Jim D.

In some cases bakeries are, of course, using canned filling. Maybe they canned it themselves, but alas, not always.

20 pies in 8 hours in 1 oven? I am in awe. I hope you do have a standing reservation at a nearby rest home. Do you have days when you are not baking? If so, you could use those to make and freeze filled pies, then just bake them in time for market day. I think experts on pie-making all agree that freezing them is fine. This would, I assume, allow for more efficiency--you can prepare the peaches and assemble as many pies as possible, then move on to cherries, apples, etc. This is assuming you also have freezer space. By the way, if you are going to keep them frozen for any period of time beyond a few days, I would also vacuum-seal them first. I am very pleased with my Weston vacuum sealer for keeping chocolate and also meat--no more icy crystals or dried-out meat. The model I have takes bags up to 15" wide. Sometimes, if it's a delicate item, I just seal the bag without using the vacuum. Another source of info on your issue might be fellow baking vendors at the market. I don't know about your farmers' market, but in my city I don't detect any competitiveness and all seem happy to share information. Good luck.

Kerry, But how would it taste? I can't quite imagine that replacing the dairy taste of cream with oil would be palatable. What about using butter--or would that overwhelm the purée's taste? I know that butter ganaches often end up with a weak fruit taste.

I guess I forgot about all the alien things floating around a kitchen (not my kitchen, I prefer to imagine). Even when the truffles are sealed in chocolate, I would not be comfortable with the possibilities (though I have to add that sometimes I am not comfortable with those who take a month to eat a box of 15 of my chocolates--all made from experts' recipes--since anything will mold given enough time, even, as I recently discovered, refrigerated, bottled, very acidic salsa). But I do like both of your alternative ideas, especially including some Dulcey, something I have been wanting to try. But the flour + liquid issue would still be there. Maybe just Dulcey, cream, butter, toasted pecans, and cocoa nibs--would that convey the chocolate chip cookie taste, or is the baking of the cookie an essential element of the taste? I've never used nibs. Are they somewhat bitter, like a very high percent dark chocolate?

But I can't find anything in the ingredient list that is at all unusual for a chocolate filling except the flour. Do you see any reason for refrigeration--except that the recipe doesn't call for tempered chocolate?

Interesting, but the only ingredient they could implicate--and that seems to be just a last guess--is the flour, and my roux idea would make sure the flour is cooked.

I am always looking for new fillings for chocolates and came across one for cookie dough truffles on Ecole Chocolat's recipe page. It calls for chocolate chip cookie dough rolled into balls then covered with chocolate. Not my cup of tea perhaps, but I think it might go over well with my "audience" (especially if I add some toasted pecans--after all, I am in the U.S. South). This is a dough with flour, melted butter, cream, brown sugar, cocoa nibs, etc. (no eggs). Given flour's unpleasant taste when uncooked, I am suspicious. Before I order cocoa nibs and start experimenting, I would appreciate some advice: Do you think it would work if I first made a roux with the butter and flour, then added the other ingredients? And do you foresee any shelf life issues with this filling? Any help would be welcome.

I had a curious problem with my KitchenAid, which is now probably 20 years old. After it was in use for a long (but not hugely long) time it would drip oil/grease into whatever I was mixing. I contacted KA and got a very unsatisfactory answer: "Don't worry, the grease is food-safe." It was a gift, and as I had no idea where it came from--and didn't really use it that much--I just went on using it, watching carefully if the mixing time was substantial. The dripping has mostly stopped now, but occurred again a few weeks ago. So my recommendation would be to watch for this issue. Regardless of how safe the grease is, I suspect you don't want it in your baked goods--or, in my case, in my Montélimar (white) nougat.

This is probably not the kind of thing you are thinking of, but I made chocolates using Jean-Pierre Wybauw's recipe for a saffron ganache. Although the spice was used only to infuse the cream--and only a tiny amount was called for--I absolutely hated it. I do realize that it is undoubtedly my unsophisticated palate that is at fault, but all I could think of was iodine. Maybe a cheesecake would be better--with the tiniest quantity of saffron. I have lots of saffron in my cupboard (once worked with a historian of Spain who brought it back directly from Spain in great quantities), but at this point I restrict its use to seafood and some Indian dishes.

I love the look of that praline. Do you mind telling how you got the stripe effect?

RWood, I would love to know what the fillings are for the pieces you photographed--when you have recovered from the experience, that is. Jim D.

I too would recommend Ewald Notter's The Art of the Chocolatier in addition to Greweling. Notter covers most of the same information, but I find it always helpful to have two points of view. And I think Notter's recipes for ganaches are definitely intriguing, a bit more "outside the box."

Matthew, So how did the pina colada ganache turn out? Did you have the same experience I did--the ganache was very fluid at first, then became very firm? And did the pineapple flavor come through successfully? Jim

Matthew, As I understand it, there are two types of coconut oil, deodorized and non-deodorized. With pina colada, you want the coconut taste, so it's the second type. I am sure cream of coconut could be substituted or coconut purée. Yes, coconut oil is waxy--in fact, when it is cold, it acts just like a container of wax. But when mixed in a ganache, this quality disappears. As for the pineapple, I pressed the pineapple between paper towels and then processed it. I started to strain it, but all I was getting was liquid, so I just used it as it came from the food processor. It could be reduced, of course, but in my experiments I tried canned pineapple, and the flavor was significantly less, and that's what you would get if you cooked the fresh pineapple. In general, I have found that many of the commercial frozen purées have more of the consistency of juice, so I left in the pineapple pulp and don't have a problem with the texture it adds. I just returned from the party where the pina colada chocolates were served, and they seemed to be a big hit. I don't think the "pina colada" name hurts! Jim

After some of the items you have made, a compliment from you means a lot. For the pina colada, let me refer you to a recent posting of mine asking for assistance in understanding what was happening: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/63097-ganache-tips-techniques/page-17 -- it is post #492 and includes the ingredients. My results are not perfect, but I am still working on it. As Kerry Beal suggested in her reply to my post, the coconut oil is probably the key to the issue. Jim

I made some chocolates for the high school graduation party of a friend's daughter. The total for the batch was about 225 pieces. The hazelnut and the lemon were specially requested. The image is of a guide I made to tell guests what they were eating. Usually I try to decorate the outside to suggest what the ganache is, but in some of these I decided just to go for a festive look.

Ever since Tikidoc mentioned (on this forum) making a piña colada flavored ganache, I have been trying to come up with a recipe. I found one online and have been working with it (the author credits Peter Greweling for the recipe, but it is not in the Greweling book that I have--and I am suspicious as it calls for "white chocolate chips"). I am using white chocolate as a base and am aiming for a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to liquefiers (Greweling and Notter call for 2.5:1 for white chocolate, though many of their recipes do not adhere to this ratio). So here are the ingredients: Chocolate: 340g white chocolate, melted 34g cocoa butter, melted Liquefiers: 76g cream 90g pineapple purée 20g coconut rum Other Ingredient: 84g coconut oil Excluding the coconut oil from the calculations (as one does with butter in a regular cream ganache), the ratio is 2:1 (the cocoa butter is not in the original recipe, but I added it to bring the chocolate up to the amount needed without adding additional flavor). But when I finished the ganache and gave it time to firm up (this was a test), it started in a very liquid state but got very firm in a short time. So firm, in fact, that I was able to add more pineapple to get a better flavor, and it still was quite firm, probably more than one wants in a piped ganache. Can anyone explain what might have occurred to make this ganache so firm? Did the coconut oil do something to the mixture? (it was liquid when I added it). The flavor, by the way, was great, and if I can add more pineapple and rum, that would be a bonus. But I'm wondering if this was a fluke. Any insights would be welcome.

Thanks for that helpful chart and the insights. Do you have one of those meters to test Aw? I understand the impact of substituting invert sugar and sorbitol for glucose, but I'm not clear why reducing the chocolate would help. Can you explain? Thanks.

That recipe is quite something. I love the poster's note at the end: "This recipe takes some time." To put it mildly. It does sound intriguing, but I don't quite understand how the top crust works. If you drape it over a bowl and bake it "until deep golden brown," won't it be too convex in shape to fit over the apples without breaking?

I have been very interested in the report on this year's workshop. I don't know how accurate it is, but one of the impressions I have gotten from the posts is that there was quite a bit of overturning the tried-and-true chocolate rules. Some examples: Jean-Marie's method of mixing ganache which involved deliberately causing it to break, the washing of molds with soap in a dishwasher, the cleaning of molds with isopropyl, melting butter into a ganache rather than waiting to add it later, and using (as Kerry put it so cleverly--given the effect of this additive) "a shit load of sorbitol." I'm just wondering if those at the workshop got this same impression or if I just happened to notice these examples.

I asked about the brand because of the temperature control issue. I would want to find one that maintains temp (more or less) accurately. So many devices that have a temp control seem to offer just an approximation of what the dial says.

Would you mind saying what brand/model of dehydrator you use? Thanks.

Excellent advice!

Kerry, I had to laugh at the Jean-Marie/Valrhona method of mixing ganache--causing the fat to separate out deliberately. I don't know if you remember or not, but you and I discussed difficulties I had with Valrhona's Opalys white chocolate and its tendency to split in a ganache. So now when I encounter this supposed failure, I can just say it is the way it was meant to be! Jim Dutton

Someone (can't recall whether it was on this forum or elsewhere) said the hard ice cream on the sides of the canister can be prevented by holding the dasher firmly against the edge of the canister. I briefly tried this once, but it did not seem to work. I suppose the issue of the firm layer occurs because there had to be a design compromise in not having the dasher fit so tightly against the canister that the canister would not turn easily. Thanks to paulraphael for the suggestion on cleaning the dasher into the canister. I have been spooning everything immediately into the storage container (which will go into the freezer shortly), but the container is at room temperature, so I am getting unnecessary melt.