Jim D.

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.

It is a beautiful dessert. I can't imagine anyone commenting on your desserts except with the most lavish of praise. Having said that, yes, white chocolate can be really sweet. What chocolate are you using? If you haven't tried it, Valrhona's Opalys is a bit less sweet than all the others I have tasted (which at this point is a lot).

I would expect nothing less from Seattle residents! In this neck of the woods, we don't allow health nuts (your words), and soybeans are a big crop--regardless of their origin.

Me over-thinking it? Never! I think of it as a healthy OCD. I'm glad you mentioned the chocolates without lecithin. I'm not keen on using it because a little too much, and it thickens the chocolate. Norman Love and Jin Caldwell (Jinju Chocolates) appear to use Fortunato for bars both plain and with additives. I have not yet found anyone who uses it for shells, which may say a lot. I was leaning toward getting some to use in ganache if not for anything else.

Those of us at the eGullet workshop in Las Vegas this past May were given, among other goodies, a large block of an unidentified milk chocolate. Several of us agreed that it was among the best milks we have tasted, and my own view was that it was the best, no question. Thanks to @Chocolot I learned that the sample came from Chef Rubber and was an example of Fortunato No. 3. For those not aware of this relatively new-to-the-market product, there is a website that explains the remarkable story of its rediscovery. I definitely wanted more and learned that Chef Rubber is the sole distributor of Fortunato in the U.S. I did not want to purchase a huge amount without knowing what it is like to work with (in particular, tempering and making shells), so wrote to one of the two discoverers of the chocolate, who referred me to Chef Rubber, from which I received this information: This was not particularly good news to me since I don't like to tamper with the formulations of couvertures (by adding cocoa butter, for instance). On the other hand, I don't want to temper something that, within a few minutes, turns into a blob of solid chocolate. I do have some liquid lecithin, so might experiment, but with Christmas orders approaching, I don't have time to play around too much. One problem I foresee is what to do with leftover chocolate. I assume I would not add the lecithin again, probably not the cocoa butter, but I would have to keep track of how much of the chocolate is leftover (and thus has been doctored) and how much is new. This alone sounds like a pain. Any suggestions on how to approach this issue? I am puzzled as to why the usual additives would not have been included in the grinding, conching, tempering process (which, by the way, was done by Felchlin in Switzerland, though their name is not officially used on the product). Incidentally I have not tasted the dark chocolate, though Norman Love and Jin Caldwell are excited about it.

Perhaps heat the knife slightly, then cut. You would need to experiment to discover what "slightly" turns out to be.

Is the recipient going to eat the bonbons quickly? If not, I would be concerned with shelf life. You might want to read this thread on the shelf life of bonbons with cheese, especially my quotes from Sebastian from The Chocolate Life. I respect everything he says about the technical aspects of chocolate, and he scared me off trying the Stilton and port filling:

Yes, I watched Melissa meticulously (a word that applies to everything she does) use a little sponge brush to paint an arc in a mold, then paint another arc slightly overlapping it. Beautiful effect, but.... Kate Weiser is a chocolatier who does demanding, meticulous work on a large scale (a sample box suggested that the pieces are hand-painted), but photos show assistants doing this.

To second what Kerry said, if you add the full amount of cocoa butter in the form of silk, it tends to make the ganache too firm, decidedly so for use with a guitar.

@Bentley, I haven't had luck with using tape--the color always seeps behind it. I must have used the wrong kind of tape. A food-safe type of tape supposedly exists (someone on eGullet said he had it, but he never returned to explain what it is and where to get it). I don't think I have ever seen a perfectly round and smooth mold like that. It must have been quite a job to get the tape up the sides--somewhat labor-intensive, to put it mildly. What is the source of the mold?

@Bentley, so are you going to reveal how you got that beautiful stripe? Inquiring minds want to know.

This topic developed from the thread on including marshmallow in bonbons but was not directly related to that discussion. Many people include cookies of some sort in their chocolates, and it seems to be very popular with customers. I would like to try this idea and had some concerns about shelf life and how it might be affected. I (and many others) have long included feuilletine in bonbons, and that is, of course, a form of cookie. I mentioned my concerns in the marshmallow thread but decided to post a question on The Chocolate Life: "Does including something like shortbread or a cookie do anything to lower shelf life or present other problems with safety?" I received the following thought-provoking response from the owner of that forum: The statement on pasteurized milk regulations brings up the issue of sanitation: after milk is repasteurized, what is to prevent it from being recontaminated once it is exposed to air for even a few seconds? Obviously the regulations must envision a zone somewhere between complete absence of contaminants and total disregard for sanitation. Once I make a cookie I hope to include in a bonbon, I will test the aW; I would expect the water activity level of something like shortbread to be quite low, but we will see.

I piped into empty molds (no chocolate involved) just to see if the process would work, so there is nothing meaningful to photograph yet, but when I actually use the marshmallow in a bonbon, I will cut one in half. Of course, the piping process eliminates some of the air, but there were some holes, and, to my mind, that is a small sacrifice to pay to be able to pipe the mixture into a mold.

I have continued my pipeable marshmallow experiments and want to report what was successful. The recipe below is based on the RecipeGullet one for strawberry marshmallows, with adaptations for piping. I have converted the measurements to grams. Notes: The tricky part of the process is getting the marshmallow to a low enough temperature that it will not melt the chocolate shells but not so low that it starts to set. In practice I found that if you keep piping, that window is wider than it might seem. I suspect the heat of one's hands on the piping bag helps, and one could always give a little boost with a heat gun. A larger amount of marshmallow might present problems; therefore the amounts are half of the RecipeGullet ones. I think the reason my earlier attempts failed is taking the syrup to a higher temperature; with the 235F/113C specified here, the mixture is easily pipeable and does not leave a trail of marshmallow over the top of the mold. It is worth mentioning that the marshmallow loses its pink color as it is beaten. PIPEABLE STRAWBERRY MARSHMALLOW Mix 14g (2 envelopes) unflavored gelatin with 120g strawberry purée (strained to remove any pulpy parts) and (if desired) 1/8 tsp. orange flower water and (if desired) 1 tsp. strawberry compound in a small bowl and place over hot water. Make sure all the gelatin is dissolved. Meanwhile put 300g sugar, 185g glucose, and 100g water in a heavy pot. [Edited 4/20/2018: From a suggestion made by Pastrypastmidnight, I now substitute 100g of strawberry purée for the water--a change that substantially enhances the fruit flavor.] Over low to medium heat stir until the sugar is dissolved, washing down any crystals on the side of the pot. Let the sugar mixture boil until it reaches 235F/113C, then remove from the heat and allow to cool until the temperature is 212F/100C. During this time be sure to keep the gelatin mixture warm. Transfer the gelatin mixture to the large bowl of a mixer with a whisk attachment, turn on the mixer, then slowly pour the syrup down the side of the bowl. Gradually increase the mixer speed to high. When the marshmallow is very thick, start testing its temperature. For piping into molds, it should fall to around 92F/33C (this assumes further cooling as it is transferred to a piping bag). Beat the mixture at slow speed while waiting for it to cool. [Edited 5/29/2020: I now fill a large plastic bag with ice cubes and hold it against the side of the mixing bowl; it lowers the marshmallow to a pipeable temperature quickly. I have also discovered that waiting to add flavoring (vanilla, purée, etc.) until the end of the beating thins out the marshmallow enough that it pipes easily and even self-levels in the cavities. After a day of standing, it had formed a skin on top that made piping an additional layer easy. When I measured its water activity level, it was 0.78, higher than when adding flavoring earlier but still acceptable for most people.] With an oiled spatula transfer the marshmallow to a piping bag and pipe into molds. The piping should be done as quickly as possible (at 86F/30C the gelatin begins to set). Allow the marshmallow to set at least 12 hours before adding a second layer or closing the mold. Approximately 90-100 cavities (15g size) can be fully filled with this recipe.

@Bentley, are you willing to share the recipe for your Caramel Cookie Monster?

I'm embarrassed to admit that I tried marshmallow cream. It piped beautifully if used as it comes in the jar. But it doesn't have much flavor. When I added some vanilla extract, the texture turned runny and unappetizing.

@pastrygirl, Thanks for the tip about "massaging" the pastry bag with ganache/marshmallow. I knew that granite countertop would come in handy someday. It's funny, I think my reluctance to use cookie-like layers in a bonbon comes from a response from you a couple of years ago when I inquired about using a recipe from Ecole Chocolat using raw chocolate cookie dough. You wrote: "An airy, damp, floury thing is a good medium for yeast and mold growth. You don't need to leave flour and water out too many days before it bubbles, so I think there is too much food for wild nasties in this recipe to keep it at room temp for more than a few days." Of course we were discussing uncooked cookies, but somehow your answer got stuck in my mind, and I have never thought about it until this thread took a turn from marshmallows to cookies. I did see your idea with puff pastry scraps. I have a lot of such scraps in my freezer, but would want to make sure they were thoroughly baked--puff pastry can be fairly moist (and tough when dry). How did your use of it turn out? I think a shortbread layer would be a tasty addition to a bonbon, but I'm not sure, off the top of my head, how I would bake it to be very thin without burning it.

That's what I meant when I said, "Covering such items with cocoa butter/chocolate is essential."

In reference to Ewald Notter mentioned above: He calls for mixing melted cocoa butter and melted chocolate with crushed feuilletine, then rolling this very thin between plastic sheets. When it is firm, you cut it into pieces that will fit into the mold you are using. It is very tricky (1) to get it thin enough, (2) to cut it the right size without breaking it into shards, and (3) to get the ganache level just right so that the "cracker" will fit on top without extending too far up (this was discussed earlier in this thread). Covering such items with cocoa butter/chocolate is essential or they become soft and gummy. Others in the forum have mentioned incorporating shortbread and other cookies.

But do we want to know what additive allowed it to live forever?

It's the piping that is the crucial part. I am not ready to report yet, but I tried another batch, taking it to one of the Callebaut temps mentioned earlier (235F, which is a bit lower than many recipes specify), and it worked perfectly, piping without any mess at all. But I need to make sure this will set up and also be able to replicate this with a larger batch of marshmallow--the small amount allowed the mixture to cool down to 90F rather quickly, and this won't happen with more marshmallow. So no declaration of "mission accomplished" yet. More to come.... I am interested in adding a cookie as you described, but I'm not sure what cookies do to shelf life (possible molding?). Ewald Notter makes what he calls a cracker that consists of feuilletine and chocolate, and feuilletine contains wheat, so I suppose there is no problem. I would love to hear from someone about that issue (or non-issue).

Thanks, @Kerry Beal for digging out the Callebaut details. Once I converted the temps to Fahrenheit, I was quite surprised at the final temp for the marshmallow (40C/104F). Since that's about 10 degrees (F) above the temp at which dark chocolate will melt, I'm wondering how they avoided ruining the shells.

I am reporting on yesterday's experiment with making the marshmallow, leaving it to firm up in a slab, then cutting into rounds to be placed in a mold: By this morning the marshmallow was nicely set. I finally got the slab separated from the oiled foil specified in the RecipeGullet recipe for strawberry marshmallows (note: oiling the foil lightly is not sufficient), dusted it with confectioner's sugar and cornstarch (could not find potato starch at the store), then used the Ateco round cutter (dusted each time with the sugar-starch mixture). The cutting went surprisingly well, producing nice cylinders of marshmallow, which also tasted good (except for the unpleasantness of the cornstarch). I had a "geodesic dome" mold into which they fit perfectly. That mold has close to perpendicular sides, so no gap--this would not work with a demisphere or wide dome as the marshmallow is too firm and springy to fill in any gaps. The cylinders were, however, too tall--I had overestimated how much I could compress the marshmallow, which springs back a lot. So I cut the cylinders in half (a "demi-cylinder"?), and they fit with room for another filling of some sort that complements the strawberry (my feeling is that marshmallow needs to be accompanied by something else to be interesting). Initial conclusion: This process works, but the marshmallows have to be made the right height to start (cutting them in half is a terrible job). The process is very labor-intensive and would therefore be feasible only for very small batches (or only for someone who is happy with extremely detailed work). Basically, not something I will likely try again. My experience is similar to what @Bentley concluded with his Swedish recipe--the marshmallow needs to be piped directly into the shell. Now I guess I need a class at the Callebaut Academy where Kerry saw this being done successfully!

Did you see the making of the marshmallow? I'm wondering to what state it was cooked--less than usual or until it was stiff?