rena

Decided to make some treats for Halloween so made some marshmallow bars. Shapes are ghost, bat and a pumpkin. I also made cookie marshmallow to be dipped in chocolate...

Thank you Darienne, I finally found a caramel reciep that was firm enough to do freehand without having to put it in molds. I got the reciep from the FoodNetwork magazine, the insert for 50 edible gifts if anyone want to check it out. Here is another pic I wanted to download in my previous post. It's dk chocolate caramel with flur de sel salt on top.... Rena

Wow Robert those look fantastic. I too was a busy bee this weekend. I made same caramel hopefully I can download the pics right....Everything was done freehand. I don't have a confectionary cutter that's why the pieces are not uniformed. Rena

Hi Chocolot, Your bunnies look great! I'm curious, how many molds do you have of those bunnies? When I first starting making shaped chocolates and ordering molds I only bought one mold per shape when I should have bought multple molds of the same shape...... Rena

I like this thread. I too meet with ladies each week although it's more for dinner than lunch. But two are retired, one is employed and I'm the one looking for work. We do manage to go to different places to eat. Around Christmas we meet for lunch in a little antique town called Niles in CA. The place was called 'A Tyme for Tea' and it's a fabulous place to have wonderful teas with little tea sandwichs. They start you off with your tea then a tasty scone with honey butter and then the tea sandwiches. It's nestled in a store that sells antiques and other things. Quite a nice little place. They even have hats there if you want to wera them while you are sipping your tea..... Rena

What about rice krispie treats on a stick? I was thinking granola too but it has nuts and I don't know about the allergy thing.... Hope this helps. Rena

Well that makes it all worth it! Thanks! Rena

Here is what I have been doing since Saturday. Marshmallows, vanilla bean, rasberry and passion fruit with toasted coconut, and 8 different truffles. I used a close up on my camera and wow it shows every nick and smudge! Rena

Hi Steve, I don't know if this will help but on my jar of fruit compound it says 'Use Level- 3% to 5% by weight'. I'm not good with numbers so I have no idea what that means..... Rena

It depends on you. If you want to use fresh ingredients like lemon juice or any citrus juice then you can. I use Cream de Menth extract for my mint flavor fondant. I order from Amoretti for the compounds. They are very generous with giving free samples when you order from them. Rena

Wow Kerry your chocolate room looks great. Oh to have more room! That's one thing I lack at the moment. I'm just finishing up my business plan so hoping to get something going this year as far as a business is concerned. Anyway keep those pics coming. Would love to see you in action with making your chocolate confections..... Rena

Hi Robyn, Your chocolates look amazing. I didn't know the Santa Cruz festival was this soon. Darn I missed it. About the Chocolate Salon in March, I went last year and wow there are a lot of people that attend. I don't know if you went last year or not, but if you have molds that are a smaller shape you can use those as samples too. I have a mold that has 45 cavities I have 3 of those same molds so I can make a lot of sample with those as well. The other suggestions are great too. I'm going so hopefully I'll get to see you there..... Rena

No I don't mind sharing although the recipe I use is from Peter Grewellings book. His fondant recipe. It's pretty simple. 35oz sugar 7oz water 7oz corn syrup I heat it to 243F and then I let it cool in the pot. I don't have a marble slab. I cool it to 120F and then I start to agitate it in the pot. It takes about 10 minutes to get it to the white pasty stage. Then I put it in an airtight container and let it ripe overnight. The next day I divide it up into 4 portions. I put one portion in at a time in a double boiler and just heat it enough to where it's back to a glossy look. I don't go above 150F. Then I add my flavor componets. This year I've been using Amoretti Fruit Compound. I use about 1Tblspn + 1 tespn and each flavor and it's a good mix. The flavors are very exact. I even used a concord grape compound which was quite interesting. But the Blackherry it my fave at the moment. You do have to be careful on the amounts you use because the compounds are quite strong and can overpower. It's a hit and miss until you get it right.... Rena

I just got a new camera and so I'm hoping to download a couple of pictures I took of some Fondant soft centers I made last week. One is Black Cherry and the other is Pineapple. Rena

I added rice crisp to my recipe which is the same as your, except I do add some white chocolate as well. It didn't seep at all when I used the rice crisp and it gives it a different texture. You don't want to add to much rice crisp then you end up the rice krispy bars. This is the recipe I used: 16oz of white chocolate 6 heaping serving spoons of peanut butter (i used jif low fat) 1 cup of powder sugar 1 to 2 cups of rice crisp... heat the chocolate until melted and then add to the last three ingredients. Stir to incorporate and the roll into balls. Dip in chocolate..... Rena

Your soup looks fantastic and I'm sure it tasted the same. I've put that book on my Christmas wish list. Hopefully I will get it. If not I will buy it in the new year.... Thanks for sharing! Rena

Thanks Marmalade for your description on how to make nougat. I've been wanting to make nougat for a while. I don't know if I want to break my whisk though Rena

Wow Gini those pies look great! I love cherry pie and your lattice ( i think that's what it's called) looks great too! Rena

Maybe Milk chocolate would be better than dark chocolate....... Rena

I think adding Artisan or Artisnal is a good idea. I call my chocolates 'Artisan Chocolates and Gourmet Confections' as part of my selling point. If they want more of a definition of Artisan then I tell them I make them all by hand and by myself..... Rena

This weekend I'm making soft centers (buttercreams) for my chocolates. I'm also making 3 different batchs of ganache. People are starting to order for christmas so I have to get busy! It will be great to see all the goodies everyone will be making.... Rena

I have a question about Buttercreams. I know there is a topic here somewhere. I did a search and couldn't find it. Anyway, I made 35oz of fondant to be used as 'soft centers' for chocolate molds. It's ripening now. I want to add a Frappe to it to make it lighter. I also have freezed dried fruit powders, fruit purees, extracts and frozen concentrate orange juice and grape juice to use as flavor componets. When and how would I add the Frappe? Before I add the flavor or after? and do I heat it over a double boiler to add the Frappe and flavors? Sorry for all the questions I'm doing a sample pack for a classmate.... Thanks in advance. Rena

For the savory, what about puff pastry with a little tomato sauce, mozarella, and basil or onion which ever. YOu don't have to make the puff pastry just buy it..... Rena

Sorry I was so excited that I finally downloaded a picture that I forgot to mention the flavors. Here they are.... First row to the left is Plain ganache with Peruvian Salt sprinkled on top Next row is Kona Coffee Truffles with a coffee bean on top Next row is Cherry Truffle made with Washington Cherry Extract with a dried cherry on top Last row is 2 Cream De Menth Truffles (it's the one with a gold/green razzle dazzle dust on it) and the other one is a Sereno Chile Truffle with a pink razzle dazzle dust on it. I dusted them so I could tell which flavor is what. Thanks, Rena

Ok I uploaded a pic of truffles I made recently. Thanks, Rena