Jim D.

L'Epicérie has amazing prices. I have had to pay much more for the same items bought elsewhere (and, as I mentioned, usually in much larger quantities). Somewhere on their website there is a history of the company. The founder set out to provide exactly what they did: to offer small quantities of quality ingredients for lower prices. Where else could one buy a single kilo of Cacao Barry hazelnut praline paste, regardless of the price?

@Pastrypastmidnight I'm sorry about your experience. Before I comment further, you can try Chef Rubber for the pectin in small quantities (there are many other places as well). I had written a long statement on my experience with L'Epicérie but decided not to post it. I have had such good experience with the company in the past, but there is no question that something has changed. During the time they were closed I found other vendors for the products I needed, but no one I have found provides such small quantities of high-quality pastry items (I had to buy such a large container of fondant from another vendor that I was forced to buy lots of smaller containers to be able to store it in my space). Here is what I wrote originally: It is good that andiesenji had a positive experience with the "reconstituted" L'Epicérie. I wish I could report the same, but cannot do so. I ordered two kilos of hazelnut paste and one of the Agrimontana pistachio paste (which, I am learning, is available almost nowhere these days). In about a week a box came from Saint-Germain at a Warwick, Rhode Island, address (that was also the company name used by UPS in their notification). The box was completely soaked in hazelnut paste, as was the packing material. I quickly realized that one container of paste had a large crack in it, and all the contents had leaked out. The other container was OK. There was no pistachio paste. I immediately phoned the RI number, but there was no answer, so I left a message about the issues. When I did not hear back, I emailed the company (there is a statement on the website that a customer has 24 hours to report a damaged shipment, and I have once before missed the deadline, with unpleasant consequences--but that was my fault). About two days later, I phoned again (no answer) and sent an email, this time saying that my next step would be to contact UPS and/or request my credit card company do a "chargeback" to get me a refund. This time I got an email reply, saying they were working as fast as they could to resolve the issue. The person also explained that nothing has changed about L'Epicérie except they have a new warehouse and share it with an import company named Saint-Germain. When I got the next UPS notice and saw the package weighed 4 pounds, I knew it could not possibly contain both the replacement hazelnut and the pistachio. Sure enough, it contained one undamaged kilo of hazelnut, no mention of the pistachio. So I emailed again, heard nothing for several days, then an automated message saying there was a refund to my credit card and the pistachio was out of stock. I had said I was willing to wait for it, but that was ignored. I know this is very detailed, but I wanted to explain my ambivalence about future orders. Yes, accidents can happen in shipments, and yes, finally the issues were (mostly) resolved, but it should not take what it did on my part.

I followed that advice from you (posted previously) and added it with the butter (which I added after the caramel had finished cooking).

I used liquid lecithin. Puzzled by the foaming that took place (I thought baking soda added to caramel might do that).

I'm glad you brought up lecithin. I tried that last time, using a very tiny amount (I was more or less following the amount specified in the recipe Auboine gave us in Vegas). It caused the caramel to foam up--the bubbles never went away and it was a total mess. Obviously I did something wrong, as it did not help with emulsification.

No, I haven't, but will give that a try. Thanks for the idea. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I am making caramel to be piped. I take it to around 236F or a little higher (to help keep it from leaking from the shell after capping); I always test by putting some in cold water. I wouldn't think the temp would make a difference, as stand-alone caramels require an even higher temp.

I didn't want to hijack the current topic on caramel issues but did wish to reactivate my previous question (which never had a definitive answer, assuming there is one) about the separation of fat from caramel. This happens all too often with a recipe that usually works. The situation: The caramel is finished, and I add the butter to it. I have tried doing this immediately and also doing it after the caramel has cooled to about 90F, and that does not seem to make a difference. As the caramel cools, the butter starts seeping out. Whether or not I stir does not seem to make a difference; there are times when I have not touched the caramel with a spoon (after it finished cooking), and slowly the butter oozes out. I concluded it must be my recipe (too much butter), but I have used some recipes that call for a huge amount of butter, and all goes well. Here are the basic ingredients of the recipe I use most often (from Ewald Notter): 280g sugar, 70g glucose, 345g cream, 70g butter. On some occasions stirring over cold water helps bring it back together, but other times the butter congeals into little blobs which refuse to reintegrate with the caramel. Any ideas would be most welcome.

Yes, I have had problems when I have made the layers(s) of cocoa butter thick; this especially tends to occur when spraying a layer of white behind other colors. I was trying to make a transfer sheet once and overlayed multiple layers of different colors (using a paintbrush). The result was that most of the cocoa butter flaked off--a hint that too thick c.b. causes problems. But it's tough to avoid when you are trying to make sure a cavity is completely covered in color.

@minas6907, the geodesic domes look very nice, especially considering this was your first try. As for the hearts, this is what happens with airbrushing quite often. I too make sure my cocoa butter is in temper and it's possible to speculate forever what caused the problem, but we will never know for sure. I have used the Paasche with siphon jars, and that setup does take (at least with me) frequent reheating of the cocoa butter and the airbrush itself--but not too much reheating, of course! It's also possible the problem occurred when making the chocolate shell. I had the same issue with hearts recently--some came out perfectly, others were a mess. If I recall correctly, @Chocolot had a similar problem with some hearts for Valentine's. Maybe there's something about that heart shape that makes it more temperamental? The bottom line: when making pieces with colored cocoa butter, it's crucial to make extras.

Are you sure it is the corn syrup? I often have butter separate from the caramel as it is cooling (happened this morning in fact). I have not figured it out, nor has anyone I have asked for advice. Sometimes I can stir it back in, sometimes not.

So you don't use the term for white chocolate either? Valrhona calls the new product "fruit couvertures" and lists it as well as products like its Ivoire white under couverture. Perhaps they are using the term more loosely than you would?

I knew that AUI would become the sole distributor at the beginning of 2018. For me that was good news because they are located rather close to me, and if I buy enough at a time, they have free shipping. I wonder what strategy Felchlin has in mind with limiting distribution; it was always rather difficult to find. I would think the more distributors, the better for sales. I bought some Creole once but don't recall what it tasted like (it's less sweet than most milks, I think). I use the Maracaibo Criolait, but don't think it's less expensive. I gave up on the wonderful Fortunato milk as couverture (it's just too temperamental to make shells, though it is great in ganaches). You will certainly not cut your costs with Valrhona. By the way, I bought a Valrhona dark sampler once and found that their Caraïbe is the closest in flavor to Felchlin's Maracaibo dark (alas, it also shares Maracaibo's tendency to become overcrystallized rather quickly). Could you give your source for the raspberries? The freeze dried fruit I have purchased (actually I think it was powdered) has been weak and "sawdusty" in flavor, though it was from a highly rated source.

Leave it to you to be on the cutting edge! These sound intriguing. How did you get to taste them? I would certainly give them a try. At first thought, it seems a sacrilege--to work with flavored couverture seems like one of the dreaded "shortcuts" (like chocolate coating), but the more I think about it, it would open up possibilities to make a filling that works with (or contrasts to) the flavor of the shell. I think of a coconut ganache in a passion fruit shell.

"scrape the line clean"? Now there is a task for a chocolatier's minion. What tool would be used? A carefully applied ice pick? With the cost of labor on this piece, ignoring the ingredients, they must be priced around $50 each.

Could you say a bit more about a "household air filter"? I would think this would have to be a filter that would allow air through but stop any droplets of cocoa butter. I have an old-fashioned hot water system so am only vaguely familiar with that item. Would these filters be labeled for use in a "forced-air" system? In your setup, do you ever see any cocoa butter particles on the filter? I can't quite picture how an ordinary box fan would have enough power to pull air from the spraying box. Obviously @Kata's original post has got me thinking. If one goes for protection at the user end of the process (that is, me), a painter's mask might be enough (I recall that Kerry was using some sort of mask before the construction of her chocolate "atelier"), and I have used those as well as medical masks. A more serious alternative would be what airbrushers using paint recommend, a respirator. That device is not part of my usual "look," but appearances aside (and I do work alone, so no children would be frightened), someone at 3M gave me a recommendation for a respirator to use when spraying cocoa butter.

I have a Grex airbrush. It's a gravity feed model. You can read my review of it. Previously I used a Paasche siphon feed airbrush. I hold a mold a foot or more away from me when I spray. As I said, there is some overspray but not a lot, and the box catches most of it. My impression from comments on eGullet from people who do not work in professional settings (that is, they mostly make chocolates in their homes) is that they do not have ventilation systems. I am not saying this is an ideal situation. If one is using a spray gun (such as a paint sprayer), I think ventilation or a mask meant for spraying paint would be a must.

What brand of airbrush and compressor are you using? How far away from you are the molds when you spray? I don't have the kind of overspray you describe, and I use just a cardboard box, no spray booth such as yours (which looks very nice), no venting to the outside. To be safe, I wear a mask over mouth and nose while spraying, an idea I got from Kerry a long time ago, but when I finish there is very little if any cocoa butter on the mask.

Glad to hear that. My molds are 34mm in diameter. I was concerned that the narrow tape would make too small a stripe for my use, but that should be fine.

Did you see this from Melissa Coppel in person or in a photo or ... ? That would be very interesting as she is such a perfectionist. I've had a few more thoughts on the issue: It's really not possible to cap the mold quickly because there is the filling to be piped plus time for it to set. Heating the mold before capping is an intriguing idea. I heat my molds when there is caramel involved (this has virtually stopped leakage from apple caramels), but do not use heat otherwise. Another thought: When I was at the chocolate workshop last year in Vegas, the chocolatiers we saw used demispheres almost exclusively (I remember squeezing into a tight closet at Jean-Marie Auboine's to retrieve as many of these molds as I could carry). Yet I never saw the problem with any of their chocolates.

Now I see what you mean. I have never had this happen (at least that I have noticed) except with the demisphere molds. I will be using some of those molds in the coming week, so I will do some experimenting. Since those molds release so easily, I will try taking out a few pieces at various stages to see if the issue occurs. Have you had it happen with other molds? ... Now that I think about it, I had this same issue with filled Easter eggs last year--and those molds have a similar shape and also released very easily. At the time I thought I must have missed spraying the top edges. Meanwhile others with more experience may have ideas.

I am not clear on what you mean by "small amount of chocolate manages to get between the mould and the chocolate shell." Do you mean some chocolate gets between the polycarbonate and the colored cocoa butter? I don't see how that is possible. I have never seen the colored c.b. contract at all. The idea is that when you pour in the warm chocolate, it binds to the colors to form a unit. Maybe if your layer of c.b. is too thick, you could get a problem. In any case if there is contraction, I don't see how you would stop it, unless you make the chocolate shell so quickly that there is no time for contraction--but you already said you had that advice. If you have more pieces, you might try carefully scraping off the chocolate that is showing at the edge and see if there is c.b. behind it. If there is, we will know that that theory is correct. I don't have similar chocolates right now, so can't test it myself.

I would say from that evidence that you are an ideal neighbor to have above a person, very considerate! But your method does explain some of the issues you are having, especially turning off the compressor. Quite naturally it will take some time to get back up to pressure, starting from scratch. Compressors with tanks are intended to come on when more air is needed so that operation is more or less seamless. I think my padding idea might allow you to run it continuously, but of course I don't know how loud it is (and you are right, it is the vibration that makes a difference). How well do you know your neighbor? Can you ask him? Or is that stirring up trouble, making him notice something he had not up to this point?

This look great. The stripe is still sharp after unmolding. I wish they made the tape you found in a wider size, but I could not find it. And speaking of finding the tape, it does not appear on the main Scotch site. If you do a search for it ("Artist Tape for Curves"), what comes up is "Artist Tape for Canvas," which may or may not be the same thing (of the three images provided, one of them is of "Artist Tape for Curves"--rather confusing). Also interesting is that on Amazon the "Curves" tape is listed as being 1/8" wide, but if you look closely at the image, the package says it is 1/6" wide. I think the crucial factor about the tape you found is that it is plastic and stretchy, not paper and therefore produces a sharper line. What is the approximate diameter of the cavity of the mold you used?

Crucial thing to know that you have to take neighbors into consideration. First, it's good of you to think of them. I spent many years living in apartments below people until finally my #1 criterion for choosing a place was that it had to be on the top floor. But even there you do have to consider those below you. If I were in your situation, I would find a way to cushion the sound--if the compressor is small enough, put it on a stool or table or wooden box with as much padding as possible beneath it--definitely not directly on the floor. That kind of noise can drive even nice neighbors to violence!

I have had that happen, particularly with demisphere molds (which is what yours looks like). Did you also have the issue that when you are adding ganache (or whatever the filling is) the chocolate shell can be dislodged easily? That is also a characteristic of flatter, spread-out cavities (while being an inconvenience, it is also a positive sign that your chocolate was in temper and is going to come out of the cavities easily at a later stage of the process). As for the chocolate showing around the bottom of the finished bonbon: I have always assumed it is because I did not completely cover the cavity with colored cocoa butter--that is, up to the very top. If you leave any spots unsprayed, they are, of course, going to show the underlying chocolate color--it's easy to miss this when you are in the process of spraying and you don't want to make too thick a layer of cocoa butter and you are hurrying because the cocoa butter may be getting too thick or cooling too much. The gap in color could also happen when you scrape after capping the mold. Not everyone agrees with the following, but I think you need to scrape off all the excess cocoa butter after spraying the mold so that you have a completely flat surface when you pour and scrape what will become the bottom of the cavities. Immediately after spraying a mold, I invert it over paper towels and rub it back and forth to get off as much c.b. as possible. Later I use an offset spatula and paper towels to clean off what I missed. Experience has taught me that leaving any bumps of c.b. will make scraping uneven.