Jim D.

No, I use white chocolate in the ganache. For the shells, I use white or (more often) a caramel white chocolate, such as Felchlin's Bionda or Cacao Barry's Zephyr Caramel.

If you don't mind telling, what do you add to the coconut and walnuts to hold them together? Perhaps the same chocolate used for the shell, which appears to be a caramelized white or something similar?

That looks delicious. I omitted the cardamom (I love the spice but don't think Americans expect it in carrot cake). I have tried walnuts and pecans, but ended up preferring pecans. I too include a cream cheese "frosting" layer, with a lemon flavor. For the cookie layer I tried the carrot layer but didn't get an acceptable carrot taste, so have switched to one based on ground speculoos cookies. I do have difficulty incorporating the browned butter; even my big Robot Coupe immersion blender takes a long time to emulsify the mixture; as a result, I have reduced the quantity of butter a little. I'm not sure what the problem is (aside from the obvious too much fat vs. liquid).

I get very positive reactions to the carrot caramel from @Rajala. I too have added a couple of tastes to bring it closer to what I think of as the typical American carrot cake (golden raisins, toasted pecans). Making the caramel takes a while, so I try to make as large a batch as I can and keep it for future carrot cake bonbons.

On another forum someone posted that she had bought a Dubai bar (the filling with pistachio paste, tahini, kataifi) from Fix Dessert Chocolatier, the company in Dubai that originated the bar. She said that the Fix bar does not contain any chocolate, with the result that the pistachio taste is more assertive. And that is how she now makes her Dubai bars. I hadn't thought of that option, but it is intriguing. Since some pistachio pastes tend to be more fluid than others, my concern is that the filling would make a mess when eaten. In my version I use some plain pistachio paste and some pistachio praline paste (with caramel). Is there any reason why there must be chocolate in this filling? A concern might be fat migration, but in a version with chocolate, there is plenty of other fat besides the cocoa butter found in the chocolate. Some plain cocoa butter might make it hold together better, as would extra kataifi. I also use feuilletine in mine (very unorthodox, but it adds more crunch and a caramel taste), which also thickens the filling.

If I recall correctly, you are very careful about the types of fillings you tend to use, namely, those with long shelf lives (caramel, gianduja). If the fillings in the bonbons in question are of that type and if the outsides show no signs of melting or softening, I would probably sell them as usual. If there were ganaches, I would check them more carefully for deterioration, but if it's been only one day, they should be OK. We all know (or suspect) how customers abuse our storage instructions. I have started using bold type for my storage info at the top of my guide included in the box and have made the language stronger as well. As for the shops that store them at room temp, I don't do that. I had a restaurant approach me today about purchasing some 4-piece favor boxes to give to guests at the end of the meal, and I led my reply with refrigeration availability. In saying that, I hope I don't sound holier than thou, but I have had a mold episode and have never gotten over that.

I like Chef Rubber's Mediterranean blue. I too have noticed varying viscosity with CR's colors. Yesterday I opened a new bottle of Gold, and it was not particularly viscous at all. Some previous bottles have required that I add some plain CB to get everything flowing. I have never found a method for getting full coverage without multiple passes when using an airbrush, and yes, the top edges require special attention. Cavities deeper than the CW2295 need attention to the bottom (what will become the top of the bonbon). I have watched Luis Amado use his Badger airbrush with quick bursts of spray. The coverage looks very spotty, but there is no question that his creations are beautiful--and appear to have full coverage. Maybe it's time for a trip to Michigan to watch him in person!

@Saltychoc, I have had exactly the same problem. I even sent my Grex to the company for a thorough cleaning. When it came back, it was fine for a while, but the clogging up occurred again. I basically gave up on the airbrush and mostly use my Fuji now (I know that doesn't help you--unless you want me to leave the Fuji to you in my will). For my Easter batch I used the Grex for a gradient (the Fuji doesn't do that very well--at least for me), and I used it to spray cavities that had tape in them to make a stripe (the Fuji's power can blow the tape out of alignment). In both cases the Grex performed very well, BUT when I emptied out the cocoa butter I had been using for the stripe, there was a substantial amount solidifying in the bottom of the cup. That should not have been happening because I reheat the gun between molds (yes, always--I can't stand a clogged-up airbrush). I think your room temperature may be an issue. Yesterday we had a quite cool day here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the temp of the basement where I spray had fallen to the upper 60s F. I know that a lower temp helps the CB in the molds crystallize, but it also crystallizes in the cup (and in the parts of the CB path you can't see). My experience was very good with Grex tech support, but it helps to get someone who knows about spraying CB.

Thanks for checking. He certainly fixed my EZ. By the way, on Instagram I saw an interview with you by the owner of Sosase, the colored cocoa butter that is currently making a splash in the bonbon world.

I purchased a 6-kg Mol d'Art melter in Feb. 2021. In the past couple of weeks it has not been operating satisfactorily. The first time I set it at the top heat setting, but the indicator light did not turn on. I "jiggled" the plug, finally the light came on, and the chocolate eventually reached the set temp. Another time it had again been set at the highest temp, and after two days (during which I checked to see that it was on) it had reached only about 32C. From time to time the indicator light blinks. I used various outlets, so it's not a kitchen electricity issue. I contacted the vendor to see if they do repairs but meanwhile thought I would ask whether other eG members have had similar issues. The questions: If the vendor does repairs, is the cost likely to be more than a new melter? For obvious reasons one cannot blindly trust a seller with this question. And is it likely a local electrician might be able to solve the problem? I don't know how proprietary the parts of the Mol d'Art are. Or the inevitable question these days: Is it better just to go ahead and purchase a new melter? Thanks for any help.

If you have a day when you have time to experiment, make a familiar ganache and test it. Then take a small amount of the ganache, add some water to it, and take a measurement from that. You should see a dramatic difference. The Pawkit comes with some samples for calibration (various concentrations of a saline solution).

@Saltychoc, I don't know where you are located. If you are in the U.S., you can find the nearest AUI, and they will ship Felchlin (and everything else they carry) free if you buy a minimum--and these days reaching that minimum doesn't take much effort. A few years back, Felchlin was carried by many outlets (Chocosphere being one), but then they decided to go with AUI exclusively. After a while, they opened up to a few more dealers, such as Chef Rubber and World Wide Chocolate. The price for a 6kg box of Maracaibo Clasificado dark, however, is over $100 more at World Wide Chocolate than at AUI. If you set up an account with AUI, they (at least this is the case with my rep) will ship you samples of Felchlin couvertures.

Great video. Those containers of weights look fairly heavy. My guess about adding the tray at the beginning would be that the pastry wouldn't have as much chance to brown. I've never made inverted puff pastry. How does it compare to regular?

What a good idea. I've always thought that gap between filling and pastry top was a mistake in concept (the galette looks glorious until one cuts it).

I'm not an expert, but I don't know of any reason it needs to be firm when you are going to pipe it. As I have posted, I use Pomona's pectin and am very pleased with its relatively short cooking time. I also add pulverized dried fruit (if one exists) to my PdFs, and that reduces their Aw dramatically: apple is 0.53, apricot is 0.65, cherry is 0.59, pear is 0.67. I also add a pinch of sorbic acid, which, since these mixtures are on the acidic side, extends shelf life (sorbic works only when the item has a pH less than 7). I am particularly nervous since I had a PdF develop mold once upon a time.