Jim D.

For Edelweiss, AUI Fine Foods carries the discs, as does The Chocolate Man.

Good question. In this case the couverture is white chocolate, so when I cut the bonbon open completely, it was not possible to answer your question (white c.b. blended into white couverture). I'll see if I can find one where the underlying chocolate is dark. I don't know if it's significant, but the decorated mold was sitting for a few days before the shell was made. I don't think that would make a difference.

Unfortunately I need to contribute to this topic. In the chocolate below, notice the crack running across the shell. This happened to several pieces at various places in the shell. In trying to determine what was happening, I thought of another time I had a similar crack, and that was in the Easter eggs I made earlier this year. That time some of the cracks developed over time as the eggs sat. I thought it might have something to do with the larger size of the piece or with the filling (it occurred with several ganaches). The filling in the bonbon above is a layer of apricot pâte de fruit (on top, immediately under the dome) with a layer of almond gianduja below it. What the eggs and the bonbon above have in common is that the coloring contains a large amount of white cocoa butter. In this case I mixed the apricot color from red, orange, yellow, and a lot of white, and the yellow marbled with it is yellow c.b. with a substantial amount of white. In the case of the eggs, I backed the outside colors with a lot of white to make the decoration opaque. Could white cocoa butter cause something like this? This would be one more strike against it, adding to the obnoxious aroma and taste it has. Of course, any explanation begs the question of why the defect didn't occur with the bonbon immediately next to it in the mold.

Don't you love the taste of that Felchlin milk chocolate? And it so easy to work with. I recently bought some of the new Fortunato milk chocolate (which is also made by Felchlin but not actually one of their products), and while it is quite delicious, it does not have the ease of use that Maracaibo has (such as lasting for a long time without getting over-crystallized).

You might check on packagingsupplies.com and gogopak.com.

Without a thermometer? I don't know how you do it. I use mine constantly. For checking chocolate I use an infrared, which is quick and easy and well worth the investment. Actually I have found that tempered chocolate is more forgiving than one might think in terms of temperature. All the tips in this thread are helpful. I was just thinking of this issue yesterday as I finished some chocolates and, in spite of thorough checking of the ganache level, looking several times, checking again, had some pieces that resembled yours. A quick (and not completely reliable) fix when you really need all the chocolates to be usable is to spread a little tempered chocolate over the bad places and put a small piece of acetate over it. The bottom may be a little uneven, but it often works. If you drag a small bit of chocolate out of the mold as you scrape, it is easy to add a few drops of chocolate to that spot and tap the mold on the table to level it. Thicker ganaches are the worst culprits since tapping the molds on the table doesn't work to level them. I take the time to trim off the ganache that may be protruding because if there is a place where it protrudes, the chocolate will inevitably make it show.

I could be wrong, but it looks as if there is milk chocolate behind your gold. That happens to me (with that same cocoa butter) when there isn't something else behind it--such as white chocolate or white cocoa butter. A dark or milk chocolate behind the gold subdues its color.

@curls, you can find some of what @andiesenji recently wrote about candied fruit in this thread:

I realize that is technically correct (and the Chocolate Alchemist, for one, emphasizes that all the crystals are melted by then), but why do most people go higher, most tempering machines go considerably higher, and all packages of chocolate I have seen call for going even higher (for its Maracaibo dark, Felchlin specifies 118F/48C)? I always assumed it was just to be absolutely certain, and that assumption was based on the experience of (1) having tempered chocolate accidentally go several degrees above 93.2F/34C and still test as in temper, or (2) having some reserved chocolate I wanted to be definitely out of temper to use for diluting over-tempered chocolate, but it still tested as in temper.

I thought I should report on my first attempt to include a cookie in a bonbon. I used Ina Garten's recipe for shortbread cookies, rolling the dough between 1/4 and 1/2" thick and cutting circles about 1" in diameter (the smallest cutter I have); I baked them until they were crisp and just starting to brown. I then created a dark chocolate shell (a deep cavity). I piped in a little salted caramel. On top of that, I piped in almond gianduja, making sure the caramel was totally covered. I left quite a bit of space above the almond. I dropped one of the cookies on top, then covered each with more almond. I capped the bonbons and just finished eating one. It is definitely something I will make again. Because the cookie is surrounded by gianduja, it is still crisp--and should stay crisp--though that is something I will watch. I did not cover the caramel with cocoa butter to keep it from softening the cookie, but that might be necessary if its moisture migrates to the cookie. I made several different thicknesses of cookie. The best ones were the thinnest, so in the future I will cut the individual pieces 1" in diameter and about 1/4" in height, then flatten them a bit so that they will come closer to filling the cavity side to side (this would depend on what diameter your cavities are). I think it's important to pipe the gianduja two times, as otherwise the cookie will probably leave gaps, and it is my understanding that air spaces in bonbons are not good. Final bit of information: I tested the free water activity of the cookie (see earlier in this thread for a warning I had received about this issue), and it was only 0.20. For those unfamiliar with such readings, that is very low.

I will post a report on the white cocoa butter from Chocotransfersheets.com. As I thought more about this discussion and the fact that respected people said there must be something wrong with "smelly" cocoa butter, I was beginning to think I was losing my mind (or my nose in this case). Then I remembered that I ordered a box of Kate Weiser's chocolates earlier this year. These are highly decorated, and many colors are backed in white. When I opened the box, the aroma of c.b. (as distinct from chocolate) was unmistakable. As pastryani implied, it might just be my palate/nose. No customers have ever mentioned the issue. Sometimes I think Europeans have the right idea--most of the chocolates I have seen are not decorated with colored cocoa butter.

That number of videos is certainly high enough that I will give Savour a try. (See, I didn't write "Savor" -- and I like an Australian accent--just wish all your actors didn't work so hard to get rid of it.)

My experience has been different from what keychris says. I can always taste colored cocoa butter, even from a brand-new bottle. And especially white (with titanium dioxide) has a strong odor. There is a thread on The Chocolate Life about this topic (started by someone other than me). I mentioned this issue to the owner of Chocotransfersheets, and he was going to send me a sample of his white to see if it was different. I never got that but recently ordered a bottle to check it out. I don't think there is any way around the titanium dioxide to create white. All that being said, however, I can also taste plain cocoa butter and am not fond of its aroma. To check what I just wrote, I went to my supply and opened a brand-new bottle of Chef Rubber colored cocoa butter. There is definitely an odor--mostly cocoa butter, but more than that.

Thanks for that information. The price is certainly low enough that it is worth trying.

It was easier than I anticipated (I fully expected the compressor to blow up any minute), but I could not have done it without Grex tech support and the aforementioned photo. The difficulty was the info that knowledgeable people assume (such as using teflon tape) and that is not mentioned explicitly anywhere. But setup took a very short time and went without a hitch. I must confess that I had my very knowledgeable nephew in attendance watching things, but I think I could have done it without him. He is the kind of person who just pulls the emergency pressure release to see what happens! On my own I later found a far less noisy way to release the pressure and allow any moisture to drain out.

Well, if you have some experience with compressors, it would probably be easy. As I stated previously, I am a mechanical novice. I watched some videos online about setting up a compressor., but it was Danny, the guy at Grex tech support who went above and beyond--he took that photo showing the connections (he must have taken over all the space in the tech support area that day) and gave me a list of all the connectors I would need, which ones Grex makes, which ones I needed to buy elsewhere. He also explained teflon tape (I said I was a novice) and which connectors needed it. I have the link to that photo and will send it to you via an eG PM.

Thanks for the examples. There are lot of non-bonbon items, and whereas I find them interesting, that's not what I am looking for. So I guess my last question to you is whether the percentage of bonbon material is enough to make it worthwhile.

I did not know they offered online learning. I guess when I saw "Australia," I immediately gave up. So you think the lessons are worth the money and time? Can one follow at his or her own pace, or how does it work?

From what I have seen on eGullet, the school's graduates learned impressive skills there. Too bad there is not a U.S. branch.

I'll look forward to hearing about your reaction to the Grex. I forget where I read that the 0.7 nozzle would be better; maybe I just assumed it would when I realized the nozzle of the Paasche external mix airbrush was over a mm wide and feared I would never get cocoa butter through the 0.5. I believe @pastrygirl has the 0.5 with her Grex and has been successful with that. Sorry, but I don't know any way to take photos or videos while using the airbrush (I am a one-person shop). Besides, I'm still getting used to the Grex and the results are embarrassingly messy at this point. Have you seen the Grex videos with Lisa Berczel? They are very helpful, and she is supremely confident in her work (there are also some creepy ones showing her spraying the body of a human being, but I try not to think of that when I'm spraying). My only advice so far is to keep the cocoa butter flowing with a heat gun and a stirrer because it will tend to solidify in the bottom of the cup. Otherwise it has been a pleasure to use. As I get used to changing colors, I hope the mess will diminish. One other thought: I found it essential to find a place to "park" the airbrush when I pause. Grex does make a holder, but I didn't get it; instead, I used a heavy flower vase with a wide top, and the airbrush rests nicely in there and seems a bit more secure to me than the holder would be--obviously it's necessary to keep the brush close to vertical to avoid a bigger mess.

@dhardy123, Thanks for the compliment. The assortment shows some successes and one "failure"--I use quotes because even that one turned out good enough to use (IMHO). First, the failure: I speak of the red and yellow piece near the bottom of the photo. For that one, using a gloved finger, I swirled red cocoa butter around the circumference of the cavity, and then, before the red was fully set, did the same with gold c.b. In a mold with steep sides (like the geodesic dome I used), it is difficult to do the swirling and impossible to keep the two colors from mixing. Thus the pseudo-marbling effect on that one. Thanks to @RWood, I learned that waiting for the first color to dry is crucial. Then the colors stay separate. This is all much easier to do in a more "spread-out" dome, like the demisphere I used for the others (the dark green + copper piece in the 1:00 position in the photo and the purple + gold in the 9:00 position). For those two, I used a somewhat easier technique of swirling one color (green and purple respectively), letting that dry, and then spraying the whole mold with copper or gold c.b. The end effect is marbling. I think in any marbling, it is necessary to spray a color behind the rest (that is, on top of the swirled colors); otherwise the chocolate shell shows through, which may fit the color scheme you have in mind, but likely won't. I have used a technique similar to the one you describe, as in the case of having several different chocolates (white, dark) tempered in separate bowls and pouring them together into a mold, then mixing them a little in the cavities to achieve marbling. I found that very difficult--keeping two chocolates in temper, pouring them just right, and not over-mixing them. I'm just not coordinated enough to make that work in a consistent way. In that method you are not decorating the shell; you are creating it with a marbled effect, and the result is a beautiful bonbon. There is a thread discussing this technique as developed at Savour School in Australia.

That was the problem I had when I tried this option. You have to get it just right, or it's practically impossible to cut, especially on a guitar. I know lots of recipes for marshmallow say how easy they are to make, but I have not found that to be the case.

I recently purchased the Grex Tritium airbrush (fitted with the 0.5mm nozzle) and wish to report on it. I think most people use an external mix airbrush, where the cocoa butter does not pass through the body of the airbrush but is mixed with compressed air externally. I have used a Badger, and recently used as my regular airbrush a Paasche; both of these are external mix. The Tritium is an internal mix device, and I was nervous about clogging up the brush constantly with cocoa butter passing through it. In actuality that is not the case at all. I purchased a 0.7mm replacement nozzle to provide the largest available needle/nozzle for the cocoa butter to pass through. Replacing the 0.5 with the 0.7 was fairly easy. An internal mix airbrush requires more compressed air, so I knew my little Iwata Smartjet Pro (1/8 HP motor with top pressure of 35 PSI) was not going to be adequate. Grex sells a compressor for the Tritium (it is rebranded from another company, California Air Tools). They were phasing out the 1 HP model and so sold me a 2 HP one at the same price. A 2 HP compressor is an entirely different beast from the Iwata; its increased power is impressive--and a little scary for a mechanical-challenged user like me. But fortunately my nephew showed me that it was not as frightening as it looked, and my first time using it alone went without a hitch. This compressor is very quiet, as these things go. In these comments I am using space on the compressor because my conclusion is that the compressor makes all the difference in using an airbrush for cocoa butter. The good thing about Grex is that they are aware of the food decorating crowd out there; they have a whole series of videos on various decorating techniques, mostly for cakes. Their tech support people are so responsive and I consulted them so often that Gmail now doesn't show the whole thread with my questions and their replies unless I specifically request it. Grex never failed to be responsive (usually within a few minutes) and to be sympathetic to the special needs of chocolate making. In explaining to me how to add a moisture trap between the compressor and the airbrush, one technician even took the time to set up the whole system (hoses, attachments, adapters, everything) and take a photo of it with every part labeled. I have never encountered tech support this good. The Tritium setup I used had the cocoa butter in a container attached above the airbrush (not in little jars with siphons as I had been using with the Paasche--although the Grex can be adapted to use siphon-feed jars). This setup provides the most direct flow of cocoa butter to airbrush but does require a whole new system of preparation for airbrushing. I had the cocoa butter in temper in a Pyrex container (which can be microwaved and heated or cooled over water) and spooned it into the metal cup on top of the airbrush (I purchased larger cups than the ones that come with the airbrush so that I wouldn't have to waste valuable time refilling the cup so often). This process can get messy! But it really worked. The cocoa butter stays liquid much longer than it does when it is in an attached glass container and traveling through a siphon. Yes, a heat gun is still required from time to time to keep the cocoa butter liquid, but I could spray several molds without stopping. I learned a lot from this first session and now know to get a little stirrer to keep the cocoa butter from hardening in the bottom of the cup. But it does work much better than any external mix airbrush I have used. Changing colors is easier than I anticipated: You simply turn the cup (still attached to the airbrush) upside down above the cocoa butter container, drain out as much as possible, then wipe with a paper towel (again, this idea came from Grex tech support). I had mistakenly thought the Tritium could be used on its own to splatter a mold. I saw a video featuring Salvatore Martone using a Grex Tritium to splatter, but when I mentioned this to Grex support, they pointed out what I did not notice in the video--that the chef is spraying the cocoa butter onto a little spatula or stick, and from there onto the mold. I tried this and had some success, though I will need a lot of practice to get it right. I think a spray gun (such as the Fuji or a Wagner) can do splatter without further equipment, but an airbrush cannot (though an airbrush can splatter with regular paint). Final comment on customer service: Grex does not sell its products directly. I found everything I needed with Jerry Carter Airtools, and Jerry also provides excellent service and guidance. He even asked to see photos of the work I have done with chocolates. Prices: Grex equipment appears to have the same prices everywhere. The airbrush was $209, the 0.7 nozzle $68, the larger cups $19 each, the compressor $299. Yes, it's appreciably more expensive than something like the Paasche I have. It does, however, do a better job in a shorter time and with less aggravation than any external airbrush I have used. It does not do all a Fuji can do, but with my limited space and the number of chocolates I produce in a batch (so far the most is 900 pieces), I think it is the most satisfactory and the cost is less than for the Fuji system, which even companies that sell paint gun types of sprayers have told me would be overkill. Final verdict: I am very pleased with the Grex Tritium and would certainly buy it again. The added power of the compressor makes airbrushing almost (!) a pleasure. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

The chocolates I made for Thanksgiving 2017. I wish to thank two eG people who helped with the technique of swirling colored cocoa butter in molds: @Lisa Shock (in the thread on how certain decorations are achieved) and @RWood, who was very generous with her expertise on the same technique and how she created the beautiful piece that is her "avatar." Success at this decorating method has eluded me for longer than I care to admit. The marbling effect turned out better than any previous attempt, and in my new demisphere molds (custom made through Tomric), any decorating method seems easy. This was also the first batch decorated with my new Grex airbrush (when I have time, I will post some comments on that in the airbrush thread). Clockwise starting with the yellow piece at the top: banana & passion fruit caramel, yuzu with ginger, Meyer lemon, apricot pâte de fruit & almond gianduja, chocolate chip cookie truffle, strawberry-flavored marshmallow & kalamansi, coffee ganache & hazelnut gianduja, eggnog with dark rum, spiced pumpkin, plum with port, coconut cream, apple caramel

I have now used pipeable marshmallow in a batch of chocolates. Pastryani asked how much air was incorporated. I cut a piece in half to observe, and there were very few bubbles--it's similar to the swmsweets photo above, but even fewer real bubbles. That may be my lack of skill, but I think it's primarily a function of cramming the marshmallow into a plastic bag and squeezing it into many cavities--how many bubbles could stand up to that? The taste and texture, on the other hand, are very marshmallowy, so I am pleased with this recipe. I did discover that any flavoring (I used strawberry) becomes weaker than anticipated. I paired the strawberry marshmallow layer with a kalamansi ganache, in which I deliberately removed some kalamansi, replacing it with cream so as to decrease the citrus flavor, but the strawberry was still mostly overpowered. I am concluding that marshmallow needs to stand on its own and think I will next try passion fruit, with no second layer.