parameda

Hey, Pastrygirl. Yes, I tried it with half heavy cream and half milk, but I'm afraid that it will decrease truffles shelf life. I'm only using 100% hazelnut paste, a bit of glucose and I roll truffles using dark cocoa powder before dipping - it gives them a certain flavour I really like. I'll try making softer gianduja and thank you for the tips - salt sound very interesting. Rajala, there must be some difference in the viscosity of the paste, like Jim pointed out - mine is quite thick

Thanks a bunch, Jim. I'll give it a try.

That's exactly it - I want that nutty flavour to stand out. I only made gianduja once with equal parts of nut paste and tempered milk chocolate. Do you think I could make it with more nut paste, so that it comes out softer?

Thanks, Jim. I’ll follow your advice and see if I can make it work. I will surely post updates since there’s no a lot of info on nut pastes

Curls, I tried that, but it's somewhat dry and too firm. I would like it to be a bit softer and to have this silkiness of ganache.

I'm trying to make a firmer ganache for truffles, but can't get the ratios of hazelnut paste, milk chocolate and cream right. I have Wybauw's and Notter's books, but they don't mention any ratios when it comes to nut pastes. If I reduce the amount of cream to make it firmer, the ganache separates and when I emulsify it well - it's too soft for hand rolling. I don't want to use liqueur, just pure hazelnut paste 1:1 to milk chocolate, but cream is the problem. Can somebody advise me, please?

Hi, I was wondering if someone would be willing to share basic caramel ganache proportions (caramel to chcolate). I made the one from Grewelling's book but I could barely taste caramel in it. I would like something with a bit more caramel flavour. Thanks

thank you, I'll try it

Thanks Karry. So, how much citric acid do you add? I read somewhere that people also use salt for this but I'm a bit suspicious about that. Has anyone tried?

I'm using Belcolade white chocolate discs

Is there a way to reduce the white chocolate ganache sweetness? I made some fillings with raspberries and some with banana but I don't like the intrusiveness of white choc. Can anyone help, please?

Nothing in particular, just tested my chocolate and that was it. If it helps, I know there's a test with ice and water on the net or you could contact companies which are specialized in calibrating thermometers.

For past two days I tried every single thing you guys mentioned and it worked. Apparently, my "calibrated" thermometer wasn't as accurate as I thought and my moulds also needed proper cleaning and polishing. Just wanted to thank you all for the help.

it's a brand new and it has been calibrated in accordance to HACCP

yes, I have IR thermometer I recently bought

ok, I tried it on higher working temp, as Kerry suggested and the choc wasn't tempered. I was just thinking, could it be residual cacao butter on my moulds? I don't wash them, just rinse with warm water and polish with cotton cloth. Those streaks are not white but yellowish. I appreciate your help and please have patient since I've just registered and restricted to two posts per day

Sure. Double boiler till 45C, then seed and stir, stir, stir untill it reaches 30-31C and heat it again to 32C. These are Belcolade recommended temps for the type I work with. I've also tried with ice water and microwave and the end results are always the same. Looks tempered (I always test it), demould like a charm, but those streaks are driving me crazy.

Hi, I'm a novice in chocolate making and I'm having difficulties with tempering. I've read everything there was to read and have tried various methods but nothing worked. Now I begin to think that my couverture is the culprit. I work with Belcolade noir, it looks well tempered and demould perfectly but after several hours it starts to develop yellowish streaks. My working area is properly heated (20-22C) and there's no draught. My couverture, however, loooks off. Could it be the reason for lack of shine and streaks on my chocolate? This is what my couverture looks like: