minas6907

Heres a batch of pics, sorry if its too much at one time. We have raspberry sticks (hard candy), shells for rose marcaron, swirled gummies, action shot of me dipping peppermint patties, bottoming a coconut slab with chocolate, almond joys recieving thier almonds, and finally the finished almond joys.

Now I'm curious about this, seriously, I'm going to get a bag of these things to see the texture.

You'd be very surprised at the variety of ways you can combine sugar, starch, and ginger. Personally, I think I would keep messing around with the recipe you found of that website, that will probably give you something you can make yourself and enjoy. When it comes to the real ginger chews, there's really no telling how it ginger has been processed, and I think they add more then just juice, which means it could be processed in a way that we cant really do at home.I think this is a unique candy in itself, a 'chew' can refer to a lot of things. I dont think its akin to a taffy though, it doesnt resemble a pulled candy, and a taffy would have more then sugar, starch, and ginger. Not to mention if you did pull a candy like that, it would crystallize very quickly. If you make a caramel, and pulled it once its cooled like you would taffy, your cut pieces would crystallize a few hours later, and have more of a short fudge texture then anything you would call a 'chew.' Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is that I'd recommend to keep playing with the recipe you have, theres too many variables to realistically expect really replicate this candy exactly and make different flavors. The proportions of the ingredients are unknown, and when it comes to starch, that makes a huge difference, and not to mention, like you said, they could have a drying stage in the process. And also the ginger seems to be a pretty large part of the candy, so if you wanted to make different flavors, you really would have to formulate it quite differently if one were omitting the ginger. I hope I'm not being discouraging or anything! Sorry if I am! You'll find something you are happy with, please let us know!

Out of my own curiosity, why specifically acid phosphate? Would the more accessible citric acid not give the same effect?

Fudge would also hold up well since it is crystallized. Of course with either caramel or fudge you can adjust the firmness by cooking longer, but I think you'd probably less problems from fudge.

Thanks for the advice! I've made macarons a few times before, but I used another recipe this time, in which I was able to get much more of a feel for how to make these, including deflating it, which I should have done more, but I know for next time! Also, I probably could have used a slightly larger piping tip, perhaps that would have reduce my peaks a bit, but overall I think making the mixture a bit more runny. And trust me, I certainly did tap the sheet pans....like for minutes, those peaks werent going anywhere! Haha, but thanks for your compliments as well as the tips!

Heres something from a few days ago. Had some time, so I made a citrus confit, these are tangerine skins. Then used them to garnish some chocolates I did. The chocolate pieces use Andrew Shotts Grande Marnier ganache.

Very cool!

Am I the only one that hasnt heard of a cookie butter before?

Heres the rest of this weekends activities. Had another try at macarons, this was from the book 'Patisserie,'french meringue method, and it worked wonderful, got much more of a feel for making these shells. Next is a marzipan I made this morning, and then some marshmallows that will be at a hot cocoa bar at a wedding. Marshmallow flavors, left to right, are ginger, cinnamon/nutmeg, and cocoa.

Thanks! Glad you like them! The folios is from Chocolates and Confections. Specifically, the sea salt caramels use the formula that include sweetened condensed milk, and the espresso caramels use the formula that contains evaporated milk and fresh cream. For as many recipes as you've tried, I'm going to assume you have Greweling book. There's a note on each caramel recipe that the temp of 239f or so is just an estimate, and that the caramels should be tested by hand. When making caramels, I add the butter at 230f or so, then when it nears 235ish I remove the thermometer and test a little bit of the mixture in cold water every few minutes, and you'll just see what the caramel feels like as you cook it a little longer. Just make some caramels and cook them a little longer then your inclined to. They will set up firmer, and have nice sharp edges when you cut them. Let me know if you want grewelings recipe if you don't have it already.

Thanks! The apple is hollow, just a blown piece. It was just to see if I could do it, then after 15 tries I finally got the shape!

Was playing with sugar today. Made a blown sugar apple as well as a bow.

I agree with the above post on the Japanese mandoline. We had a few in the French kitchen where I used to be at, and I have one at home. I personally like it because it will definitely do the job, and it has a cheap price. If I had the money, I'd get a nice shiny Bron mandoline, but that's currently beyond me. I guess just take into consideration exactly how often you'll be using it.

Heres a few things from the last few days. First, a piped ginger marshmallow, and second is a blackberry lavender truffle.

The peach flavor is just from the pureed peaches. Making the jellies is a bit different then a ganache, where you have chocolate as a base then you flavor that mixture. The pate de fruit is completely fruit based and gelled with pectin, so I didn't have chocolate as a factor in my items that would affect the taste. I guess what I'm trying to say, is a peach jellie is of course going to have a strong peach flavor, where as a peach ganache it isn't going to be as pronounced, the items aren't really comparable, they are different in many ways.

Is anyone taking any videos of tutorials as was done in past years?

Heres a few things I just did for an event. Gold dusted caramels, espresso caramels, and sea salt caramels, along with blackberry and peach pate de fruit.

Heres some peppermint meltaways I made today. Weather was cool, so took advantage of it for some chocolate work.

Hmmm, I could print a few extra kitchen aid mixers to have on standby...I'd probably be making duplicates of everything in my kitchen. Material would have to be food safe of course.

It wasn't anything complicated, just ground the espresso and steeped it in the cream and evaporated milk the day before, then strain and proceed with the caramel recipe!

Hey thanks, both of you! The recipe I used is from chocolates and confections 2nd edition, using the native starch. I do add to it, though, corn syrup in the amount of half of whatever the sugar is. I say that because I usually make 1/3 of the full recipe, so its 8oz corn syrup. I've seen that if its made without it, as the recipe says, the candies crystallize rather quickly and lose the supple texture they should have.

Rose Turkish Delights with a Turkish coffee.

Espresso caramels for an upcoming wedding.

Ooooooo I'm stoked I get to post something in the 'showroom finish' thread, so used to the 'crappy chocolate' thread! Been messing around with chocolate a little more lately, and getting good results. Heres the best I've done with my polycarbonate. Has a simple caramel filling.