keychris

A christmas tree! Lime ganache & buccaneer tea infusion.

I'm definitely with pastrygirl on this one - sounds like overcrystallization. How much seed are you adding to your 45C chocolate? (I assume you're not tabling ) Can you describe your tempering technique? If you're seeding, there's absolutely no need to do the 45-27-32 temperature profile, simply add the seed and stir until it reaches working temp (I know a lot of people on here don't do the stirring, but it works for me, and I am quite OCD about things when they work ) cheers Chris

that's exactly how I dry caramelise, too. 1/3 of the sugar at a time, heat until it's melted and honey coloured, add the next third, repeat.

It really is all about practice and technique! I'll address your points slightly randomly, as that's how my brain works Cocoa butter: Tempering cocoa butter is so ridiculously easy. I usually work with colours in 50-75g batches. I put the cocoa butter in a small (1 cup) plastic measuring cup and melt it to 45C (I have a dehydrator, so I just put it in there the night before I plan to work). Then take it out and stir it until it reaches 31-32C and it's tempered and ready to use. This will only take 5 minutes or so as the volume you're using is so small. Downside is, you have to work fast once it's ready, unless you have it kept warm. When you're finished, either leave it in the container to solidify, or pour it out in a thin layer over some clingwrap or nonstick baking paper, then store in ziplock bags (I do the latter). A side point: be so careful heating your cocoa butter in the microwave, it is incredibly easy to overheat and cause it to burn. Thickening chocolate: Chocolate will thicken naturally, as you've mentioned, even when held at the working temperature. This thickening is a multiplication of the beta crystals that are the "good" crystals that cause your chocolate to contract away from the mold. By adding pure cocoa butter, you do increase the fluidity however, you do increase the number of beta crystals that will end up being formed too! You can regularly zap it with a heat gun or hair drier, just a few seconds, to remelt the crystals that are forming at the cooler surface of the chocolate. If you're getting your chocolate thickening too much between adding it to the mold and scraping it clean, you've got far too many beta crystals in there - it's overcrystallised. You only need 1-2% of the liquid chocolate to be in the beta crystal state at working temperature for the chocolate to be "in temper". So it's easy to overcrystallise, too! Don't stress out about watching that thermometer though - heat the chocolate for a few seconds with a heat gun / hair drier, take a test. Rely on the test, not the thermometer - in the more advanced classes I've attended, the teacher doesn't allow the students to use a thermometer, it's all done by touch and test. Practice makes perfect! Scraping: Work one mold at a time. Don't fill 6 molds and scrape them after the sixth. Of course the chocolate will be thickening, if you do that (and I realise you never said you DID do that ). Always work clean - if you've got chocolate on your scraper, use a spatula or another scraper to clean it off. I hold the mold over the bowl, scrape the mold, wipe the scraper over the side of the bowl to get the bulk of the chocolate back into the bowl, then rescrape the top and then the sides, cleaning the scraper back into the bowl after every stroke. Scraping the cooling chocolate back into your bowl does cool your bowl chocolate down and thicken it, as you're adding more beta crystals back into the bowl. So after each mold, you might need to just wave the heat gun over the bowl for a few seconds, whilst stirring. If you don't want to scrape back into your working chocolate, scrape into a second bowl, or even on the side of the bench, if it's clean Demolding: Sometimes the darned things just stick. You have a whole mold except two come out easily. Sounds like you're on top of this, but just to say it for the sake of saying it - make sure chocolate is in temper If the molds are quite cool before you add the chocolate - warm them up with the heat gun, not so they're hot, just so they're not cold. Otherwise the chocolate that hits the mold first will likely stick to it and you'll have a hard time getting them out, even if the chocolate was in temper! I'll just add - it's *really* hard to do things without the right equipment - I spent 5 months after my first class without a melt tank, just doing it all on the bench and with the microwave, and keeping chocolate in temper without something to hold it at the working temperature is practically impossible. So if you don't have a melt tank (if you're starting out, I can understand why you wouldn't as they are damned expensive, here in Australia at least), don't get discouraged, you just have to work fast and in small batches! I literally would only get 2 or 3 molds done before the chocolate had cooled too far for even the hair drier to help! HTH Chris

exactly a wonderful honey flavour with that textural component, all in one ingredient... wonderful! not to mention how good it is for you, too.

A macadamia nut praline slab, with bee pollen for texture and a honey flavour. Pity about that those fingerprints in the metallic dust Shoulda been wearing my gloves!

I just pour the boiled cream over the chocolate, directly in my blender, blast it until it's smooth. If it needs butter, I cover it with clingwrap until it's cooled to 32C, then pulse the butter in. Never had it split, never grainy. Now I've said that, I'll probably get it happen this weekend

I get felchlin for AUS$18 / kg, which is pretty reasonable. I was quoted something like $80/kg for Valhrona, which was not

It's not solely chocolate, by the way! Here's the Contents: Entremets Tarts Petit Gateaux Macarons Individual chocolates Chocolate bars Chocolate lollipops Petit chocolate showpieces and some theory things

If you're not already, you should definitely be keeping your instant dry yeast in the freezer for longer life span! (slightly off topic, sorry!)

thanks all! Curls, I used Boiron (? spelling) frozen puree, plus zest

tyvm I applied a streak of tempered green cocoa butter with my finger, when that was set, brushed in gold metallic, then a streak of white over the green, when that was set, created the dark shell. I got the book direct from the school that the author runs here in Melbourne - pre-ordered for a discount cheers Chris

Lime from "Chocolate to Savour" by Kirsten Tibballs, released recently. I shall be making plenty from this book. Chris

that's about all we're lucky for!

I was taught to never rely on temperature - rely on the test. If you're getting streaky, but no bloom - that's not enough crystals, it needs more stirring. If you're getting bloom, the temperature of your chocolate is either too high or too low. it's all about practice though - once you know what to set the bowl at and what the chocolate feels like when it's in temper, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about!

They are simply meringue, put together with a little tempered dark chocolate. Thanks very much

mmm, Delicious, a Joe Pastry recipe? (That's where I got my recipe from ) 4yr old party today... She wanted fairies and a toadstool house. I think I delivered on the brief

I think the problem with dipping things that are soft and syruppy is that the chocolate contracts around the product, squeezing it. When you have a ganache or similar filling, it's fine, nothing can leak, but when you have these soft caramels and syrups, the liquid doesn't like being compressed so looks for a way out - any tiny crack and voila! Out it comes.

as with all things, practice, practice, practice. and as much training as you can afford

ah, I've found the recipe you're referring to in Chocolates & Confections. No, the recipe used is similar, but uses almond praline paste and pure hazelnut paste. I use commercially available pastes and as a result, the finished product is very smooth, with no graininess that I get when I prepare my own praline pastes. cheers Chris

pure, tempered cocoa butter should set up within 5 or 6 minutes for the amount sprayed in a mold. surely no more than 10 minutes. I've always found it's better to get the chocolate on as soon as possible after the butter has set so that the chocolate and the cocoa butter can contract away from the mold at the same time - that's what it looks like is happening in these pictures, the cocoa butter is not contracting properly and is sticking to the mold. If it is taking an inordinate amount of time to set, you've got the wrong crystals forming (it's not tempered properly).

how are you preparing your cocoa butter colours? (up to the point you spray)

$9/kg is pretty cheap - If I could find quality chocolate for that price, I'd grab it. Of course, I'm in Australia so it generally costs more, but the cheapest I can get Felchlin (my preferred brand) is $18/kg.

OMG I did exactly the same thing with the season 1 Croquembouche, my wife turned around and said "Well, you can make it for my birthday" so I did, and it wasn't

it looks like (from that picture) the milk chocolate is OK - they're contracting away from the walls ok - but the colour isn't contracting away with the chocolate. I know most people around here say that the temperature of cocoa butter isn't important, but I've found it seems to be - if you airbrush it in, what temperature is it before you apply? It was recommended to us in class that you have it at 32-34C before spraying (after stirring it down from 45C). Was there much time between applying the cocoa butter and the chocolate?