curls

There is a blackberry-merlot sauce in Sherry Yard's Secrets of Backing that is wonderful. The book uses the blackberry-merlot sauce as a base for sorbet and pate de fruit. Same book has a recipe for blackberry-lime curd (I haven't made that one yet).

Steve, that's quite a selection of chocolates! They all look great. Which are your top sellers? Do your clients ever make requests for other chocolates?

Lisa2K, wow, that is a gorgeous loaf of bread!

Your Momofuku pork bun's look fabulous. So, is this something that you would make again?

RobertM, Just trying to showcase your fine cinnamon roll filling. May bake some cinnamon swirl bread next time!

Cinnamon rolls

Done following Greweling's instructions? Followed Grewling's instructions but also had the chance to watch Chris Hennes make them at the 2012 eGullet Chocolate Workshop.

Spiced and Dark Chocolate Almond Dragees

Very cool! I am amazed that you made such great spheres with a straw! You'll make a dove in no time once you get the pump bulb.

Beautiful and the flavors sound great too!

Edward, thank you for checking on the Mol d'Art site, glad they are not ones that you had trouble with. Patti, I thought you had a wheel temperer at the conference, not a melter (the melter still has a dial control). Good to hear that you have had success with the company. I have see the positive references on The Chocolate Life site and I think they organized a group buy of some other Bakon equipment. Tough decision for me, the Bakon looks interesting but so many people on eGullet and the pastry circuit have positive experiences with Mol d'Art. Will ponder this one for a bit longer. Thank for all the feedback!

Kerry, I am looking at the Mini Bakon MTD, it holds 12.5 lbs. (5.6 Kg). The standard Bakon MTD holds 25 lbs. (way too much for what I make). Thanks so much for your input Ruth and DianaM. Please, keep the comments coming! Surely someone in the community has hands-on experience with Bakon products.

Has anyone used a Bakon MTD 1-2-3 Mini? What are the pros and cons of this chocolate melter vs. the Mol d'Art 6 Kg chocolate melter? Looks like both are large enough to work with 1000 & 2000 series chocolate molds. It appears that the Bakon is all stainless steel while the Mol d'Art is plastic and stainless steel. Wondering if this really matters for a piece of equipment with no moving parts. So is one piece of equipment more reliable than the other? Easier to operate? The Bakon costs a bit more than the Mol d'Art is the extra expense worth it?

Judy, thanks to everyone for publishing the errata. I wish that every publisher would do this. A per volume errata would be very helpful. I would like it to contain all of the corrections (not just the recipe errata).

Mette, very pretty cake. The flavors sound great too. Happy Birthday to Rebecca. Ruth, your chocolate lady bugs look adorable!

Very nice Tikidoc. Beautiful farm land too!

Try lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and use some oil and matzah cake meal for the sides of the pan. To lighten it up, I would add more whipped egg whites. Save the extra yolks for ice cream.

Kerry, please put me in as a tentative attendee too, hope to be able to join everyone in 2013!

Yes indeed Ruth, RobertM has some fun stuff in his chocolate workshop. Wish you could have joined us Prabha... maybe the bunnies would have come out better! Will have to try to get together with the DC area folks before the 2013 workshop in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

patti_h, very pretty chocoaltes! What did you do to achieve that effect?

The graffiti bunnies...

Here is a that shows you some of what this wonderful machine can do!edited to fix link

Thanks Bob, two weekends of chocolate making fun! That JKV does a great job with the chocolate, once you get the hang of it, it is so much easier to fill molds with the built in chocolate spout (vs. a ladle or spatula). We also made a few more bunnies that look a lot happier than that blue bunny. Milk chocolate bunnies are filled with peanut butter, dark chocolate bunnies are filled with raspberry ganache, and hollow molds (pigs and flop earred bunnies) are filled with jelly bellies. It will be a chocolate extravaganza at the family Easter dinner.

I learned so many more ways to get banana flavor into a ganache (use extremely ripe bananas, cook the bananas, add freeze dried banana powder). Now I am ready to try making a banana's foster chocolate or a banana ginger chocolate. Based on what I learned, I am planning to do some more with chocolate decorations (chocolate bowls, chocolate tulips, and chocolate showpieces). Hopefully we can continue to explore this topic at future workshops. Again, what a great group of people, what a wonderful time. There are so many ideas and images bouncing around in my head!

Hmmm... that must be because of the Canadian accent.