YetiChocolates

Okay RobertM you can put me down as a maybe...I have possible obligations next March that I'm not sure will conflict, but having read the thread on what you have planned, it sounds like it would definitely be worth my while! And I would love to meet all of those who are planning on attending!

Hey Kerry does that book go into much chocolate detail do you know, or is it just mainly focused on other types of candy confections? I guess what I'm asking is that for a chocolatier would it be a worth-while book to have in their collection?

So I was just poking around online looking at confectionery funnels (yes they are uber expensive) when I found this on Kerekes site: http://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=20977&manufacid=0&keyword=funnel I wonder if it would work similar to the confectionery funnel, but a fraction of the price. Any thoughts???

Oh I agree that having your own silicone molds you made would be nice, I wish I had the capabilities of making my own polycarbonate mold, there are so many designs that I wish they had for sale but don't. And I agree finding a cheap way to make your own molds is also very nice, it's amazing how expensive this business is. BTW, your "replacement funnel" idea was very clever, I'm definitely going to try that the next time I'm working with gooey confections I need to pour. I haven't looked into the cost of those funnels but I can only imagine how out of control expensive they are!

I read that as well, I thought it was such a waste of chocolate! I also bought a cheap candy bonbon mold to make the plaster of paris molds with, funny! Not sure where the mold went though, I'll have to go searching. Well I appreciate the blog read and though I may be fairly proficient with molds (years of practice and still get it wrong sometimes) it seems you are a natural with pulled sugar confections. I dabbled a little in culinary school, but you've definitely got a knack for it!

I just got that book in the mail! I also have been wanting to do liquor filled chocolates, but have been hesitant because of the fear of breaking them or them not turning out, or just too many other things on my plate, but I might have to just make the time and play around with them. I agree that "Art of the Chocolatier" does do a very nice job at explaining the process.

Thanks for the ideas Jaymes and andiesenji, I'll have to look into both of those!

I'm with the ice crystal crowd, I love scraping those off the ice cream with a spoon...Yum! I've actually been fiddling with re-creating that taste of the root beer float we all know and love into a chocolate. I've got the "ice cream" layer down, but been having trouble getting enough "root beer" in the root beer layer. Thinking of using flat root beer in replace of the cream and seeing how that turns out.

Wybauw had a rhubarb ganache recipe in his "Fine Chocolates Great Experiences 3: Extending Shelf Life" book. I just recently picked up the book...it's alright, but I think getting the first book in that series would have been a wiser purchase. If you would like me to post the recipe, let me know!

Food mill eh? Don't have one, but never really needed one til now. But fresh fruit in the summer is so abundant in this area that it would be silly not to make your own purees, especially with how much it costs to have them shipped frozen!

When you make your fruit purees from fresh fruit is there any special processing you do? Do you cook them to soften them up and then puree them or do you just puree without cooking? Do you add any additional sugar to them? I have some apricots that I'd like to puree but I wasn't sure if I should remove the skin, cook them down to soften them up, or just put the whole thing fresh (remove the pit of course) into the blender and puree. Any suggestions?

Thanks for the information Kerry, and I agree about the molds, that does sound like way too much work!

This is sort of on the topic, though not with a veggie ganache, but I made an apricot bbq sauce that I thought might be an interesting pairing in a ganache. I haven't had the time yet to fiddle with it, and will be traveling the next couple weeks so it'll have to wait a bit, but was wondering what you all might think of the idea? I just tried Vosges Chocolates "Mo's Dark Bacon" bar, and I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the combination of salty, smoky, and sweet. So when I made this BBQ sauce, my mind wandered to that chocolate bacon bar, and I thought, "huh, maybe that would be good."

Hello All! I've recently joined the society having read the threads posted by other society members since 2006. I decided to join because this summer I've had a chance to read more of the topics and I've come up with quite a few questions that I'm not sure have been answered (still making my way through all the threads) and I'm hoping to start my own chocolate business in the next couple years, so I felt that made me "worthy" of joining the society. This has been a great resource to go to when having chocolate troubles, and everyone who posts seems incredibly talented, so I'm really looking forward to interacting with everyone! That said, my question in this thread is for John DePaula, you had mentioned: I was wondering where you purchased those magnetic molds from? I usually get my from Kerekes in Brooklyn, but if there is another company that sells more heavy duty magnetic molds, I would rather buy the right ones the first time! Also, I was curious about your profile picture...I'm guessing you used a magnetic mold with a texture sheet, but did you fill the texture sheet with burgundy/magenta colored cocoa butter then wiped the texture sheet clean before using it? It is quite stunning!