Jim D.

I guess I assumed they would not wish to reveal their source. As I think more about those particular transfers, I'm wondering if they have them custom made. It's obvious they are applied to dipped chocolates, not used in magnetic molds, and each is 1" x 1". The fact that the shop is named Fleurir might explain why most of them have a flower motif and could argue for custom transfers. I was struck by the self-confident statement on the guide to the flavors enclosed in the box: "probably the most delicious box of chocolates you have ever eaten." They did make the New York Times list as creating one of the "10 best American small-batch, chocolate-covered salted caramels" in the USA (obviously the Times didn't sample Seattle's best )

I find that using magnetic molds with transfer sheets is a useful shortcut to supplement other more time-consuming bonbon decorations when dealing with what are for me large numbers of Christmas chocolate orders (certainly faster than getting out the airbrush equipment and tempering cocoa butters). But finding decent transfers is another matter. Many of them have beautiful colors (such as red) which turn brown when placed on anything but white chocolate (never mind the fact that the online photos from the vendors show a vibrant red atop dark chocolate). Many of the designs are too large (that is, the "repeat" of the pattern is too high and so you end up with a snippet of the design on each chocolate). Someone just gave me a small box of chocolates from a shop in northern Virginia that are, IMHO, strikingly beautiful (I ate one of the pieces before I decided to try finding the transfer sheets used). Has anyone seen any transfers like this:

I am not sure, but I think @gfron1 posted on the subject of matcha (perhaps in this thread) saying that he had found the amount that would be palatable (maybe "tolerable" is a better word).

The only time I use a heat gun on a mold is to run it over the tops of filled caramels as I prepare to seal them. I'm not at all sure this does any good at stopping caramel leakage, but now it's become a superstition. The theory, of course, is that it slightly melts the edges of the shell to make it adhere better to the chocolate that's about to be ladled over it. I did, however, see a worker at The Chocolate Lab in Alberta, Canada, heating the tops of all molds before capping them.

The BBQ mitts are just too thick to have any dexterity at all. I know I don't need much since I am just stirring, but the hand gets very tired from the effort of holding the spoon and stirring, esp. since the gloves make it difficult to grasp the spoon. I have others intended for BBQ called Pit Mitts, and they are thinner, thus allowing for more dexterity, but they have some sort of fiber on the outside that I feared might come off and drop in the caramel/raspberry purée. I need to check on the gloves Chocolot mentioned previously and make sure they don't have such fibers. I'll also look into what minas6907 described--perhaps using the gloves he recommends will also confer his confectionery skill and artistry on me?

I am seeking gloves that are good as protection in working with sugar and, more precisely, caramel. In doing a search, I assumed there would be something called "sugar gloves" or some such name, but the only specific ones I located appear to be discontinued. I am preparing once again to make Wybauw's banana and passion fruit caramel, and I am tired of getting burned when the liquid in the fruits starts spattering. It also happens when I am reducing raspberry purée. I have heavy, thick BBQ mitts, but they make it quite difficult to work for very long. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

About the Dubovik course: If you look back through this thread, you will see examples of what we learned in the course, and perhaps that would help determine whether you would find the course useful. None of us on eGullet really mastered the famous "eye" technique, but some came close (closer than I did, sad to say), and there have been explanations and Instagram videos on eG since then on how it can be done. It's still very time-consuming (definitely not to be tried during the runup to Christmas!). Another thought about the course: It is not required that students submit photos of their work; it is possible to watch the demos, work at one's own pace, and not be concerned with taking dazzling photos. The only part that will be missing is the certificate given at the conclusion.

Did you intend to link to a source for the tape?

In the responses you have received so far you can see how widely opinions differ on your question--35C, 30C. Some people think cocoa butter gets tempered as it is airbrushed; others insist it must be in temper first. I go for 30C (86F) and test it for temper before using it. That said, however, it is very difficult to keep cocoa butter in the temper range during use. It seems to be forgiving in regard to temperature, but you will know when it has stopped being forgiving when it sticks to your mold. Always make a few extra bonbons to allow for cocoa butter's fickle side.

Sorry, I don't have formulas. I just experiment. I have discovered that the mixing of cocoa butter colors is unpredictable, and when I keep adding one color, then another, I end up with brown. Mostly I buy the already-mixed colors (such as purple). With purple in particular, I should add that mostly it turns out looking too much like chocolate--so what's the point? The Chef Rubber amethyst is the best purple I have found so far. I share your fear of wasting too much money with too much cocoa butter (those $19.95 bottles go entirely too quickly). But when I tried mixing my own, I didn't see a lot of difference in cost between the powder and the already-mixed colors--and mixing the colors is a lot of trouble!

For eggnog I use Peter Greweling's recipe calling for nutmeg and dark rum in a white chocolate and butter ganache. If you have his book, he also has a gingerbread ganache that I like a lot and make for Christmas. In the U.S. at least, pumpkin is also a holiday flavor, and he has a pumpkin ganache. In addition to those, I make a ganache with fig, anise, and port and a similar one, based on a Jean-Pierre Wybauw recipe, with dried plums (alias prunes) and port--sort of a plum pudding.

If you add white (or just titanium) to get opacity, you are (of course) going to make the color pale. It shouldn't, however, be gray unless you have mixed colors that end up being a sort of brown/gray color. For colors that do not already contain titanium (such as red), the only way I know of to get a bright color and still have opacity is to use the straight color in the mold, then airbrush with white; it's a nuisance, but there aren't any shortcuts if you are molding the chocolates in dark or milk. Companies that make transfer sheets often display a beautiful bright red design on a dark chocolate, but in real life that won't happen--the red will become brownish. IMHO, this is really a kind of false advertising. As for getting translucent colors: I use purchased colored cocoa butter and add additional cocoa butter. If you are mixing your own colors, add more cocoa butter to your proportions (I don't know of any strict proportions--just keep adding cocoa butter until the mixture thins out some). I am continuing to learn the importance of having translucent colors when making a layered effect. For example, I was trying to get a mix of red and green in a mold which would eventually contain pistachio and cherry, but if you use regular red (without any effort to make it translucent), it will block out the green and the final effect will not be what you might have in mind--there won't be any blending of the two colors. So it's worth experimenting to get translucence.

Thanks for the link. Do you have a brand you would recommend? The prices suggest these blenders are indeed heavy-duty appliances--or at least should be.

@Bentley, I've been waiting to post regarding your technique of using an immersion blender to add the butter at the end of making a caramel as a way of avoiding the issue of having the butter separate out. I wanted to make sure I had given this idea a fair test. So now I am writing to thank you for this suggestion. I have used a blender for every caramel I have made since then, and so far there has been no more separation of butter. It helped to think of adding the butter as similar to making a ganache, adding fat to the caramel, which does have some fat in it but is basically a liquid. My only concern is how robust my blender will prove to be since the caramel thickens as time passes. Maybe I need to look for an industrial stick blender if there is such a thing. Thank you very much for this suggestion.

@spennie, I'm glad you posted again about the Fuji because I have been thinking about how useful it would be to have a central place where Fuji users could exchange information, ask questions, etc. My impression is that there aren't many of us on eGullet, but there are at least a few. I thought about starting a separate topic but don't think there would be enough traffic. Perhaps we should enlarge the potential participants to all who use HVLP guns to spray cocoa butter. So if you are interested, let's do it here. I am confident that you will have many questions. I know I still do after using the Fuji for over a year, and new things keep coming up. One issue is that with the Fuji you will use a lot more cocoa butter. That's just the nature of an HVLP gun. I keep trying to find ways to cut down on the flow. I have learned that with Chef Rubber's metallic colors, which are very thick, it helps to add some plain cocoa butter. Yesterday I decided I would go back to my airbrush for a job, but after a long period of heating and reheating the airbrush and still getting very low flow, I brought out the Fuji and did the job in a couple of minutes.

Go to HVLPTek. The remote is part #3072, wireless remote. As I said previously, this site has great customer service and can answer any question about the Fuji, including using it with cocoa butter.

In a similar recipe of hers for apricot cobbler bouchée (which is posted on the Savour School site), she calls for apricot extract. In the video she is holding a bottle of Sosa apricot aroma (and calls it extract). She speaks of adding 30 drops of extract, so I think the apple recipe may have meant 25 drops. Speaking from much experience in locating an apple extract/aroma/essence that does not taste like varnish, I did not find this an easy task. I don't have any Sosa aromas, but would trust them completely. Melissa's studio shelves were lined with every conceivable Sosa aroma (arranged perfectly, I should add), and I had a bergamot caramel, made by Melissa's former partner, Jean-Marie Auboine, using Sosa bergamot aroma. I eventually found an apple flavoring from a little shop, La Cuisine, in Alexandria, Va., but that place is now closed. Eventually I tracked down the owner, who located a source, International Gourmet Foods, but they deal only with businesses and have a high minimum order (I ordered some Valrhona chocolate along with extracts to reach the minimum). There is now an online place, www.simplygourmand.com, that is beginning to carry these French aromas (as they are called), but I don't think it has the apple yet (but you could ask the owner). A long explanation to say that I really like this apple flavoring and use it in several apple items I make. If all else fails, I could send you some to use. One additional comment on the recipe: In my opinion, the use of a milk chocolate (even one as light as what she specifies) is going to mask the apple flavor. In the apricot recipe she uses Zéphyr caramelized white chocolate. In what I call an "apple crisp" bonbon filling, I use apple juice concentrate plus puréed dried apples, the aroma, and a healthy dose of citric acid to get a decent apple flavor, then mold it in Zéphyr caramelized chocolate.

There is very little different about the Felchlin molds (they are polycarbonate just like the ones that are probably the most used, those from Chocolate World). They do have one drawback from my point of view: Unlike the CW molds, which have supporting bars running crosswise beneath the cavities where you can rest your fingers to hold the mold without touching the cavities, the Felchlin molds have bars running lengthwise, which means they require considerable adjusting to accomplish the same goal--that is, of keeping hot fingers away from tempered chocolate.

Yes, I paid a fortune for some Felchlin molds. Not to assign blame, but they were those pyramid ones you were using for dendrites, and they caught my eye (not to mention my money).

I think Felchlin made a mistake deciding to make AUI its (almost) exclusive source in the U.S. (I say "almost" because it can still be purchased in a very limited selection at Chocosphere). Because AUI sells only by the box (6 kilos), small producers or hobbyists would be discouraged from trying what I think are excellent couvertures. That being said, AUI offers free shipping if you buy at least $195 of products--and it doesn't take long to get to $195. Felchlin does list two distributors in Canada: HUH Imports in Newmarket and Prime Chocolate in Montreal.

I don't know much about craqueline, but it sounds as if it might rise more than you want for this use. But as they say, you never know until you try. I was looking for something that would be crunchy but would not shatter, and Ina's shortbread filled the bill.

I use a separate recipe for graham crackers (found online, it has molasses that really adds to the flavor), but for the others I use Ina Garten's recipe for shortbread cookies, adding spices to the one that accompanies the apple and apricot items I mentioned. For the gingersnaps, at first I used a recipe I found online for basic gingersnaps, but it was too chewy, so I am returning to Ina's shortbread, substituting dark brown sugar and molasses powder for some of the white sugar and adding appropriate spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg). The gingersnap cookies go especially well with a lemon filling. I roll out the dough then cut it with a 7/8" round cutter, so that the final cookies, which may spread a very small amount, will fit in cavities about 1" in diameter. The trick, I have learned, is to make sure the cookies are thin; otherwise they take up too much room in the shell. I pipe in some of what I call "moisture barrier meltaway," consisting of chocolate of whatever type is appropriate or gianduja, plus about 25% of that weight in coconut oil, which keeps the resulting meltaway from being too firm, plus about 1% cocoa butter silk), then add the cookie, plus more meltaway if the cookie has not filled the cavity sufficiently.

I did not get a direct answer to the question, but someone else sent me a PM explaining it thus: After that, I experimented, guessing at the proportions. In one version I used cocoa butter instead of chocolate, and it was inedible. In another, I used white chocolate, and it tasted OK. But as great as it was to do away with all the fuss involved with baking tiny cookies and then surrounding them with a protective layer, the end result was not what I wanted. The crunch was mostly gone, and the flavor of the chocolate dominated. And yes, I do realize that the crust of a cheesecake is not crunchy, but I have returned to baking tiny cookies and have expanded my list of them--besides graham cracker, I now have gingersnaps, basic vanilla shortbread, and spiced shortbread to accompany fillings like apple and apricot.

I went through this process and searched far and wide for manufacturers that would sell small quantities of custom boxes. There is one that would make them, but (it turned out) not very well, so I would not recommend them. Later, however, I found Brimar Packaging in Ohio, which will sell 500 boxes. You will, of course, pay considerably more for that quantity, and (to torture the customer, I assume) they always provide the pricing for 1,000 boxes as well. But their work is excellent, and their website provides images of their products. They can include inserts but might require larger quantities for that. I get just my boxes from them. Thermoforming is incredibly expensive (the cost has given me a whole new appreciation for those clamshells in grocery stores that hold salad greens). As was mentioned earlier, the most costly part of that is the aluminum mold that must be made first. My recommendation for those beginning the business is to find the most beautiful stock box you can find (US Box has some very nice sets--box plus insert), but this works only if your chocolates are all approximately the same size--and a small size (about an inch, or 1.25" at the most--and their height must also be considered). Alas, in the beginning, I acquired many molds with larger cavities that have caused me great trouble and expense in finding packaging that will work.

The minimum for the Delta is 3 lbs. I find it needs 900 grams (about 2 lbs.) for the thermometer to register the temp, so you need to add that to whatever amount of chocolate you are melting. According to the Chocovision website, the Revolation V tempers between 1 and 5 lbs. The company offers what it calls the "holey baffle," which is a divider inserted into the bowl that has holes in it so that the chocolate can flow more freely between the two sections; this enables all the machines (excluding the Mini Rev and Rev. 2) to hold more chocolate. I always "pre-melt" the chocolate so that when I add it to the machine, it is very close to its maximum temp and is ready to have seed added, shortening the whole process quite a bit.