might aim for?

As far as I can see, Greweling does not talk about anhydrous butter. In his section on butter ganaches, he mentions that the butter ganaches, as compared to the cream ganache, is commonly used in Europe and that it resists spoilage better because of the lower liquid content. And yet he does not mention making the ganache with anhydrous butter. Curious...unless I am mistaken. I don't know the book cover to cover. Do European confectioners not only make the butter ganache, but also make it from anhydrous butter?

I have visions of my DH and the two pups and myself, stomping the grapes in our bare feet... Of course, grapes are poison to dogs so I'd have to warn them not to sample the wares...lol Seriously though, it's a great idea and we just might try it. Thanks to everyone who sent ideas.

Thanks Kerry. Really interesting. I certainly do learn something new every day, particularly on this site!!!

Thanks so much. I have never had excess grapes in my life before...except for the one year of abundant wild grapes back home in Ontario, 1995, and we made grape jelly.

We are currently living in Moab Utah and our landlady (and friend and next door neighbor on whose property this second house stands) has gone away for a while leaving for our use more grapes than I have ever seen before. I don't know what kind they are, except for the Concord grapes. Two other varieties seem of the Concord type...you know...you put them in your mouth, break the skin, swallow the juicy innards and then either chew up the skin...or as we all did as kids...spit the skins out. And one variety is more the store bought type. Please no jam or jelly or wine. I did find a wonderful pie recipe, Schiacciata con l'Uva, which I might try. I could try juice. We have a Champion with us but I don't know how it would handle the seeds yet. Will try that tomorrow. Any other suggestions? Thanks

Where do they use anhydrous butter and why? Is it common anywhere? Normally used for confections in what countries? I have never heard of it before and the information on the web is too much at once. Thanks

Speaking as a Canadian currently living in Utah, I would say that Americans use more sugar in their pastries and cakes and such than do Canadians. We were in a culinary emergency last year and bought a commercial angel food cake. I was stunned by how sweet it was. Then we tried a pound cake...same thing. Now I have an oven and can make what I need. I asked the Utah chocolate couverture supplier about sending me some 70% chocolate...I love it. He said only if I wanted a case. They just don't get any call for it. But then Greweling doesn't seem to use it at all It's just what you are used to, what you are raised on. Perhaps that's the sole basis of the European remarks...too sweet for their taste.

Hi Darienne This old thread, around page 10-12 there is discussion on the spatter technique. DavidJ shows his spatter tip Ruth Kendrick explains her modification to the spatter technique. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=56184&st=330 Here is another one where TNChocolatier explains how to do it with the old fashioned way with a whisk http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=117072 ← Thank you EJW. Just got back online tonight so am a little late in my reply.

Hear! Hear!

I'm not a big fan of milk chocolate, but sometimes it does work extremely well. We'll go for it next time. The 60% is much sweeter than the 70% and this must be why it 'goes' better. I'm stopping at a little speciality shop in Ontario on the way to Utah and picking up some more pretzel rods to play with...just in case I can't find them where we're going...and the neat little cellophane wrappers too.

Thanks Desiderio for all the information. I would not have used the 70%, but my friend wanted 85% which I could not get. Also, at the time I had no choice in 70%...we live in a small city and I was lucky to get any 70% at all. Our pretzel rods and turtles were done in 60%, medium viscosity, and they worked out very well. Also last week I scarcely knew that viscosity was an issue at all. I am the newbie amongst newbies...but learning quickly I hope. All least all the errors are still edible and delicious. BTW, I never did recoat the caramels. I completely botched the tempering process and both I and the store had no more 70% couverture left. Soon I'll be in Utah, using E. Guittard for the first time, thanks to Ruth Kendrick. The best news is that we are going to meet!

My adorable lop-eared bunny mold at the top of this thread is a Tomric mold. I'll download their website and see what I can find. I think my confectionary partner is probably going to buy some molds on behalf of us both at Chocolat-Chocolat for now. Thanks

Thanks for the help, all. Kerry, that Belcolade section was helpful and I saved it for further reference, although I think I am starting to get the picture. Who knew? The problem with what I was doing, coating caramel, is that the caramel is very thick and solid in its presentation and needs a thicker coating than say a truffle. Or it needs a thicker coating in chocolate in my perception of how it should be and taste. I'll have my DH try one this morning and get his opinion on the coating...and then probably recoat the caramels. (Of course, he'll say that they should be rolled in nuts also. But then they are not for him. ) Later: Report on caramel taste test. DH ate half a caramel and thought they were delicious but could benefit from a re-coating. I ate one of the little extra side bits that I cut off to square the slab. It was much thinner than a regular caramel and coated in the same way. Thus the proportion of chocolate to caramel is greater. I think, while it all tastes delicious, the caramel overwhelms the chocolate and can't see any real point to dipping caramels into chocolate. ...but it was what my friend ordered. Even later while out walking: Of course, she probably meant a soft caramel filling and I used a denser, chewier filling. I see Greweling has a couple of softer caramel fillings I could try. Also, is there a way to change the recipe that Kerry gave me to make it softer? More cream? Just random thoughts as I learn and learn and learn... Last thought: I'll go back and read that caramel thread on eG.

Thanks Emmalish. I'll just wait until I return to Canada and then get a few.

Thanks for the information. It would probably be less expensive to have them shipped to Utah where we are going for a while, than across the border to Canada where we live.