pastryani

Thanks @Avachocolate and @Kerry Beal!

Does anyone have any recommendations for patisseries in both Paris and Switzerland? (Besides the usual suspects - Jacques Genin, Pierre Herme, Laduree) What about equipment shops in either place (think chocolate molds and specialty baking equipment)? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. 😊

I might have been, but I already have the Wybauw books and am looking to sell those too. 😁

Yes they are.

When trying out a new recipe, I prefer to halve or even sometimes quarter the formula, so I’ve dealt with many “1/2 egg” situations. If I want to use the exact recipe, what I do is beat the egg really, really well so that there are no visible goops of white, weigh it (I use a scale that measures to the tenth but you don’t need that), and then just use half. The remaining half usually goes into an equally tiny cookie batch, or the world’s smallest portion of scrambled eggs. 🤗

Dulce is super delicious but I've found that it can overpower some more subtle flavors (though for pecan caramel I think the flavors would be complementary). Just for kicks you could try making a small amount of filling with both white and dulcey and see which you like better.

Thanks @Lisa Shock and @Kerry Beal. I'll give tempering a try as the CB is already in a small container (though it might be a good idea to check the actual bottle which has never been heated). It's the first time this has happened.. Good that it was only a test batch.

Yes all the same temp, not tempered with silk bec the amounts are so tiny. I don't think I overheated it, but if I did, can this be saved or is it caput?

See the orange cocoa butter in the pic below? Anyone know why it separated and became "crackly"? It was handled the same way as the other ones which didn't do that.

AMEN!! I used to love decorating cakes but definitely don’t miss the anxiety that goes along with the whole stacking part of it.

Lol my pleasure. Missed you at the workshop this year.

Jim - if you're looking for a smaller round cutter, it looks like there's a 1/2" metal one available: https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=432&trng=fgle&gclid=CjwKCAjw9e3YBRBcEiwAzjCJuq4O4zynb7L7wA6ksb_eElxsxIcAMQQMA4ECPpRYwnNnK0iunglDpxoCk8EQAvD_BwE

Jim - this might be a silly idea, but instead of cutting the cookies when warm, could you bake them in a silicone mold that was the size of your bonbon? So if your bonbon was square, then maybe you could use something like this: https://www.amazon.com/X-Haibei-Square-Chocolate-Silicone-Supplies/dp/B06VV32WZ1/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1528441125&sr=8-3&keywords=small+silicone+molds+for+candy&dpID=51HFDjZ84eL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch I’m not sure how easy it would be to portion out the dough into these squares though, so it might actually be more troublesome than your current method.

@keychris and @jbates - thx for the pics. They both look like this CW 1854 mold: http://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/home/chocolate-molds/c378160713/c378157546/p17741070.html The one I’d posted about is by Cabrellon and is very similar, but instead of half spheres it’s got domes. I think I like the CW one better.

Next time don’t throw them out. A giant pop rock could make for an entertaining (and really sweet) bath bomb.