Jim D.

Beautiful job of making and dipping the marshmallows. I have had the same experience with the flavored marshmallows. The strawberry ones (nightscotsman's recipe) retained a little strawberry flavor, but only a little. Passion fruit ones (I think of passion fruit as a very assertive flavor that overpowers almost anything else) lost all taste of the fruit after a few days.

Chocosphere has Abinao in 1 and 3 Kg bags. In looking for it, I see that they now have the new Valrhona "Inspirations" that you pointed out a while back.

Another try proved more successful (one on the left, stripe left clear; on the right; red cocoa butter, which unfortunately does not show up well in a photo): The photo shows more imperfections than there actually are, so I think these would be usable. The difference between these tries and the preceding one was that I did not let the c.b. dry completely, just until it was set and no longer runny. The problem is with doing these in any substantial numbers. I would have to airbrush one mold (tape in place), wait just the right amount of time for the c.b. to begin to crystallize, remove the tape, then do the same with the next mold. If others have had success with letting the c.b. dry completely before removing the tape, I would love to hear about it and know what you did differently.

I should name this post "Defeated by Stripes" because that's how I feel. I bought the tape that @tikidoc used. I thought the fact that it appears to be plastic and not paper would make a difference (and it did for her). But I used a brush to apply color to a mold (ignore the feathery part at the edges--I didn't care about covering the entire mold). I applied the cocoa butter somewhat more thickly (but not a lot) than I usually do because I wanted to simulate airbrushing--where the thickness is difficult to control. I let the cocoa butter dry (as would happen in an airbrushing situation, where going from one mold to another gives the c.b. time to crystallize). You can see that the stripe is not what one might call a success: As is obvious, when I removed the tape, the flaking was very bad.

I very much liked the Harvest Purple in theory (the idea of a Victorian "dusty" purple color appealed to me), but I gave up on it because, once applied, it looked too much like milk chocolate. And what's the point of that? So the only purple I use is Purple Rhodolite (from the "Jewel" collection). It shows as purple (well, somewhat) even when applied to dark chocolate, and I use it for my plum and my fig fillings, as well as on Easter eggs--where I mostly abandon the idea of matching the color to what's inside.

Yes, I have a dark and a light purple. I will give the dark one a try. Thanks for the idea.

Before I waste a lot of colored cocoa butter experimenting, does anyone know what I can mix to get a dark/navy blue? I have on hand (all Chef Rubber named colors) turquoise, teal, Mediterranean blue, and black onyx. It's too late for me to order one of their darker blue colors.

I believe she said previously that she has the spray booth in her basement.

Excuse my ignorance (and all the questions), but is the piece with the white frame the home air filter you mentioned? What is the crisscrossed item outside the booth? And is the fan directly next to the outside of the booth? How quickly does the filter get completely covered with cocoa butter and need to be replaced?

I should add that the molds you used could not have been easy to tape. I will be using a demisphere, which is much more open and allows for more "finger space" to do the taping. I once used the blue painter's tape just as an experiment, and it allowed a lot of bleeding, but I was using a regular dome. By the way, do you allow the chocolate to dry totally before removing the tape or do it sooner?

That's the same tape that I just purchased. I'm anxious to try it (as @tikidoc found it really worked--without seepage, I gather), but I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work all that well for you. In the middle of Easter production I don't have time for fuzzy stripes, but your experience tells me that I need to find more time for experimenting!

@minas6907, very nice, especially considering that you are a beginner with spraying. Your stripes are very clean--something I have not succeeded in getting--yet. What tape did you use? Usually the cocoa butter manages to seep under the tape and ruin the effect.

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.