pastryani

Hey guys - I saw an episode of cake masters where they were using edible lacquer spray to get an amazing shine on fondant. I'm assuming this product can be used on chocolate as well, particularly chocolate that has been marred with fingerprints and has lost its natural tempered sheen. My question is, in the absence of this lacquer spray, could one use their airbrush to spray out tempered cocoa butter and achieve the same shiny result? Alternatively, could one use melted beeswax? I've read that it's edible but not sure if it would impart any flavor, or if it would leave an undesirable waxy film in the mouth, Crisco-style.

"civilians"...hahahaha!!!

You can also make your own gumpaste by adding "Tylose" (also called "CMC powder") to fondant. This will give your fondant the consistency of gumpaste so you can roll it out thinner and it will harden much faster. I might recommend buying a pack of Wilton brand fondant from Michael's (it's not much in the taste department but it'll likely be stiffer than what you would get by making it yourself). To that note, depending on how many ruffles you have to make, I believe they also sell small tubs of gumpaste, so you could save yourself a step by just getting what you need (gumpaste). To get (and keep) that ruffle effect until the gumpaste dries, I'd drape them over something (could be as simple as a paper fan made with cardstock) or even lay out some markers/pens spaced a 1/2" apart and place your ruffle over them so they don't droop (does that make sense? I can picture it but it's hard to explain...). Definitely make sure they're totally dry before adding to your cake.

Hmm then I guess this is different. See below for pics of the lime "caviar". http://www.gourmantic.com/2015/03/03/finger-limes/

These look like finger limes. If you google this you'll see pictures of the flesh inside which resembles caviar, and it's often used as a garnish. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_australasica

Double Gulp. Rob I wish I had seen this advice a year ago!!! CocoaJoe - I'm still a beginner and learning as I go. I agree with the above and would add: 1. "Small batches" can be smaller than a full tray/chocolate mold. Often times when I want to check out a design or technique, I'll fill just 6 or 8 cavities to see what it looks like before proceeding with the full mold. Also, dividing standard recipes into 1/8ths is good for trying out new things but also not having so much leftover that you're using it for ages. 2. You could take a standard (plain chocolate) candy bar like Hershey's which is already scored, break it up, and dip those pieces over and over, and eventually just melt them to reuse. 5. When you need it to be warm, it's cold. When you need it to be cold, it's warm. 6. Guittard is pretty reasonable, much more so than Valrhona I believe. Good luck and have fun!!

Oooo please take lots of pics and notes! The aw reading will be most interesting too.

Add a tablespoon of baking soda to the water - loosens them shells right up. It helps even more if you drop the eggs into already-boiling water, and as others have mentioned, the older ones are easier to peel.

Cool, thanks! I've seen that a lot recently but your lines looked so neat I thought it had to be tape. Yes I noticed the half dark/half white and thought it was a very cool effect!

Keychris - I too was wondering about the shelf life. I think this warrants an experiment where I cut open a gelatin bonbon every few days to see what's going on. As far as keeping the chocolate in temper when adding the gelatin filling, I'm not sure at what temp the gelatin would still be liquid so I'd have to experiment with that too.

Yes - definitely a cool way to integrate booze! I have a jello-shot book (never used, tich tich) and this would be a cool way to use those recipes.

Yes it is indeed a lot of gelatin! But too much and it becomes rubbery (good for gummy bears, maybe not so much for biting into a bonbon!). When you say fondant, you mean pouring fondant right? I've only ever worked with rolled fondant for cakes. I don't actually have Geert's book so will have to track down a copy to browse through. Took me a while to decipher IMB lol, but given that Italian buttercream is stable at room temp for rather long periods of time (1-2 weeks I believe), why would it have a short shelf life once inside the chocolate?

Super shiny KeyChris - nice job!! Can I ask what tape you used for the stripe? I've tried different tapes before and the CB always seems to seep through and gets under it.

Not sure about melting points, but here's a video (are we allowed to post videos?? guess i'll find out...). The gelatin magic happens at 40 seconds and you can see when it's firm he caps them. Btw - I would have thought buttercream as a filling would have a long shelf life?? Especially American buttercream as it doesn't contain eggs.

I recently came across a video where they used a gelatin-based filling for bonbon (they filled the shells using a confectionary funnel and then waited for the filling to set). I'd never heard of this before and imagine the shelf life would be pretty short. Anyone heard of this or done it? What were the results? What about filling your bonbon with buttercream? Is that odd or do people do it? I tasted a bonbon yesterday and was wondering how the "ganache" was so light and fluffy and then realized it tasted just like buttercream. I know people have mentioned "whipped ganache" but I'm not sure how that's different.

Hmm what a mystery indeed! Well thanks for inquiring with them Kerry. Perhaps we must concede then that it is indeed a custom mold. Thanks for your efforts all!

Efficient you are, Dr. Beal! Thx!!

Pastrygirl - did you ever end up having a custom mold made? Yeah I figured you'd need to order in quantity to make it worth it, so it's definitely not for me.

Wow thanks for inquiring Kerry! I love how super-sleuthing everyone is! I'd never even heard of JKV. I just went through their bar section and didn't see it so I suspect you're right about it being discontinued. The rectangular bar mold alongside this bumpy one in the Facebook picture was also not there. Ahh well!

Oh my pastrygirl - you're quite the detective!!! . Thanks for tracking this down. They're bigger than I pictured but still cool. But I guess they are custom since they're not in any of the catalogs. Btw, anyone know how much it is to design and have a custom polycarbonate mold created? Seems like it would be super pricy and not really worth it if you only wanted a couple of molds made.

Wow Kerry thanks for doing that - I hope it didn't take too long!

Yes that's where I saw it. I sent in an inquiry but so far no answer. Ooooo custom - how fancy!!

Thanks Kerry for checking. Thanks Franci - that's the first one I thought of too, but yeah that's more for ice creams/cakes.

Hmm thanks Tikidoc... but I think the silicone one is a bit wider than I'd like. Plus I like the distinct "bulbi-ness" of the original pic.

No problem, Crepes! The stainless ramekins should work fine. I was going to suggest glass bowls but wasn't sure if they'd shatter. Just be sure to oil the ramekin before adding the batter. Hmm I don't know about Chinese takeout style containers, but the batters I've seen are in plastic containers similar to large yogurt tubs. If you lift up the top lid of the fermenting batters, you'll notice that there are small holes punctured across the plastic film just for gas release. It's true that the batters will continue to ferment (and sour) as they sit, but when I purchase them I try to make sure that they're not already bulging. While I prefer a more sour taste, I also prefer to see that fermentation happen myself (as opposed to buying it already like that, especially since you don't know how long its been in that state). In Indian cooking, bitter melon is often boiled in salted water with turmeric to reduce the bitterness (though I can't help but feel that boiling the heck out of it voids many of its nutrients, in which case why suffer through eating it?!) Deep frying thin slices also does a lot for removing bitterness, and then you can make a curry out of those slices.