artiesel

Will this recipe work w fresh nuts or if you leave the nuts whole?

Has anyone successfully made candied chestnuts (marrons glace) at home which even remotely resemble the professional ones you get from Europe? I've tried making them using RTE Chinese chestnuts from Costco with varying success: One batch became leathery after being simmered in (what started out as) simple syrup which had its sucrose concentration gradually increased. I have also tried soaking the chestnuts in hot water prior to beginning the candying process. The nuts, once again, developed a tough skin after a few days. To reverse the tough skins I added more water to the syrup, broke the nuts up into pieces and simmered them gently for a few hours. While some pieces have a tough skin, many of them have taken on a candied texture. Should any further attempts to candy chestnuts be attempted using the method of slowly simmering them in simple syrup? Please share any feedback ypu may have. Thanks!

Does anyone know if using a high-protein flour, rather than AP flour, in a quickbread formula could create a gummy texture as a result of the protein slightly developing as it absorbs water? I was attempting to reduce water activity in the formula by using flour with 14% protein rather than 8-10% protein. Am I out in left field on this one?

Hello, My question is this... Is there a company that manufactures an automated machine capable of wrapping cube-shaped caramels and chocolates??? And would such a machine also be capable of wrapping large (3-4 oz.) rectangular chocolate bars or would such a product require a flow wrapping machine? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Glad I could help!

It's been a week since I heard from the other party and I would like to ask if you're still interested in the books??? $150 plus shipping costs.

Ok, thanks

Yes they are. I just got another offer today, though. Would you be able to pay $200.00 plus shipping for the lot?

DOH!!!!!!!

Any chance you're interested in bartering them for some of Wybauw's book?? I have Great Chocolate Volumes 1, 2 and 4

Are the molds still available?

THE BOOKS ARE SOLD I have Volumes 1 ,2 and 4 of Jean-Pierre Wybauw's Great Chocolate books are for sale. The books are in great shape! There is some tape on the corner of the front of volume 1 that I used to keep it together after a drop. Volume 1 is also autographed by the author (See pics below). I'm asking $150 for the lot OBO. Let me know if interested or if you have questions

Wow!!! Good Stuff!!! Thank you very much!

It doesn't have enough chocolate flavor. I'm going to replace the 70% chocolate with chocolate liquor. I think what I need to do is rework the formula with a higher moister content to offset the amount of butter and the chocolate liquor and maintain the soft texture.

I need to clarify Kerry... Have you made the cream recipes from that book? I've made a test batch of vanilla creams that I really liked, cut them into squares with a guitar and enrobed them in both 70% dark and 40% milk chocolates. I'm still working on a chocolate cream formula that I'm happy with.

You've made these creams before, have you?

I've seen recipes like the one I linked to previously, and I found one recipe for chocolate buttercreams while watching a YouTube video. Both recipes seem to be flavored fondant sugar I even have an old French recipe for fruit puree flavored fondant which I am certain could be converted into a butter cream style filling.

I suppose it's chocolate bon bons with a buttercream filling. NOT butter mousse or butter ganache, but something like this... https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/vanilla-butter-cream-recipe-1940569

Has anyone ever worked with or made buttercream candies? As far as I can tell they appear to be simply fondant sugar with the addition of butter. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I work at a small business with about 25 employees where we make chocolates, popcorn and caramels. In capacity as head chocolatier I have to work with our facilities supervisor to develop a food safety testing plan for the facility. Right now we are developing a plan to do the following: swab with ATP detectors to see if bacterial activity is present, test for Aerobic Plate Count bacteria (APC), and swabbing for the presence of nut proteins to verify our cleaning protocols are sufficient to eliminate nut allergens and test the floor drains for the presence of listeria. Does anyone have any experience with food safety testing in chocolate plants?? If so, is there anything else that you think we need to be testing for?

LOL!!! Well, yes, since I was still in pastry school the packaging was just a cellophane bag with a twist tie. A far cry from a professional packaging job.

Turns out that I was just assembling the whole thing wrong. It's working just fine now! lol

My plan is to use fresh whites mixed with egg white powder for vanilla marshmallows & egg white powder rehydrated in fruit puree. I realize that the hot syrup will act as a kill step for bacteria and result in a low Aw value. The idea of using the potassium sorbate, or a clean label alternative, is to extend shelf life by preventing the growth of any molds that might be present. I work for a company that needs to put out a premium product that has a minimum shelf life of three months. When I made marshmallows in the past I forgot about them in the pantry and they turned moldy on me.

Potassium sorbate is used as a preservative. I'm trying to find a way to get a good shelf life on large batches of fresh egg white marshmallows. I think this one will do the trick... http://www.danisco.com/pdf/biovia-brochure.pdf

Does anyone know of a natural alternative to using potassium sorbate as a marshmallow preservative??? Would citric acid or sorbitol suffice???