ChristysConfections
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Posts posted by ChristysConfections
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@Kerry Beal Wow! You received a response so quickly! Thank-you for updating me with the amount out sugar required for the recipe.
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1 hour ago, gfron1 said:
This is amazing to me. I don't have her subscription but have attended a few workshops with her and have a number of her recipes. My critique of her is that she over-relies on additives that lend shelf life, which, while good for sales is not so good for the human body. Specifically I'm referring to her use of sorbitol. I know she was strongly challenged by a student in a workshop once so maybe that has changed.
and FWIW, I get So Good each issue. I'd say 10% is chocolate and confection, and most of it is stuff that we've seen elsewhere including the chefs' social media.
@gfron1 It's good to have another perspective! Thank-you. Maybe it was at an earlier time in Coppel's career that my acquaintance had that experience. Or perhaps the class they took was created with the intention of making creative pieces that are meant to be consumed quickly. I haven't talked to them in a long time so not sure if I will be able to follow up. I will be sure not to write her recipes off. I also appreciate your note about confectionary content in the So Good magazines.
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1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:
Sugar missing there too! You need to write to Grupo Vilbo and let them know the error. I'll find out who you need to contact.
@Alleguede found a very similar recipe that used 355 grams of cream and that used 215 grams of sugar. I found one somewhat similar with 350 grams of sugar. Either way you are going to cook it after to 106º C so the water content will be the same.
@Kerry Beal When I discovered the omission, I emailed the general contact on the So Good website with the information. I have not received any word from them so far. If you have a better or more direct email, I will be happy to reach out to them again using the updated contact information.
To you and @Alleguede I appreciate the recommended sugar amounts!
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A brief follow up on this:
@Kerry BealIf at any point you are able to spare the time, would you possibly be willing to check your copy of So Good Vol 18? As aforementioned, I purchased the recipes 3 book. It incluse Susanna Yoon's recipe for Oolong Soba Cha caramel, but there is no sucrose listed in the ingredients. I am wondering if you would be able to check if issue #18 actually has the sucrose in the recipe. I realize I can pretty easily take the tea infusion and incorporate it into another caramel recipe, but hoped I might try it as originally written first.
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Kerry and Alleguede,
Thanks for the feedback!
I figured that the content is not confection-dominant, but I saw some issues with contributors like Susanna Yoon and Melissa Coppel and thought maybe there were volumes with a chocolate-heavy focus. I do like pastry and it would be fun to have those recipes to play with, but it's true that I would not utilize that content as much. I bought the So Good Recipes 3 and then one of the recipes I actually bought if for has an error in it and is missing the amount of sucrose needed for the recipe, lol. I should probably let them know.
I do have the Kriss Harvey subscription and enjoy it. The new Callebaut editions will be on their way soon. I have heard mixed things about Melissa Coppel in my circles - I believe it is largely because some of her content is created without a regard for shelf life. However, her classes and recipes look fun. If you subscribe and find it valuable, do let me know! Maybe I will save up for a subscription.
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Hi All,
I am wondering if many people around these forums subscribe to or have several issues of So Good magazine? For those that do, would you consider it a worthy investment, especially if one's interest/area of focus is chocolates and confections? Are there particular issues you have collected that have a heavier focus on chocolatier techniques and recipes?
I am looking for some more educational resources to add to my library of professional chocolate making tomes.
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Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I am not familiar with most of these suppliers. I love the variety of beans sold by a lot of these websites. I will definitely be ordering a fun variety of beans to try this time around. I am really grateful for all the feedback!
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I want to hear all about your vanilla bean experiences!
I just ran out of beans and before I order my next batch, I would love to hear if you prefer one brand/grower over the competition.
In the past, I have always bought bourbon vanilla beans from Neilson Massey. They are easy to come by where I live and reasonably priced (for vanilla anyway).
This time, I am considering Valrhona's sister company and their Norohy beans. I have also seen that Kriss Harvey endorses Laie Vanilla company in Hawaii. I would love to try those Hawaii-grown beans, but they would cost me about $40 extra just to ship to Canada, making the substantially more pricey than the local options (Neilson and Norohy).
Have you tried all or any of these? Can you detect a difference in the flavor or the quality of the beans? Are there any other options you would recommend. I would love yo hear about it!
Christy
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I thought it was funny that I couldn’t find it as a bar. I guess that would be why, haha.
These days it’s just chocolate making for fun and not for business, so I think that may be why it’s harder for me to justify. Maybe I’ll find it around sometime!
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Thanks for that feedback, @Rajala- I get the sense that it’s what I’m looking for in a chocolate. I thought about getting some from Chocosphere, but it looked like it was going to be expensive to ship it to Canada (maybe more so because I wanted it quickly). I’ll explore that option again.
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Hi Fellow Chocolate-Loving Folk,
I’m wondering if anyone has experience with Valrhona’s Orizaba milk chocolate? What do you think of it and how does it compare to Jivara (my go-to) or your other favourite milk chocolates? I noticed Kriss Harvey mention that it’s his preferred chocolate for enrobing/shells because of its “plain taste.” I’m enticed by the description of it being very milk-forward in flavor. I want to make a saffron pistachio piece and like the idea of pairing it with a very milky chocolate with a less assertive chocolate flavor. It seems to be generally unpopular in my neck of the woods and my supplier doesn’t carry it so sourcing it has been a challenge (they can special order, but I don’t need that much).
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@Jim D. Thank-you for the feedback about the course! It’s good to know that I could take it for the learning experience and not have to commit to the certificate. I’ll take some time to review this thread. Definitely sounds like something to explore more once the holidays are over.
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To follow up on the book, @Rajala - you say it’s still good for learning the technique? It’s unfortunate that it is of a low quality, but is the information quality? I was looking at getting the book, but I can’t find a copy for sale at the moment. I want it to learn technique and was going to ask if anyone here is selling their copy (say they’ve taken the course and feel the no longer need it). I want to take the course, but am unable to budget that much time and money this season. So I thought the book would be a good way to support Dubovik sharing his knowledge and also learn some new decorations.
ETA: now that I read back a little, maybe the Savour online would be an affordable way to start.
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I am trying to find boxes like these pictured below, with matching candy trays and candy pads. They are about the size of a piece of paper and about 2-2 1/2 inches high. Haven’t had any luck finding them domestically. Anyone else use something like these? How do you store/package your bulk chocolates?
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Thanks for the reply, Kerry. You have the answers to everything, it seems. And I am grateful!
I’m going to a European market for some speculoos cookies so I will ask around for dextrose, otherwise a brew store will be easy to find.
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I am now in possession of Ramon Morató’s Chocolate book. I am very intruigued to try applying his formula to my recipes and see what happens. I know there was another thread about this, but have other’s applied his formula with positive results?
I want to try some of his recipes as well. And that means I am looking for dextrose and possibly sorbitol. Does anyone know of a Canadian source for these items? I could order from the USA as well, though it is less preferable.
Many thanks!
Christy
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1 hour ago, Jim D. said:
It seemed like a middle ground between airbrushes like the Badger, Paasche, Iwata, etc., and the Fuji.
My thoughts exactly! Thanks, @Jim D.! I should have thought to tag them.
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Any updates on the results of the Grex brush from Chef Rubber? Thinking about either that or a Paasche until the Fuji package is in my price range.
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Hi All,
I think this is a long shot, but I'll put it out there. I'm wondering if anyone in the Greater Vancouver area has an EZ Temper that they would be willing and able to loan/rent out for a couple days or up to a week? I am super curious to try it out and if the results are as wonderful as I expect I'm hoping I can find it in the business budget.
Feel free to message me privately.
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I have not made an olive oil ganache myself. However, I think I recall coming across one in the book Couture Chocolate by William Curley. I am not home right now, but I will try to look it up for you.
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On 2017-04-13 at 9:59 PM, kevnick80 said:
What about this? How would these be recreated?
These chocolates are so neat! I love seeing the fantastically creative designs other chocolatiers come up with. I am constantly torn between the old fashioned natural chocolate look and then the newer, modern cocoa butter painted masterpieces. I think my ideal selection would have a bit of both. Balance.
I feel like decoration above would be easier if you could get custom stickers made in that shape and size (ones that do not leave a sticky reside and peel off easily - the glue would probably have to be considered food safe too, but I have no idea if masking tape is either). I think it would take way too much time to cut pieces of tape if you wanted to do a large amount. But I will definitely be trying it at home with masking tape.
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Hello Fellow Chocolatiers!
I am working on calculated appropriate prices for my handmade chocolates. It's absolutely shocking that after 10 years of making chocolates, I never really dared to delve into the nitty-gritty cost of goods. And when I worked at a chocolate shop that was never a concern placed on my plate.
So, I have attemped (with my horrible lack of excel spreadsheet skills) to figure out my cost of goods (including labor and packaging). Somehow, I must be doing something terribly wrong, as my costs worked out to be about $1.50 to make ONE PIECE. That seems outrageous! Granted, that did include using locally made bean-to-bar chocolate from a small producer. My business-partner-to-be is helping me sort it out (thankful that she and excel have a much better relationship). However, I need some information that is don't have at the moment and thought you guys might be able to help fill in the gaps.
1. For the sake of comparison, with cost of ingredients and labour (no packaging) how much does is cost you to produce one chocolate?
2. For those that make the fairly standard 22.5mm square enrobed chocolates, are you able to tell me how much and individual ganache square weighs pre-enrobing? How about post-enrobing? I know how much my ganache cost, but I don't know how many grams per piece to allot for the enrobed chocolate coating. And I am not in production right now so I can't test it out. If you can share it would be so helpful.
ETA: can anyone tell me the same for one of their molded chocolates?
Obviously there are variables like the height of the ganache and the size of the mould, but at least it would give me an idea.
many thanks!
Christy
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10 hours ago, pastrygirl said:
Is that a nice way of saying they use crap chocolate?
If they're not using premium ingredients, they might not want to pay for premium labor, but who knows.
Bahahaha! That is what it sounds like. The chocolate they want to use is not bad. I personally want to try using local bean-to-bar chocolate which increases my costs significantly. They are actually open to it though, but more likely as a separate line from their regular product. I'm not sure what I think about having two separate lines of chocolates under the same roof. We'll chat about it more. I think my goal would be to merge our brands down the road if I plan to take over the business when they retire.
Maybe it's not polite to talk about it, but it is the topic of this forum so I guess I'll be transparent - we decided on $20/hr for the slow summer months with the expectation of a raise as the sales increase and the busier season comes. I think it's reasonable.
The low pay for pastry work sounds frustrating. But you're right, it's easy to see how the cost add up. I think collectively pastry chefs, chocolatiers, artisans need to charge more for their products to actually have reasonable profit margins. It just doesn't really help put you at an competitive advantage. We kinda need everyone to be on board and do it.
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Thank-you, @Tri2Cook!
You're right - it's not much of a stretch at all to explain how our chocolates are different and possibly targeting a different market. I just suck at business talk, haha. But it is something I am happy to learn. I am just moving from a home business to a commercial space (only production, no retail space of my own) but I'm basically starting fresh. I worked for other chocolatiers before and my own business was more of a hobby than anything else. I am trying to get my product out there in retail shops now (not the greatest to split the tiny profit margin with others, but at least it is exposure).
Honestly, I love the owner of the shop that wants to hire me. They are a lovely place and because I would possibly even take it over when the owner retires, I would LOVE to just pour my heart and soul into their chocolates entirely. However, at this point, our visions for the product are a little different. Not bad different, but just different. So unless we could harmonize those visions, I still feel compelled to carve my own path as well.
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Fruit Purees in Canada
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
@Dark side
I can't speak for the island specifically, but if you have occasion to come to the mainland, there is Chef's Warehouse in Richmond, BC. It's where I usually go when I need purées, chocolate, glucose, etc. They usually sell B2B, but if you call they are typically pretty good about helping you out. As it truly is a warehouse, you have to call and order ahead of time. You could also call and ask if they do any business on the Island. The rep that used to deal with in my area moved to the Island and is working there with the same company, I believe.