Pastrypastmidnight

The Running a Chocolate Production class would be more accurately titled Rrcipe Development and Decoration Techniques for Running a Profitable Chocolate Production. The recipes are formulated to last at least 3 months and the decor is one or two steps. You need smallwares and a spray gun/compressor, but you don’t need special equipment for the molded bonbons. Enrobing is always going to be more efficient/profitable and that’s what is going to cost $$$ to set up.

Melissa Coppel offers that class. I just took it in July and she has another one this month.

Real homemade marshmallows with actual vanilla bean and a pinch of salt can actually taste buttery. Fruit flavored ones with real fruit juice or purée and a touch of citric acid and bright and just lovely. Give them a try! But, beware! I’ve burned out more than one KitchenAid making marshmallows, so just be careful!

I guess I’m weird, I big puffy heart homemade marshmallows . I do like the idea of having them as an add-on for those that care about them.

I’ve used this one: https://www.cacao-barry.com/en-OC/chocolate-recipe/2021/red-red-pepper-strawberry-confit-white-chocolate-zephyr I did not have lecithin or yogurt powder, and I replaced the sorbitol with invert sugar. I made sure they were all gone in about 10 days. They stayed fresh for that long even with the substitutions.

I’m in KC (well, 30 minutes out) and I can probably help with small assignments. I would like to do more, but we are dealing with some big family challenges right now and I’d hate to drop the ball on something.

“Unfortunately”!!! Bwahahaha!! Exactly .

I’m not putting them in the fridge. I don’t even know how I would time that since they’re already setting up when I do the 5th of 6th one after that. I honestly didn’t know that was something people did when hand-dipping. Thank you, Jim. I’ve worked hard on my neatness with hand-dipping . I’ve wondered a bit about what is realistic without an enrober and automatic tempering machine. What I wouldn’t give for a vibrating belt and a blower! So, I do reheat the chocolate in the side of the melter where I scrape my fork before mixing it back in if it looks thick. I only dipped 64 pieces—took less than an hour—and the chocolate hadn’t thickened significantly. But maybe that is the issue. How often do you typically reheat the surface of your chocolate when you’re working? Thanks for all the feedback!

I’m wondering why I keep getting pieces with streaks when I hand dip chocolates. I use a Mol d’Art melter and temper by heating the chocolate to 45-47C, cooling to 32C and adding 1% silk. I never start until I have a perfect temper test. I stir the chocolate after dipping every 4-6 pieces, and I retest the temper every 10 minutes or so. I hand enrobe by placing the piece in upside down, flipping it over with the fork, tapping it on the surface of the chocolate 3-4 times, then scraping the bottom of the fork on the edge of my melter. Room temp is usually 19-20C. Last night all of my temper tests were perfect but I still have random pieces with streaking. It’s not bad, it’s just not a perfect matte like the other pieces and I’d like to understand why. Thanks, guys .

Do you melt them in the microwave or some other way?

It seems like everyone I have heard a report from has been somewhat ambivalent about it. But, man, they marketed the heck out of the stuff.

I’m intrigued by the mention of a liquid fudge. Is that something you could achieve with invertase? I’ve not used it yet and im a little fuzzy on the science. This is something I haven’t see before and I found it interesting to think about.

Bwahahaha!! Go for it! Thank you and you’re quite welcome .

Chocolate mud cake with Valrhona Caraïbe chocolate, filled with salted caramel, frosted with ganache, and topped with toasted macadamia nuts, macnut toffee and a brittle with more macadamia nuts, and Hawaiian lava sea salt. For my 14-year old’s birthday. Served with passionfruit sorbet .

It took a long time to get Valrhona to respond to me, but when they did they were very nice. Cacao Barry wouldn’t even respond. I contacted a regional rep and he totally blew me off a c told me I should just find a local distributor and ask them my questions.

I haven’t tried strawberry because it’s not available in the US yet. But the passionfruit is amazing.

That’s pretty much right. Fruit powder, sugar and cocoa butter.

Thank you! My rudimentary high school French helped with the video but the press release is far beyond my capabilities. Now if it was in Italian... maybe . But thank you for sharing. I wonder how long we will have to wait in the US. We still don’t have the strawberry.

Have you tasted it? It doesn’t taste like white chocolate at all. The passionfruit tastes just like a burst of passionfruit. It blew my mind. The almond I was not as excited about. But it does taste like actual blanched almonds, not like extract or anything. It actually kind of tastes like a French macaron shell. I’ve heard great things about the strawberry from my European friends. Anyway, as always, to each his/her own. I’m excited about them .

Are you seeing something about raspberry and Yuzu?

I just saw this on Instagram. Anybody know anything about it?

I think some of it has to do with how he lights his photographs, as well. He tends to top-light with a large light source like the sky (a lot of his images are taken outside or under huge skylights like this) and shoot almost straight down. That gives a huge reflection but flatter light that isn’t going to “catch” in any flaws like release marks, dust specks, etc. This is not to downplay his technique at all, which appears impeccable. Just, lighting and angles matter. Here are two images of a recent project. Top lit—extra shiny with a huge reflection of the sky, flaws really get hidden Still top-lit but taken more straight-on—still shiny but you lose some of that huge reflection from the sky.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I have a question about polishing molds with cotton balls/pads and alcohol. I seem to get a lot of left over fluff in my mold cavities from my cotton. Are there levels of quality of cotton pads (I’m using the cheap store brand)? Would a lint free cloth work better, do you think? Am I the only one who experiences this?

My kids love brittles with any kind of nuts.