curls

@Jim D. are you making any chocolates and/or confections for Easter? Please share your items.

Since it appears that quite a few of us are interested in the tasting menu with a later dinner time... what do you think of a 7:30pm reservation for Thursday 16 May? Please feel free to suggest another time if that does not work for your schedule. What are your thoughts?

Ah ha, finally, I know the purpose of those wooden stands at the counter! Still waiting to see the golf tee tables in their final state. Beautiful space Rob! Looking forward to experiencing it myself next month!!!

Very nice selection @A Polderman. I have yet to try starch molding, looks like you have mastered it. Such delicate and lacey chocolate baskets! They look quite delicate. Did they travel well? How did you keep them from breaking during transport? I’m confused about your question... what do you mean with are the dragons cocoa butter shells? I have polycarbonate dragon moulds. For this season I am shelling them in dark or milk chocolate and then filling them with a mixture of chocolate & crispy rice cereal. Same process that one uses for chocolate bon bons. Please let me know if I have answered your question.

Good luck with your move! Of course you can borrow the love bunnies name. I just happen to prefer love bunnies to f'ing bunnies. But f'ing bunnies sounds much cooler when Kerry says it than when I do!

So, what is everyone doing for the pastry & baking side of Easter? I'm working on the following chocolates: fruit & nut eggs, hollow bunnies, Jelly Belly filled bunnies, coconut bunnies, dragons (filled with rice krispies & chocolate), peanut butter hedgehogs, and malted milk hens. Hoping to finish my dark chocolate production today and get started on all my milk chocolate items. My father-in-law will be baking the traditional family Easter bread a day or two before Easter. Its an enriched bread and he makes two versions -- one with raisins and one without (I prefer the one with raisins). And I was lucky enough to spot this couple in the sale moulds stock at last year's eGullet chocolate & confections workshop in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. These love bunnies help so very much with Easter chocolate production! ;-)

Consolidated replies for Thursday, 16 May, dinner at Bulrush. Tasting menu with later dinner time: - Curls - TandemChocoPC - Kerry Beal - tikidoc + Maddie - jbates (any time is ok) Going with the consensus: - Chocolot Pending response: - RobertM - Anniebakes

Consolidated replies for Thursday, 16 May, dinner at Bulrush. Tasting menu with later dinner time: - Curls - TandemChocoPC - Kerry Beal Going with the consensus: - Chocolot Pending response: - @jbates - @tikidoc + Maddie - @RobertM - @Anniebakes

TIme for everyone to weigh in @Kerry Beal, @jbates, @tikidoc, @TandemChocoPC, @RobertM, @Chocolot, @Anniebakes . We need to decide on the following: - dinner time - tasting menu or bar My preference is for the tasting menu and I would prefer a later dinner since I am coming in Thursday on a late afternoon / early evening flight. What are your preferences?

Thanks Rob, I truly appreciate that, I'm expecting all of St. Louis to be vying for reservations at Bulrush! Wishing all the best to you and your staff. Will wait until the Bulrush website is fleshed out with hours and pricing and then we'll get everyone on board with a dinner time.

It looks like Bulrush's reservation system will be coming online soon. Will post more details when it does. Start thinking about what time you would like to gather for dinner at Bulrush! I'm so looking forward to dining at chef @gfron1's new restaurant!!!! 🙂

Perhaps you could use your vacuform to make a bottom sealed rabbit mould and then use the mould filling method recommended by Teonzo.

Cool haul! Thanks for introducing me to a new word and item -- the delicator! Good luck finding that Nespresso for @Alleguede's new love.

Have you had prior success with this mould? He is a huge bunny! How much does he weigh? No other suggestions for repairs but if you make him again perhaps you can try painting the mould with a layer of chocolate before you do your final fill and rotate. Hopefully we'll learn some additional tips at this year's eGullet chocolate workshop that will help you with next year's Easter bunny.

Ditto what Kerry said about attempting to contact the US JKV distributor. I haven’t yet tried ordering directly from JKV but I’ve considered it a few times. @Pastrypastmidnight if you find a way to order the moulds, please share.

16 May dinner at Bulrush... 9 chocolatiers and counting... I expect that @gfron1 will have his restaurant open soon and then we will know more about the reservation system and dinner hours! curls Kerry Beal jbates tikidoc + Maddie TandemChocoPC RobertM Chocolot Anniebakes

Thrilled to add you to the list and to meet you in STL! @Anniebakes are you registered for the chocolate workshop in STL, I don't see your name on @gfron1's list of attendees.

How long did you wait between adding your filling and capping your molds? Was there enough time for a "skin" to form on the caramel?

16 May dinner at Bulrush: curls Kerry Beal jbates tikidoc + Maddie TandemChocoPC RobertM Chocolot

Ha! Missed that text, too busy looking at all the pretty pictures! Thanks for bringing that to my attention Chris, "elevated plates for our after dinner lounge experience."

My guess, bar stool. Kinda hoping I'm wrong since I prefer chairs with backs. Looking forward to seeing and dining at Bulrush in May!!!

16 May dinner at Bulrush: curls Kerry Beal jbates tikidoc + Maddie TandemChocoPC RobertM

I also use unsweetened shredded coconut with Greweling's filling but have not tried a finely shredded coconut. May try that next time.

I use Greweling’s coconut filling for some larger, ~20 gram molded pieces and like the filling with dark chocolate (too sweet for me to shell it with milk or white). I spoon it into the cavities and push it in with a finger. Don’t think it would be easy to pipe but please let me know what you did if you can make piping work.

dinner at Bulrush: curls Kerry Beal jbates tikidoc + Maddie TandemChocoPC