SchiehallionHandmade

Here in the UK we have for packaging Keylink https://www.keylink.org/ Meridian Speciality Packaging https://www.meridianspshop.com/ Home Chocolate Factory https://www.homechocolatefactory.com/ At present in the UK there is a severe shortage of packaging due to a lack of cardboard. With the virus, recycling centres have been closed, 80% of cardboard comes from recycled. So with them being shut, factories being closed and Amazon delivering everything in cardboard boxes, there is currently a shortage.

Stir the chocolate, measure issuing the ir thermometer and the probe thermometer, stick the correction figure on a label on your ir thermometer

We know our shortbread lol

Interested to see recipes with cornflour, here on the isle of Skye its always been added Semolina or ground rice. 115g butter, whip it till fluffy, beat in 55g of Caster sugar with a pinch of salt. Sift in 130g Plain flour and about 40g ground rice, fold all together. When making the biscuits don't roll out you will compress it too much, use your hands to pat down biscuit size rounds. Oven at 150C, cook depending on the shape you've used, if making fingers or a square will take longer. Always prick your dough, chill in fridge then in the oven till cooked but now brown, sprinkle caster sugar while still warm.

It worked out quite well, in dark chocolate with the spices I listed (that are used in haggis) Any hints on how to make an eggnog flavour ganache? I've also infused Christmas cake in cream and used that to make a ganache, but the flavour is still a bit subtle for Christmas cake chocolates, ill need to add something.

Its time to ramp up production for Christmas and get those festive flavours out there. Whats your favourite christmas flavour recipes to put in your ganaches? How do you get christmas pudding flavoured ganache? Last experiment I did was haggis flavoured ganache, made by using the spices of haggis (nutmeg, mace, black pepper, ground coriander with roasted pinhead oatmeal)!

Good old fashioned Scottish Cream buns, complete with mock cream (butter/icing sugar whipped) and served up to the nurses in the local hospital for afternoon tea. They were quickly inhaled :D

Different names in different places but basically toffee with bicarbonate of soda to produce a volcanic mixture. The main problem of it is shelf life as it loves to absorb water and go sticky over time. Does anyone have any recipes or ingredients to add to assist this? I take my granulated sugar to 150c along with some trimoline rather than golden syrup then add the bicarb.

Sorry when I meant using local I meant using my local Rowan berries as opposed to anything local that goes with it. Everyone seems to make jelly with it so that's why I was seeing if any other innovative uses😊 Might try the rowan with heather honey in a Callebaut Ruby chocolate.

Apart from loads of apples we also have a ton of Rowan berries. It is very sharp and bitter and most people make rowan jelly. Has anyone ever made a chocolate filling or anything in a, sweet/Confection using rowans? Wanting to use all local produce in new and interesting ways 😂 Ill be infusing my local heather to go with my local Talisker whisky (yes, no e in our whisky) 😍

The ganache, once it's made is in a sealed piping bag and stored in the fridge till needed. This is the first time in years I've had this issue im fairly sure it was how they were stored in the shop during hot weather. But I'm now adding 0.1% potassium sorbate to my ganache and tablet and will see how it goes.

Thanks all, Scottish tablet is sugar. Sugar and more sugar! Fudge is half cream. My Scottish tablet is butter, cup milk, 1kg sugar, tin of condensed milk. Beat it, pour in pan, eat! Looked back in the threads and found it had been used in the past as an anti microbial agent.

Here in the UK this summer we had a particularly hot couple of weeks (over 32c since days). It has created havoc with some of my chocolates, tablet and fudge. I have chocolate lollys filled with a caramel ganache go mouldy inside 2 weeks. My tablet and fudge had a dark mould starting after a month. In the past my shelf life of 3 months has been fine. I am considering adding some microbial control to my products, I've been suggested adding 0.4% of potassium sorbate, used in many other products already, aka E202. Does anyone have any experience in using product to control microbial growth or using this as a preservative?

Aircon, you need a steady max temperature for chocolate making, hot summer has hampered me here in the UK this year.

2.5kg bags available online here in the UK. Got a bag, not done much with it yet but its been a hot summer so not so much production ongoing.

I found this tape on amazon, works well worth dome moulds

Found some of this 3m vinyl tape 471+ on UK amazon for trying to make stripes and shapes. I don't currently use a spray gun, it's coloured cocoa butter and a gloved finger lol. Flavour is a Honeybush Pumpkin Chai tea ganache (looks like it's available elsewhere apart from UK)

For bubbles, you can use a vibrating table to knock out the bubbles. Forget about buying an expensive chocolate one, I bought a dentists one (used for fillings) for about £30 on ebay. Smaller but does the same job.

Thanks all for your suggestions. It looks like a small paper icing bag is the way ahead. I'm using the same chocolate I use for the bars, Callebaut. Yes, I'm having to write it back to front, handwriting style, as said it's just going to have to take practise. Or get the wife to do it lol.

Customer wanting me to produce handwritten "I love Jamie Fraser" (some Outlander nonsense lol) on chocolate bars. Apart from my handwriting being terrible I'm struggling to write it on without making a mess. I've put chocolate in a oipi g bag and cut a small hole, but it is inconsistent in coming out. Any tips or tools to be able to write more consistently? In UK.

I run a hairdryer over the mould before capping. Then once the capping chocolate is poured, place a acetate sheet over the mould and use the scraper to scrape out excess chocolate from under the sheet and leave to set. I have no issues with my home made Isle of Skye Sea Salt salted caramel.Apart from when I overfill lol

Cut strips of orange peel and infuse in cream to get the orange flavour in. Make ganache with white chocolate infused cream and champagne. Use ganache to roll into balls, can dip in white chocolate or decorate

Well I'm up on Skye :) have you ever been down to Cocoa Black in Peebles? I've done 2 courses there with Ruth Hinks.

Your earth is excellent, I have just started with colours, I did do an interesting Scottish blue chocolate but used non fat soluble colouring, so when people ate it it turned their tongue blue. I quoted Braveheart and said it was supposed to do that lol. I definitely want to try and improve my planets.

I see you are using silicon moulds. If you wish your final product to have a shiny finish you really need to use polycarbonate moulds. These need to be perfectly clean before use, the smoother the inside of your mould, the smoother the surface of your finished chocolates.