Jim D.

Coming across this thread led me to think about making a chestnut bonbon for my Christmas selection. I consulted my chocolate book collection and found a promising recipe in Wybauw's Fine Chocolates Gold. But I am confused by missing items from the ingredient list. At first "Chestnut Truffles" (p. 220) sounds like a butter ganache recipe (butter, honey, chestnut purée, rum, milk chocolate), but the instructions also include: "Mix the cocoa butter together with the chocolate and stir through the cream." Nowhere are cocoa butter or cream listed. Editing problems have been discussed in regard to this book in another thread, but this omission seems particularly puzzling. Has anyone tried this recipe or have suggestions on quantities of cocoa butter and cream? I gave away my copies of the individual Wybauw books that were combined into the Gold volume, so can't check those. Wybauw gives the total batch size of the recipe as 740g, but the listed ingredients total 470g. That's a big difference (270g), meaning a lot of cream and cocoa butter. Correction: I rechecked my math, and Wybauw's recipe does total 740g. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the cream and cocoa butter. Perhaps when he says to stir the chocolate and cocoa butter through the cream, he is referring to the chestnut purée mixture as a cream? I'm going to give this a try, omitting any extra cocoa butter and treating it as a butter ganache.

Kerry has already answered you, but I will add that you should let the molds sit out at room temp until the appearance of the chocolate turns from shiny to matte before they go into the fridge to dissipate the latent heat, so it's not the same thing as putting a temper test strip immediately into the fridge. As for milk chocolate, I agree with you totally. By the time the test is complete, the chocolate has gotten too cool (that is, without a tempering machine to keep it in temperature). You just have to find a way to heat it up a little (Kerry's microwave idea is one--though a little scary sometimes and it won't work if you are using a metal bowl--a hair dryer is another). Last week a bowl of milk chocolate (in a Chocovision machine) stubbornly refused to test as tempered. I first used some seed, then some EZtemper silk. The tests finally looked as if the chocolate was in temper, but I paid the price for that assumption as some of the chocolates--even ones in magnetic molds--refused to come out of the molds. I have yet to figure out why that happened. Can previously used chocolate sometimes be impossible to temper? We are always learning.

My impression (no hard evidence) suggests AUI prices are in the same range as other suppliers. For a direct comparison, the price for Felchlin chocolate is about the same from AUI as from Chef Rubber (which Felchlin now allows to sell its products--formerly it was AUI only). You can do a comparison between AUI and Chocosphere prices. Chocosphere also has wholesale accounts but you have to get approval first; as with most small buyers, there is a minimum order (in their case, $250); the big disadvantage for me is that Chocosphere is located on the opposite side of the U.S. and shipping is a factor--but they have a great selection.

I too am an AUI customer. I have never tasted the Des Alpes chocolates they carry but do use Felchlin dark and milk, specifically Maracaibo Clasificado (dark) and Maracaibo Créole (milk). I notice those are more expensive than the Des Alpes equivalents, but that, of course, does not mean a lot. I think the Maracaibo dark (65%) is the best chocolate I have ever tasted. I cannot walk by an open bag of it without have a little taste. The Créole was recommended to me by eG member @pastrygirl, and I like it a lot--it is one of the darkest milk chocolates I have tasted (if you like something "milkier" and sweeter, Maracaibo Criolait is also delicious). For an "extra dark" (good for balancing an especially sweet filling) I use Felchlin's 72% Arriba, also delicious. Although my AUI rep has sent me samples of every white Felchlin makes, I have never been bowled over by any of them and use Valrhona's Opalys for my go-to white chocolate (mostly in ganaches). My second choice for white is Cacao Barry's Zéphyr. For certain fillings I make, such as an "apple crisp," I use Cacao Barry's Zéphyr caramel. Although it is a pain to work with (like most white chocolates, in my experience), it is delicious, and even confirmed white-chocolate haters appear to love it. Your rep will probably send you samples of the Felchlin chocolates, but, be warned, you may be hooked.

Coconut oil might be successful in getting a soft texture. A so-called meltaway has a texture like what you are describing: Mix 500g dark chocolate and 150g (refined) coconut oil. Flavoring, such as peppermint oil, can be added. Stir mixture to temper it. I think a meltaway sometimes has an oily mouth feel to it, and so generally prefer a butter ganache (see next paragraph). Cocoa butter will not help achieve a softer texture as it makes a chocolate mixture firmer as it hardens. An alternative approach, brought to mind from something Kerry wrote about the Geerts recipe, is a butter ganache: Soften butter, beat it with glucose or fondant, add tempered chocolate, plus flavoring if you wish. Depending on the flavoring you add, this will have a shelf life of many weeks.

I think it's possible to get close to that smooth quality and increase shelf life (a little) by adding more chocolate and especially experimenting with sugars (sorbitol comes to mind) that provide bulk. But it would seem some of the best things in life require refrigeration.

Without getting into your questions about the cocoa butter, I think it's important to know that you should not put chocolate in the refrigerator to test for temper. Any chocolate will harden in the fridge; that does not mean it is correctly precrystallized. You can spread a bit on parchment, then wait for a few minutes at room temp (milk and white take longer) to see what it looks like. If it turns from glossy to matte in appearance in a few minutes, you will know you are on the right track.

I also use your method. It's much easier, I think. If I recall correctly, chocolatier Kriss Harvey was the person I saw who suggested this.

Just so the eGullet historical record will be accurate: The Valrhona pecan praline paste just arrived (see earlier post on the almond paste). I had to purchase a full case (10kg), and after my almond experience, I had much trepidation. With the almond I have thought of a couple of ways of "saving" the bitter paste, but I know of no pecan flavoring or other way of saving the pecan. So I said to myself, why bother opening both pails if this is going to be unusable? To my great relief, the pecan is completely delicious--sweet with the caramel (not at all bitter) and delicious from the pecans, much more flavorful than any pecan paste I have made.

In reading the blog section of the melangers.com site, I came across instructions for making pralliné. They call for roasting nuts, making a caramel, adding the nuts to the caramel, letting it cool, breaking it into "small pieces," then letting it mix in the melanger for two hours. Then the recipe mentions adding something called "EZtemper silk" (never heard of that ingredient 😁). The instructions seem much more "casual" than those discussed by users on eGullet, especially the mention of "small pieces" (as opposed to very tiny pieces or nuts starting to exude oil) and the direction to add everything all at once (contrary to what every user on eG has said). Could a user comment on this?

@pastrygirl So would you purchase your melanger again? Have you experienced any of the issues EsaK described? They sounded fairly serious. If I were making almond praline paste, I am beginning to think that, to use the Premier melanger, I would need to grind the almonds in a food processor (until they are powdery and the oil begins to come out of them), make the caramel (dark but not "French brown"!), grind it in a food processor until the shards are quite small but not necessarily powdery, then add these two items gradually ("gradually" seems to be important) to the melanger, and grind away. Reasonably correct?

That's what I thought you meant. I've been thinking of ways to salvage what I bought. I could buy some typical almond paste (usually 50-50, but the sugar is not caramelized), and mix it in, and see if that helps. If the almond is this bitter, I can only begin to imagine what the pecan will taste like.

Not sure what you mean. Maybe the caramel is very dark (dark to the bitter stage)? That would explain the lack of sweetness. If so, then I finally understand what people mean when they say the darker the caramel, the less sweet it is.

You have certainly provided helpful information on the melanger. Not encouraging, but helpful. Thanks for all the details. I am not mechanically inclined, so warnings are useful.

Of course it's already sweetened (with caramelized sugar), but it certainly can use some more. To make gianduja, I use milk chocolate (I tried all three, but liked the taste with milk best). I do have a little Valrhona amande chocolate, so could try that. I use almond praline paste in many bonbons I make. One has chopped cherries and caramelized almonds surrounded with almond gianduja. Another is a "marjolaine" (layers of hazelnut ganache, then almond gianduja, which keeps a meringue cookie crisp). My issue with the purchased paste is that it doesn't have a strong almond taste. What I am about to write is an exaggeration, but the paste tastes burnt. The product is 60% almond, whereas what I make is 50%, but that's not a huge difference. At what I paid for the almond plus the pecan paste (that hasn't arrived yet), I could have bought a melanger. I suppose, in the interest of providing relevant information for others, I should add that the brand of these products is Valrhona. Perhaps it is obvious that, given the company's reputation, I assumed all would be delicious. And I hasten to add that many people may find this almond paste to their liking. In answer to the obvious question: there was no way I could request a sample of these items. In the case of a pistachio praline paste (made by Cacao Barry), I could order 1kg and see that I liked it very much.

Kerry, thanks for the helpful comments. So the difference between the 8 lb. and the 10 (besides the capacity) is that the 10 is tilting? I have read in this thread and elsewhere that the tilting option is worth the extra money. I am really impressed with the updates in the new machines, which seem to have addressed many if not all of the issues people had with Premier melangers.

I have reread this thread and have a few questions about melangers. Ever since they became a "must-have" device for many chocolatiers, I have considered purchasing one. But my tight space as well as the apparent difficulty of cleaning the machine held me back. So I have made my praline nut pastes (almond, pecan--I buy Cacao Barry's hazelnut already made) with a food processor. I make the hard caramel first, then grind it in a small food processor until it is as fine as I can get it. Then the caramel bits and nuts go in the large food processor, and I grind away. Needless to say, the paste never gets completely smooth, but the sugar bits are tolerable. But I have never been completely satisfied. Then I found two nut praline pastes (almond and pecan)--made by a very reputable company-- that I didn't know were available, so I ordered some of each (of course it had to be in 5kg pails). Yesterday I mixed up the almond to put it in smaller containers to freeze. The tasting was a revelation--not in a good way. It was bitter (and I don't mean the wonderful taste of bitter almond flavoring) and quite dark. Either the manufacturer left the skins on the nuts (which is not my preference) or roasted them to a degree beyond what I consider palatable. I can rescue the paste by adding some bitter almond (a wonderful German brand that requires only a few drops), but am really unhappy with this expensive purchase and a nut paste that needs further doctoring. I can only imagine the bitterness I may encounter when the pecan arrives. I have learned an expensive lesson: flavor is paramount, texture matters less. But there is still the lure of the melanger to reach both goals. My question, for those who have used melangers for a while, is whether they would purchase the machine again. Is the result worth the tedious cleaning? Furthermore I have read ominous comments about having to grind everything (caramel, nuts) in advance or risk having the machine seize up. I would appreciate any comments on melangers. I would not plan to use it for anything aside from nut pastes.

Good idea. I'll try a bit and see what happens. Thanks.

I'll look into the sous vide clips. The Weston is a powerful vacuum sealer, but it isn't very good at allowing interruptions of the vacuuming process, certainly there is no precision possible, and I am concerned about ruining the inner parts. From what I've read, the much less expensive FoodSavers might be better.

I have purchased some nut praline pastes (pecan, almond) and was required to buy them in 5kg buckets. Since my chocolate production is moderate, I need to freeze some of these items and so am looking for (as-airtight-as-possible) containers. I was planning to use some Rubbermaid containers that have lids with four plastic flaps that lock the lid in place, and they have always seemed good. But yesterday I opened a container with a batch of caramel, and there were drops of moisture on the inside of the lid. With caramel, a little water is not an issue, but with the pastes, it can be a problem (since ordinarily I use the pastes to make gianduja and I want them to be as free of water as possible). I also considered vacuum sealing as a better option, but my vacuum sealer (Weston is the brand) is not a chamber vac, so I don't think the chances of getting the paste into a bag and keeping the paste from being sucked into the sealer are good. I suppose "pre-freezing" the bags of paste, then vacuuming them would work, but what a mess! Any ideas would be appreciated.

I use pastrygirl's method (caramelizing sugar first, then adding cream) but also add some glucose to the mixture. This (in my experience) keeps it from crystallizing later. You can also add butter at the end to make it richer-tasting. Another possibility is to use some milk instead of all cream. In any event, when you are ready to use it, you can simply warm it up, adding a bit of milk, cream, or even water to get the desired consistency. I would also add some sea salt to counteract the sweetness (if you want to accomplish that goal).

For information on all things marshmallow, you should read through the eGullet threads on marshmallow (a search will lead you to them). As for a recipe using gelatin, check out the one many people use, also on eG: As far as Aw goes, Wybauw's recipes provide a reading, but such information can only be approximate because ingredients, environments, techniques differ so much from one person to another. Something like the fat percentage of cream can make a difference, similarly water content of butter and amount of fruit solids in a purée. In my opinion, the only way to be reasonably certain is to purchase a water content meter. They are expensive, but you can read on eGullet of brands people have recently found that are less expensive but still give accurate readings. It's good to bear in mind, however, that even an accurate Aw meter can give slightly different readings of the same substance over time, and as water evaporates, the reading will change a little.

I use the only brand easily found in grocery stores in the U.S., Knox (powder form).

If the temperature in nougat is high enough, there should not be a concern about egg whites. But I share your concern about marshmallow. Many chocolatiers use fresh whites in their marshmallow. Alternatively you can purchase dried egg whites (and there is a discussion of this on eGullet), but most if not all of them smell and taste terrible. I use gelatin for marshmallow instead, and it works fine. It also smells terrible, but I use enough flavoring (vanilla, coffee, strawberry, etc.) to cover up that smell. There are several eG threads on making marshmallow that will answer almost any questions you may ever have had. As for its shelf life, marshmallow has enough liquid in it to cause some concern, but in my tests the free water content has been around 0.78, which means its shelf life should be between 5 and 15 weeks (Melissa Coppel) or a maximum of 3 months (Jean-Pierre Wybauw). Yes, those are very large time spans.

I make it 2:1, hazelnut praline paste to dark chocolate. If you use milk chocolate, I think you could increase the amount of chocolate because milk chocolate is softer. The positive factor is that you can make it however you want, test it (refrigerate a little for a brief time so that it approximates room temp), then adjust accordingly.