RWood

So, for the first time I've ever tried this, they came out pretty good (pics aren't that great). The small round is my logo, and the rectangle is for my friends new catering company I will be working for. I followed some of the previous advice and added a small amount of cocoa butter to the white chocolate, tempered it (in my Rev Delta) and then raised the temp two degrees. All the chocolates I use are really fluid, so I was worried about it being too thin, but I just let them sit longer before dumping the chocolate out. I just received these sheets from Tomric, and they were back ordered for a couple of weeks. I may have gotten a good batch. My only gripe so far is the software, it could really be a lot better. It needs more options on editing and printing. The small mold does not print right for 28 cavities, it only printed 15. Kind of annoying to fit them in the right places. The rectangle could be edited better if the thing would let me. All in all though, I am happy with how it worked.

When I visited my mom in Brentwood a few weeks ago, they had gone out to pick bing's and brought back the biggest, sweetest cherries I've had in a while. And for only $2.50 a pound. They ended up picking 22 pounds . I know some of the stands in that area and the u-picks have some other varieties, but none were as good as the bing's.

The only time I do a separate bowl is when I have nuts involved. I know several people with nut allergies, so I try to keep the risk of contamination down. I don't think you would have to worry much about flavor transfer. I've never noticed anything happen like that.

I have used a product like this, but I don't remember the company it was from (been a while). I worked in a small patisserie, and made strawberry mousse cakes. It was the same method, and they came out very stable. The owner had me mix a little red currant puree with the strawberry to up the flavor. Only other thing I can remember is having to work quickly when mixing. That may not help much, but I remember it working well.

Thanks for the info on these. I just got the sheets and USB today, so now comes the experimenting. I'll post what experiences I have.

Olive oil ice cream is very good, just be sure to use a fruity oil. Sage ice cream is very good with stone fruits, as is the olive oil. I've never made avocado or green pea, but have heard they are nice.

I don't have the book in front of me, but it was the basic coffee ice cream. Usual milk, cream, yolks, etc.

I've made coffee ice cream forever, but decided to use the recipe from this book for the heck of it. I used Peet's decaf French roast, then added in crushed almond brittle. Awesome stuff

I've had that happen to me before, and I have no idea why. My batch looked like fat had congealed. I reheated it over a bain marie and hit with an immersion blender. It came back together, and was fine after that. I had made the same recipes many times, and nothing like that happened before.

I've made a pear/milk chocolate center that I have had success with. I poach my pears with white wine, vanilla bean, star anise and a few other spices I can't remember right now. I puree that and thin it with a little poaching liquid if need be. I make a butter ganache with the pear puree with a little pear liqueur. I found that I got more pear flavor with the milk chocolate than the dark. I felt it was too delicate of a flavor in dark. Many pear lovers I know really like it.

I would just worry about the added moisture. I would maybe opt for a finer grind. I make a cornmeal cake that I use for individual upside down cakes with caramel roasted peaches. I find that just cornmeal gives enough of the texture, without being too "toothy".

In Michael Recchiutti's book, I think he says he dries the herbs to remove the moisture. I've never done that either. I have made a tarragon ganache that I used with blood oranges for a tart. I just used fresh, and it came out very nice. You could definitely tell it was tarragon. I guess it depends on how much work you want to put into it.

The shells and coral are a 50/50 mix of fondant and gumpaste. There are a few real ones mixed in (that's how they wanted it). I used lustre dust to color them. I think the cake is fine, but if you saw the 30 something emails back and forth, you would understand

This cake was a major pain. The people couldn't decide what they wanted. It was a birthday cake for only 10-12 people, but it had to be a "display". I don't do cakes full time, I would go nuts. I'm sure there will be something wrong with it anyway.

I use El Rey, and it is organic and fair trade. It can be ordered online, but not sure about where they ship. I came across this website that had a table that has all this info. Maybe it would be of help. http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/main.html#Table

I went with aqua/brown for my colors, and I have a friend that is an artist that has been doing my graphics. I'm buying packaging and just using labels that he has designed for me for now. It's one of the hardest and most expensive parts of doing chocolates. I have been buying some simple aqua ballotins for some, and I would like to get more that have clear tops. It's always a search.

A lot, I know that. I'm starting to gear up for the San Francisco Chocolate Salon, so I have a ton of stuff to make. I've wanted to work on something with mango as well, but I'm not a fan, so it hasn't been a priority. I did just make a white chocolate honey lavender piece. It came out very nice. I went with all white chocolate because it reminded me of the honey lavender ice cream and brulees I used to make, and didn't want dark chocolate to interfere with the flavors. I need to finalize a gianduja piece, and I made an Aztec bark with ancho and cayenne, nibs, pepitas and sea salt. Nice flavor, I can't stop eating it .

A couple of things that has helped me is double sheet pans, starting the macarons at 350 F for 5 mins., then propping the oven door open with a wooden spoon for about 10 more mins. When I used to make hundreds of these things at a caterer, we used a convection oven. We would put sheet pans on the top and bottom shelves, start them at 325 F for 5 mins., then drop the temp to 300 with the door propped open. Same thing basically, but home and convection ovens are different. I think the higher heat to start helps give the foot the boost they need. Morphone, I have the I Love Macarons book, but haven't tried anything from it. I really didn't like the way her macs look in the book. I haven't looked at the recipes that closely to see how it differs from the one I use.

I got the book a couple of days ago. I think even if you have the first book, get this one too. There are a few different things in it. Since the recipes are geared more toward a home cook, it gives ingredient options that would be easier to find. I made the Peanut Butter Goodness yesterday. They are very good, not anywhere near as sweet as a real Snicker's. I will probably use my caramel recipe next time. While this one is good, I think I should have cooked it a degree or so less. They are firm, but still fine. I know my recipe and think it would work better for me. I really like the PB nougat. They came out a little too thick, and that's because I used my metal bars instead of a 9X13 pan. Next time I'll know how much it makes and adjust. I only had 1 1/4 cups peanuts, which looked like a lot, but when I cut them, you don't see as many.

Yeah, those are hand dipped. Probably my least favorite thing to do, that's why caramels are the only slabbed thing I do right now. I borrowed a small digital Canon camera from a friend that has a super up close setting. It works pretty well. She invested in a $900 Canon Rebel that we used to take photos for my website. But this little camera is not bad. Robyn, I tried looking at your website but it came up as not existing. Still a work in progress. Photos were one hang up, and those are being worked on. Hopefully soon. I have a page on Facebook that I use for info right now.

Yeah, those are hand dipped. Probably my least favorite thing to do, that's why caramels are the only slabbed thing I do right now. I borrowed a small digital Canon camera from a friend that has a super up close setting. It works pretty well. She invested in a $900 Canon Rebel that we used to take photos for my website. But this little camera is not bad.

I've been messing around with a camera that will take up close pictures, and here are a few of the experiments. Chipotle Vanilla Caramels, Honey Walnut Caramels, Peppermint & Passion Fruit Heart

I bought (so far) two plastic storage units that have 3 drawers. They stack together, and I store most of my chocolate tools in those. The drawers are deep enough, that they hold a lot of molds. They stay clean, and out of the way. It got these at either Target or Walmart. I think they were about $16 each.

I have that problem too. I lived in Alabama for many years and could easily get awesome pecans... and they were cheap (or even free if I was willing to gather and shell them myself, many people with trees become tired of the bother and will let you take the pecans just to get them out of the yard). Now all I can get is crappy commercial pecans that are more expensive than gold here. I very rarely bother with them anymore even though I really like them. My mom's sisters in Georgia send us pecans every year. I'm too spoiled with Georgia pecans to use the crappy ones here in CA. They are big, fat and tasty. One company was called Wren Pecan Company, and I think they may have gone out of business. The bags were different this year. I'll have to see where they are from. Still much better than anything around here.

Oh, I agree about the samples, using rejects and all. This being a first show, I decided to do normal pieces, and I saw several others doing the same. But, this show wasn't that big, and I know the SF Choc. Salon is going to be beyond crazy. That is where I'm going to use cut up pieces and maybe some type of bark. I don't plan on doing a lot of shows, but since I am starting out, I'm going to do a couple more this year, and then see what happens.