Jim D.

I don't know of any reason that chocolate tempered this way would not have exactly the same qualities as when being tempered some other way. If it doesn't have a snap (after sitting a while to allow crystallization to continue), then I would wonder whether it is in temper. When I am making shells for a mold or two, I use this method, and the chocolate is just like what I get when use a tempering machine for a large quantity.

IF (and this is crucial) the chocolate is tempered when you start--which usually means you take it out of the manufacturer's bag--this method works. It's what I ordinarily use when I am making ganache and want to keep the chocolate in temper. You can take it up to 35C or even higher as long as a good portion of it (maybe 1/4 or 1/3) remains unmelted. You take it off the heat, and as the unmelted chocolate melts, it provides the seed to temper the rest. Why don't people use this method all the time? For the simple reason that it's not practical when you are dealing with more than a small amount; it requires too much attention, care, and time.

Were you following Kerry Beal's recipe (discussed earlier)? If you are getting 225F after adding the cream and if you are adding the amount prescribed in whatever recipe you are following, then you can let the caramelized sugar sit a bit before adding the cream. I have one recipe in which the caramel reaches its final temp very quickly. In that recipe (it's for apple caramel), the liquid added is a mixture of cream and melted apple cider jelly. Since it's the same proportions as for other caramels I make, the only explanation I have come up with is that it has to do with using jelly plus cream (so more liquid than using just cream). But I don't think the explanation makes sense, and I remain puzzled. In any event, when the apple caramel reaches its final temp (as I said, almost immediately), it is still rather fluid, but it tests as done (a bit beyond soft-ball stage), and when it firms up, it is the perfect texture for piping.

I take your last sentence as my guiding light when it comes to cocoa butter, and so currently I have my EZ set at 34.3. Lower than that and the cocoa butter was too firm to mix in easily. In theory 34.3 is too high for Type V crystals, but when the silk doesn't mix in easily, it's incredibly frustrating to try to incorporate it (and in the case of colored CB, using a stick blender is not practical).

This is a bit off-topic but follows on your technique: As I am currently embarked on a campaign to fix my caramel issues (namely, that often the fat separates from the caramel, sometimes immediately on adding the butter, sometimes after the caramel has sat a while, even occasionally after it has been piped), I immediately noticed that you use a stick blender to blend in the butter. Many recipes call for waiting a while (longer than the "slightly" you mention), so by that point using a stick blender is practically impossible. Do you ever have the separation issue I mention? If not, do you think blending in the butter this way makes a difference? I have only recently come to the conclusion that what one is doing when adding the butter is making an emulsion--blending what is mostly fat into what is mostly liquid (though each element contains the other as well). If that is in fact true, then forcing the emulsion--rather than just stirring in the butter--makes sense. I am incredibly frustrated when the problem occurs because sometimes--using exactly the same recipe--all goes well. Checking online reveals dozens of pseudo-explanations (caramel cooked too fast, too slow, too much butter added, etc.).

There are many eGullet threads discussing chocolate decorating techniques. This thread is probably the main one for airbrushing itself. A number of us have Grex airbrushes, and there are discussions of their merits (and limitations).

I have the Avantco CFD10 10-Rack Stainless Steel Food Dehydrator. It has stainless steel shelves (unusual for a dehydrator), which support the Pyrex containers in which I keep cocoa butter after the initial melting in the bottles. I melt whatever cocoa butters I want for a session and pour each into its own jar. I put these in the dehydrator the previous night, and they are ready to go the next morning (ready, that is, to be tempered and then sprayed or brushed). I put the spray gun or airbrush in with them, and it is free of clogs. I don't know where you live, but I got the Avantco from Webstaurant for $170. I can also melt chocolate overnight in it (the racks are removable, so it can hold an enormous amount of chocolate). The temperature control is not as exact as I would like, but I am more or less used to it. Having the colors and gun ready to go has made a huge difference.

The customary method is to get the sugar to the color you want (remembering that it will lighten when the cream is added), then add warmed cream and continue cooking to the desired temp, which will be determined by the consistency you want the caramel to have when it has cooled. I think it is absolutely essential to check its temperature as you are cooking it and also check when it is finished by dropping a bit into cold water (this will tell you whether it is at "soft-ball" stage or further along). I strongly suggest you read through Kerry Beal's lesson (which has instructions as well as photos) on how to make caramel. Since you want something more fluid, you simply stop the cooking at a lower temperature than she gives (since she is making "stand-up" caramels). It helps to know that if you accidentally exceed the temperature and consistency you are aiming at, you can simply add some water and cook the caramel again. For pipeable caramel, I cook mine to approximately 236F/113C and aim for a little beyond soft-ball stage. Too fluid and the caramel may leak from the bonbon, too firm and you will have difficulty piping it. For some other approaches to fluid caramels, I recommend Peter Greweling's Chocolates and Confections (he has a photo of caramel oozing out of a cut chocolate that is irresistible).

@Kerry Beal, have you done your evaluation of Ganache Solution? I would not consider purchasing without having some hands-on knowledge of the program.

That's a good question (to which I do not have the answer). I should have added to my earlier posts that if I were making chocolates for dinner guests or for friends to take home, I would not hesitate to use all sorts of potentially dangerous ingredients. I can easily picture a bonbon filled with a flavored pastry cream.

Then there is this from livestrong.com:

I just can't get around the caveats about using cheese in a bonbon that I posted previously in this thread from someone who has a lot of scientific knowledge about such things (his screen name is Sebastian, but I don't know his last name). He described all the procedures he felt were necessary to render the filling safe to sell/eat (they involved sous vide processing and pressure cooking). I am sure many will think I am being overly cautious, but I still recall the cautionary anecdote from an acquaintance of mine. I have posted it before, but basically, I encountered this person, who had been given a box of my chocolates at Christmas, and she informed me, with great enthusiasm, that she was still enjoying them. A compliment, until you know that it was in April that she said this to me. At my shocked look, she added that she had just read the enclosure that said "...should be eaten within two to three weeks." A seller has absolutely no control over what happens to a box of chocolates after the sale is complete. And I am not soothed by the fact that I include instructions on shelf life in every box I sell. I suppose the issue about using cheese comes down to one simple question: how is cream cheese/fromage blanc, etc., different from cream? I don't know the answer to that, except that, at least in the U.S., grocery store heavy cream is "ultra-pasteurized" (whatever that means in practical terms). I wish I had solid information that would contradict my qualms, and I stand ready to be corrected. I would love to know, for example, how Norman Love's cheesecake bonbon is formulated. Surely he has too much to lose by selling an unsafe bonbon. I remain intrigued about replicating cheesecake in a bonbon and have not given up (yesterday I found a recipe for making homemade graham crackers). I found online some dried cream cheese, but (as I would expect) it got very mixed reviews, and sounds a bit disgusting to me. With some trepidation--because I know many will scorn this idea--I will say that in my searching I discovered that Amoretti makes a natural cheesecake flavoring, and I have ordered some. I have been very impressed with almost all of their natural line of flavorings (which, in the case of fruit flavors, are made from the fruit in question, e.g., pineapple, passion fruit, mango). This may turn out to be a total waste of time and money, but I'm going to experiment when it arrives. But I will not be investing in a sous vide setup and pressure cooker in this experiment! There are limits.

Since you have resurrected this topic... I know your original post is several years old, but do you have any more details of that recipe?

To what temperature and consistency do you cook the caramel? That is another factor in how fluid it is when finished. You should always test it by dropping a little in water. If you are at the soft-ball stage, the caramel should turn out fluid when it's cool. If it is too stiff when you go to pipe it into shells, you can heat it up, add some water, and cook it again--but not so much as the first time.

I like it, but I use it just for cookies that are going to be a part of a bonbon filling (either with vanilla--and a little sea salt, as she specifies--or with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves to go into my "apple crisp" bonbon). When I eat the leftovers, they are delicious, entirely too addicting. Too much sugar? What does that mean?

@pastrygirl, in spite of Teo's arguments against our concern over leaving raw dough out of refrigeration, I went ahead and tested it. I made Ina Garten's recipe for shortbread cookies (but omitting the vanilla so as to reduce ingredients to the simplest possible): 170g butter, 198g sugar, 210g all-purpose flour. The reading for water activity was 0.65. Not exactly rock-bottom, but probably not alarming. I realize that free water content is not the only concern, and I don't believe Aw helps with understanding microbes and such. All this being said, I still wouldn't leave dough out, mostly because of the near-impossibility of working with it.

Could you describe how you make the filling for your Bananas Foster?

As a matter of fact, yes, I do plan some baking. I'll test the dough and report.

Bob beat me to mentioning such sponges. Here is a link to sponges available on Amazon (it's U.S. Amazon, but they should be available in other countries as well). This is what was used in Andrey Dubovik's online course: spin one or two colors in a mold, then airbrush another color as background. The effect with a sponge is not as uniform as the Dremel will provide.

I can speak only of bonbons. I often add crunchy things to my chocolates--sometimes just crushed feuilletine, but also shortbread cookies, caramelized nuts, and crushed caramel bits. The only way I know of to keep them crunchy is to surround them in something that is all fat. That eliminates ganache, which will eventually soften such inclusions, but includes gianduja, meltaways, and simply chocolate. In the case of the shortbread inclusion, I partially fill each cavity with some gianduja or meltaway mixture, add the cookie, pressing it into the first layer, then add more gianduja/meltaway to cover the cookie. In the case of caramelized nuts, I put some caramelized and chopped nuts in the bottom of the cavity, then cover them completely with melted chocolate or, again, gianduja. Note that the chocolate layer needs to be quite fluid so as to surround the nuts thoroughly and not leave air pockets--so this is a rather messy job. I don't just add the nuts directly to the gianduja because I want them to remain as larger pieces than will pass through a pastry bag. For a while I was puzzled that in Peter Greweling's recipe for a whole hazelnut submerged in ganache, the nut managed to stay crunchy. But recently I tried a leftover piece of chocolate with that filling and discovered that the nut had softened. And, finally, in a piece that is meant to simulate crème brûlée, I make a hard caramel, crush it, spoon some into the bottom of a mold, then melt some white chocolate and pipe in enough to cover the caramel bits completely, let it firm up, then pipe in vanilla butter cream. As simple as that item is, people love the surprise of the crunch in the bottom.

That says it all. I would eat the cookies she bakes, but I wouldn't sell them to others (not even with my food safety insurance). Never mind liability, I would think that everyday charity would dictate not subjecting others to anything with a chance (however remote) of harming them. I have tested the Aw of my shortbread cookies that I include in some chocolate fillings, and (as might be expected) it was very low (the water having been baked out of the dough), but I don't think water activity reflects all the issues there might be.

Is she baking the cookies for sale? If so, I think she ought to be (or to become) aware of health concerns at all times and not take unnecessary chances with her customers' health.

I have not used applesauce for this purpose. I believe the idea is that it does not change the flavor, but I myself would go with Pomona's and not be concerned with other pectin sources.

Yes, the required calcium comes in the Pomona's box. I don't have any experience using natural pectin (except when it happens by accident with the fruit I am using at the time). I see that Teo (in a following post) has provided lots of details on that subject. If you want to use apples (which is what the Boiron recipes and others call for) but don't feel like making your own applesauce, you can buy it under brands such as Superpomme (mentioned by Peter Greweling in Chocolates & Confections). One of the positive features of Pomona's is that it is quite forgiving. If jam/jelly/marmalade is completely done and cooled but isn't as thick as you like, you can heat it again and boil it a bit longer (though there is a limit on how long).

Here's a recipe for ginger marmalade containing lemon. The recipe uses Pomona's pectin, which if you are not familiar with it, is somewhat different from other pectins (it's easier to use IMHO and requires brief cooking, thus maintaining the flavor of the ingredients). If you do an internet search for "ginger marmalade," you will find lots more recipes, including this one for lemon-ginger marmalade.