Jim D.

No, it's 1728 (the 6024 is 11g). I got it through Bakedeco. There is no other Cabrellon dealer in the U.S. that I could find. Chocolat Chocolat in Canada carries the brand, but would not do a special order until they had a large enough Cabrellon order, and I was not willing to wait. Bakedeco was somewhat the same, but I paid extra to have the molds shipped in time for the holiday season, and they were willing to do a rush. It's possible to order directly from Cabrellon, but when I started the process, they wanted me to provide a number for my shipping account. I don't have such an account and was not willing to get involved with customs and all that red tape. I know you said you weren't interested in buying different dome molds, but thought I would share my drama in getting these. They are very much the shape of Kalle Jungstedt's "signature mold," but his holds only 11g. I bought one to try it out, and I don't know how he gets three layers into one of those molds--I like my customers to get a distinctive taste of each layer if I am going to the trouble of making all those fillings.

I didn't realize that was where you regulated it. I'll have to give that a try.

@GRiker Ah, the dreaded CW1157. It's one of my most-used molds, primarily because it's tall enough to hold 3 different layers of filling, but it can be a pain to work with (which is why I found another 17g mold that is not so tall--see photos comparing them below). I had those cracks multiple times until I tried making the shell walls thicker. Unfortunately your shell walls look thick enough, so I don't know that my procedures will help you troubleshoot. Working with the 1157 mold has lengthened the time it takes me to make shells because I have to wait longer for the chocolate to crystallize--and, of course, the couverture is always changing, so the process varies as production moves along. But after I wait for the chocolate in the filled mold to crystallize quite a bit, I dump out the chocolate, then tilt and rotate the mold to get more chocolate at the point where your cracks appear--that is, near what will be the base of the finished bonbon. Gravity is the enemy in this case, since the chocolate will flow downward even after it appears to be crystallized. And, alas, simply turning the mold upside down does not result in chocolate flowing to the sides and thickening them but in flowing straight down. All this sounds ridiculously complicated and time-consuming--and it is--but, after all, we are in the business of forcing chocolate to do things it was never meant to do. I can certainly see why most chocolatiers use smaller, less tall molds. And the new 17g Cabrellon mold I use often is not perfect but does have fewer issues with cracking sides. There is a thread somewhere on eG that discusses the "vacuum" problem with dome molds in general; I think it was @Kerry Beal who pointed out that a sort of suction happens with the bottom and the more or less straight walls of some domes. The Cabrellon dome has sloped sides. As for unmolding stubborn bonbons, I leave them in the refrigerator longer (even several hours), and if some bonbons stick, I put the mold in the freezer for a short time. I have never found any loss of shine (contrary to what people say), and eventually almost all chocolates come out--those that don't have a major issue, and when I force the bonbon out, I usually see a shell that is too thin and thus has not contracted sufficiently. By the way, your fridge temp is 50-55F? The FDA recommends 40F for a max. You could try lowering it, at least during chocolate production. Photo of Cabrellon flattened dome on left, Chocolate World tall dome on right:

I have a California Air Tools 4620 compressor with an air capacity of 4.6 gallons that I use with my Grex Tritium; 4.6 gal. is sufficient for the Grex. I also bought a very inexpensive spray gun, which I no longer use. It operated with the same compressor, but not well; the compressor was running nearly constantly to keep up with the air requirements of the spray gun, and experts say that it is not good for a compressor's longevity to run that much. Many chocolatiers use spray guns (not the Fuji) with great success. I rarely use the Grex now except when I want to do a gradient. For Valentine's this year I did a red/pink gradient on a heart mold (photo below), and, for the red areas, the Grex operated perfectly (I had to use the heat gun only occasionally). I got out the Fuji to finish off with the pink because I used it to cover the entire cavity. In the past, however, the Grex has driven me crazy with almost-constant clogging up. In addition, I have never managed to get the Grex to do a decent splatter (I must add the caveat that @pastrygirl has had great success with her Grex and splatter, although Grex tech support says that their airbrush doesn't do splatter). And now, those famous words: "If I had it to do over..." Especially if I were using the Grex frequently, I would purchase a compressor with a larger air capacity (there are posts in this thread about other California Air Tools models that people recommend). And, with a larger compressor, I would probably do more experimenting with a non-Fuji spray gun, such as a SATA or Iwata or Grex. But since I became more familiar with the Fuji, I use it almost exclusively for spraying molds. Yes, it uses more cocoa butter (@Chocolot found a way to save the overspray), and yes, it's a larger and heavier piece of equipment, but it is really fast and requires much less use of a heat gun. I bought the metal cup that most chocolatiers use, but I see that Kalle Jungstedt and some others use the very large plastic cup. And, last point, the Fuji does a very nice splatter just by adjusting the air supply.

The Fuji works only with the turbine that is part of the package, whereas the Grex (like all airbrushes) requires a compressor.

Thanks for the information. For my cheesecake bonbon, I use a recipe that calls not only for cream cheese but also sour cream, which gives a little of the buttermilk idea. Another technique, which I used for a yogurt ganache that didn't have enough yogurt flavor, is to add a little distilled white vinegar.

@RWood, a great selection. A couple of questions: "Orelys Espresso"?! Have you found a hidden source? Or just a stash you still have? I made Orelys once (with @pastrygirl's recipe), and it was close to the original (I kept a few pieces of Valrhona's product just to compare), but it was a lot of work. I have now more or less substituted Dulcey. Also: Do you mind telling how you made the Red Velvet? I tried that once and used a "red" cocoa (plus a lot of food coloring) to get the effect.

There has been discussion on eGullet about using separate sheets (plastic, I assume) that transfer holographic images to chocolates. I realize this is not the same thing, but the result is somewhat similar.

Raspberry Rose (one of the 12 offerings in the Valentine's 2025 assortment): dark chocolate ganache, raspberries, a hint of rosewater. And, alas, adorned with the rose transfer sheet probably not to be seen again with the closing of ChocoTransferSheets, source of some of the most beautiful transfers ever produced.

The first time I made this ganache, I followed the recipe exactly, and the mint flavor was almost undetectable (you may recall from my previous post that the ganache also includes lemon, a difficult flavor to compete with). The following times I have included perhaps four times as much mint. Another difference is that the recipe calls for white chocolate--not what you are looking for. I think you really need extract (so you are out of the reach of Amazon? I think Jeff Bezos needs to be informed of this gap in the company's coverage), so I would recommend @Alex's suggestion. Another problem with fresh mint is that it can develop an off-taste (think damp lettuce that has been sitting around too long).

Having made a bonbon with fresh mint (plus lemon)--it's a Peter Greweling recipe--I can attest that fresh mint is very muted (and that's putting it nicely). And Greweling's recipe calls for leaving the chopped leaves in the ganache! The result barely resembles what people think of when they think "mint chocolate." It would take a lot of fresh mint to give adequate flavor. Do you have the same objection to mint oil? Both extract and oil come in "natural" form.

Your Dubai fillings looks terrific. I'm not asking for your recipe, but do you mind describing how you made the filling?

Love the Ruby color, and the filling sounds perfect for a chocolate that's difficult to match with not-too-sweet fillings. I see that you have your branded boxes. The business is off and running.

The filling sounds delicious. I imagine the lime helps balance the coconut's sweetness.

Thanks for pointing out that pistachio paste available on Amazon. I just noticed that my source, L'Epicérie, has it only on special order (I guess the price scared customers off--though it is a bit lower than the item on Amazon). I also make Dubai bonbons, although (as I have stated elsewhere) filling the cavities is a real pain--I put foil over all the cavities except the row I'm working on so as to limit the mess. But I don't want to reduce the crunch, which is what it would take to get the filling out of a pastry bag or (the otherwise indispensable) confectionery funnel.

I purchased pistachio butter from Fiddyment Farms. It is simply ground pistachios, no sugar added. I put it in my melanger and added some ground up hard caramel to make pistachio praline paste, which (I think) adds a lot of flavor to the pistachios. But to cut the sweetness I also include plain pistachio paste from Sicily. I know this all sounds counter-intuitive, but the Siciian paste has a wonderful flavor, and I do want the caramelization taste as well. And yes, I add white chocolate, making a gianduja. If you add any water (making a ganache), the general principle is that anything crunchy will (eventually) get soft. And since the whole point of the Dubai bar is crunchiness, I want to preserve the texture of the kataifi (for more crunchiness I also add some crushed feuilletine, plus some chopped pistachios). I don't add a lot of chocolate because I want to preserve the fluid texture that the Dubai bar seems to have.

Good idea about reducing the sweetness. I use pistachio praline paste plus plain pistachio paste (no sugar) to reach that goal.

@RWood, I'm interested in your comment about tahini improving the Dubai bar. I followed a recipe that included tahini (most recipes do, I think), and I did not detect any sesame-y taste added to the filling. The next time I omitted the tahini paste and tasted no difference. What do you think it added? I've never thought that tahini had a lot of taste on its own; in my "sesame crunch" bonbon I add lots of toasted sesame seeds, which do give it some flavor. The tahini paste I use is from Soom, and the seeds used are toasted.

I know this is a very old post, but I do know @JeanneCake is still alive and kicking, so I'll ask: I make Rose's biscuit for the bûche cake. After I turn it upside down onto a towel (I know you don't use one, but often I've had the cake crack horribly when I rolled it) and then remove the parchment (now on top of the upside down cake), the parchment sticks to the cake, removing the best-tasting part, the outer browned part. Would using the spray prevent that? And do you mean something like Pam?

Christmas 2024 assortment: 24 different fillings, including crème brûlée, sesame crunch, apple crisp, pecan pie, cinnamon bun, tiramisù, pineapple caramel, orange with habanero chili, carrot cake, and baklava. Credit must be given to @Rajala for the ideas behind some of the bonbons: the crunchy layer of crème brûlée (which I have now figured out to make even on a humid day), carrot cake (my new fave), and cinnamon bun. I especially want to thank him for his clever idea of how to make a ganache that tastes like custard and thus makes a crème brûlée very close to the baked custard of that dessert.

@Kerry Beal is the gingerbread cookie ganache the one in Greweling's book? He enrobes it and drops a little turbinado sugar on top. I am always amazed at how close to gingerbread it tastes; the "secret" ingredient is anise liqueur (I use Sambuca).

@Pete Fred I always enjoy your experiments (usually successful I have noted) into the world of sweets. I was struck by your recent comment: Do have you any ideas as to why this happens? I tried buttering the pie pan, and that resulted in an unpleasant fried look and taste to the crust. I suspected I might be patting the crust into the pie pan too firmly; changing that technique seemed to help some, but not consistently.

I do toast the kataifi. Recently I saw someone making a Dubai bar and he "fried" the kataifi. That gives it more flavor. You have to use clarified butter or ghee; otherwise some of the crunchiness will be lost. Basically the Dubai bar is a gianduja.

I have done Dubai bonbons. It's very tricky to spoon the filling into the cavities (It's too chunky for a pastry bag), but it's very popular--alas, the chocolatier has a difficult time not eating all of them. I add some feuilletine to the kataifi and toasted pistachios for even more crunch.

I have a Chocovision Delta tempering machine and have recently switched to using silk for tempering. I found it difficult to use tempered chocolate as seed. If I used the callets from the bag, they didn't entirely melt--a real nuisance. To my surprise, I have found that chocolate tempered with silk seems to take longer to get in an overtempered state, and with the Chocovision machines and their constant motion, overtempering is a significant problem. It doesn't take much silk at all.