JenBunk

Just got my apple pectin in and have my puree thawing to give it another shot. Kerry- I am going to try the Boiron recipe you sent me, but I had a question. I noticed you did a strawberry rhubarb recently. Did you use the strawberry recipe or Rhubarb recipe, or a combination of both?

How was your first market? I am getting ready to do my first. Really excited! It was good, I was however battling the warm weather so not a huge amount of sales. I was however surprised at what sold and what didn't. I couldn't produce enough confit'd fruit (dipped in chocolate) to keep up demands. I'm glad it went well! I don't have the warm weather to battle with. This summer has been a cool one for us. Did you do one market? or are you doing them every week? Jenny

How was your first market? I am getting ready to do my first. Really excited!

Pastrygirl- I think you hit the problem right on the head. I was using a large pot and wondered if that is why it took forever to cook! I am going to try again with a smaller pot. Curls- A layered pdf was what led me to these experiments. I wanted to do a layered one, but wanted to practice before I made the ganache layer. I dipped them in chocolate to get an idea of the flavor. Won't do that again with just pdf

Well, I did not care for it much,and really didn't like them in chocolate. I think it would totally change the flavor if I rolled them in sugar rather than dipping them in chocolate. My sister really likes strawberry-rhubarb and she said they tasted really good without the chocolate. I am looking forward to trying the apple pectin recipe and some different fruits.

OK, so I just did my first pdf. It was a strawberry rhubarb puree and the recipe is from the home edition of C&C. I have never had a pate de fruit so I don't have anything to compare it to. My over all impression is it was pretty firm. Most people describe them as tender so I am hoping the apple pectin recipe will yield better results. I dipped them in chocolate. I did not really care for them and care for them even less dipped in chocolate. I'm going to give it another shot when I get the apple pectin.

Mina6907- Those are great! Your stuff tempts me to try my hand at sugar!!

Actually, you don't need to give Chocolat-Chocolat your SSN, just leave that field blank. I have ordered from them a few times, have never given them my SSN, they have never asked for it, and all my packages have arrived without problem. Now, I hope that has not jinxed me! Thanks Curls! I just ordered some molds from Chocolat-Chocolat that I have wanted for a couple years! They did have to call me a couple of times to figure out shipping to me, but my order is in! To think I could have ordered them a long time ago. I am going to try the recipe you pointed me to while I wait for my apple pectin from Chef rubber. I hope I really like these things to make my $100 pectin worth it

Pastrygirl- I agree that the price is not so bad considering how far it goes. How long does the stuff stay good? If I am going to buy that much it would have to last a couple years Kerry- I will try Snowcap. The only experience I have had ordering from Canada is from Chocolat-Chocolat. They wanted my Social Security number and the shipping was about 50% of the total sale. I am used to the shipping thing, but was not OK with giving my SSN over the internet. I understand why they need it, but it still makes me nervous. I should probably just get over being cheap and just order the apple pectin Curls- I will give that recipe a try. Thanks! Thank you everybody for taking time to help me!!

Thanks Kerry. I was trying to find it locally (didn't realize how uncommon it is). The shipping is more than the pectin. I guess I just have to decide how bad I want to make those pate de fruits:)

Thank you so much for the recipes!! I have been searching for apple pectin with no luck so far. I will keep looking. Is it in powder or liquid form? Jenny

Thanks again Kerry! If they were attached, sorry I missed them. Looking for rhubarb pate de fruit recipes I kept coming across this one: 1/2 – 3/4 pound rhubarb, roughly chopped 2 cups sugar 3 ounces (1 envelope) liquid pectin 2 teaspoons lemon juice Does that look right? What would be the shelf life of this? and would this work with a layer of ganache? Sorry for all the questions! I have never done pate de fruits and I only recently started selling my chocolates so shelf life has become way more important than before.

Thanks Kerry! I agree I will have to experiment myself, but I wanted other advise before getting started. Rhubarb is not a flavor I care for or eat often so I needed some input. Do you think a white chocolate and strawberry ganache would allow the rhubarb to come through? Or would that be overwhelmingly sweet with the pate de fruit? I have never had a pate de fruit either so I am tasting blind here Also, I noticed you said you prefer Boiron old recipes to their new ones. Can you PM the old ones? Thanks! Jenny

I need some insight into layered pate de fruit. I want to do strawberry rhubarb flavor and thought a pate de fruit would be fun as I have never made it before. Some thoughts I had were a rhubarb pate de fruit with a layer of strawberry ganache. This is where I need help. Does the rhubarb flavor come through or is it there just to enhance the strawberry? Am I better off doing a strawberry rhubarb pate de fruit and another flavor for the second layer. Thoughts?

I second Minas6907! So jealous of your chocolate lab!!

You are most welcome! I use a Paasche airbrush. It is the one you get when you sign up for the color class. You use it the whole time for the class and then take it home(you will need to buy more bottles as it only comes with one). The class is awesome because you learn some cool techniques, but you also get some awesome troubleshooting help. Any time something goes wrong with my airbrush I know how to fix it. Keep me posted if you go for it!

Hi! Could you please elaborate on how you create the rose design? They look just wonderful! Thanks! Sure! I I put a dab of cocoa butter in the mold I am going to use. I close my airbrush so it is only blowing air. I Put the airbrush close to the surface and blow the air in a circular pattern working my way from the center out. I took a class from Joanne through Ecole chocolat called Mastering the Use of Color on Chocolate. That is where I learned this technique. It is kind of hard to describe so I hope that helps.

Pastrygirl- Confectionery falls into the safe category as a general rule, but they ask that you tell them a little about your process and they encourage you to submit a list of ingredients. The University of Alaska Fairbanks, Cooperative extension has a test kitchen where you can bring your product in and they will test the PH. They also have free classes to teach you about that, and safe canning practices. I honestly don't know much about canning so there might be some different regulations for that. I can sell at markets and things like that. My main business comes from word of mouth and they just call and see what I have and come pick it up. Basically it just has to be sold in person.

Mina6907- I forgot to ask, what flavor are those lolipops?

Chocolate can be a bit of a bear when your dealing with room temperature. I am always amazed when I watch videos of sugar pulling. It seems like it would take a lot of practice. Those are chocolate covered marshmallows. I used my airbrush to get the rose effect. I It is not my best rose I have done, but it is the only picture I took. I have a tendancy to pack up my product and pass out before I take pictures.

Mina6907- Those look great! I have never tried sugar as I am a little itimidated by it. I would love to make old fashioned ribbon candy for christmas. Have you ever made any of those? I have heard CA has pretty strict laws regarding food. So did AK until now. Mostly becasue of all the fresh seafood caught here. They just recently started seperating out low hazard food (pastry, jams, confections, ect). Here are some more of my recent adventures:

Pastrygirl- Thanks! DianaM- The heart is Orange. The dome is the peanut butter one. Thanks! Minas6907- Food cottage law means I can sell my chocoaltes out of my home. There are some restrictions like I can't do mail order or wholesale, but it works great for me. Renting a kitchen is not practicall with all the airbrush, molds, and other equipment I use (plus there are very few kitchen available in my small town). I was not ready to commit to a retail shop yet either as I have 3 boys under the age of 5. So the ability to make them in my home makes my chocolate dream possible.

Mina6907-Aww shucks, that is the nicest thing anybody has ever said about my chocolates. If in fact that comment was directed at me .

Food Cottage law just opened up here in AK so this is the first batch I have made that I can sell. Very excited my expensive hobby can now pay for itself . Forgive the low quality picture taken with my phone. Flavors are: Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter, Orange, and Espresso Cinnamon

Aha! I was searching the US site and the link you sent me was for Canada. I knew it was out there and didn't think about that as a reason why it was not coming up. I think the wholesaler can still get it regardless. Thanks Kerry! Panaderia Canadiense-Thanks for the suggestion. My problem is shipping costs are always crazy to Alaska. My local wholesaler is a client of Callebaut so I can get any item for no extra charge and no shipping. That is why I was inquiring about Callebaut specifically. Jenny