ptw1953

Forgot to feed my starter yesterday, so made both the Boule and Pain de Mie with the saf-levure dry active yeast. Didn't let the Pain de Mie fully rise in the pan, and it shows. It was for my son and his family, so not sliced. They did say it was good, but I will be using my sourdough starter for the Boule and Pain de Mie this coming Wednesday and Friday.

Bread for Saturday brunch. The loaf could have done with a further 30 minutes cooling time, but my wife said she was soooo hungry...

Off topic, and apologies gfron, but anyone wishing to get the book, it is called: Treasury of Great Recipes, by vincent and Mary Price. Off now to look for my copy...

Vincent Price was also an accomplished cook and published an excellent cookbook, written with his, then, wife. It has been said to me, by Michelin star chefs, that he really was a top notch cook who hosted many, many dinner parties of 10 and more guests, and cooked everything from scratch...

Hi Konstantin, other with more experience than I will answer your overall question but I can assure you that EVERYTHING I make is done using the EZTemper; bars of chocolate, moulded chocolates, easter eggs, hand-dipped chocolates etc, etc etc. Ad infinitum... The silk produced by the EZTemper is the bees knees.

Inconsistency was the issue. I am not saying 'don't try the sous vide method', but I am saying that I have tried sous vide, and EZTemper is the best way for me, by a country mile...

Hi Konstantin, Greetings to you. I use 3 x sous vide circulators for everyday cooking; my family eat a lot! I used to (try) to use one of my sous vide circulators to bring cocao butter to the correct temperature. I now have a EZTemper. Nothing, I repeat nothing, is better. Perfection every time. One of the best buys I have made, in a long, long time...

Getting better, but need more practice with the lame...

I wish for a very merry Christmas for all @ egullet. I think of you all as being some of the most inspiring and creative people I have ever come into contact with. It is a pleasure to converse with, and learn from, you all... Philip

I have only ever made 2 loaves of bread, and I am fascinated by the process and the yeasts involved. I am an insulin dependent diabetic, and stick to high protein breads for my carb counting, but now my son and daughter-in-law wish for me to make bread for them once a week. The first loaf is a dough recipe from the Thermomix my wife purchased for me for my 65th birthday, and the second loaf is a no-knead recipe. Both baked in different-sized casserole pots I have lying around. I didn't cut either open, but I am infomed that the no-knead one had large holes when cut open, and the Thermomix one, not so much. I now am working on a recipe for Scottish morning rolls that I have aquired...

How I wish I were taking part in the Workshop, and meeting you all. Oh well... Photos are definitely wished for. Envious, that is what I am...😊

As per usual, you are absolutely spot on Kerry. When my wife offers constructive criticism, I find that invariably she is correct and to the point. Spare me those who think I look for praise, when what I wish for is honesty of opinion...

I wanted to attempt Melissa Coppel's Apricot Bouchee, but my wife dislikes the taste of apricot, and I had no access to the white caramel couverture Melissa speaks of, so I made the shells with Callebaut white, and filled with orange and balsamic caramel. My wife said they were 'nice', and gave me 5 out of 10. This is actually a huge compliment from her, as she normally just says that any chocs I make are 'ok'...

I love them...

Very nice indeed. I do like the purple colour. To me, it suits chocolates. I want to eat these very much...

Well, retirement was bound to bring this on: an (almost) obsessive compulsion to attempt things I have never even thought of doing before. Making chocolates falls firmly into this category. So many people on here have inspired me to emulate their designs; some results have been ok, but most are, at best, an amateur's attempts. I am learning all the time though, even if I am a replicator and not an innovator. Sometimes I am up at 4am, tempering, filling or capping (obsessive much?). Very little i have done in my 65 years has given me as much pleasure/excitement as the procedures involved in producing chocolates. When @Pastrypastmidnight produced the spider's web chocolates, I was gobsmacked. I spent the weekend deconstructing the process in my head, and making some black cocoa butter. I was asked, by my grandson, to make some scary chocolates for his Hallow'een party, I told him I would attempt Pastrypastmidnight's spider's web design. I made 30, and kept one back to photograph. I made them with Becolade 55%, and filled with peppermint cream. His mum said that the kids went wild for them. Not as good as the original design, but next time I will cut a smaller hole in the piping bags I make, so as to get a finer line of white chocolate for the web design. Thank you Pastrypastmidnight...

Jim, Lisa and Chris are spot on; white splattered on, black hand painted on, tape removed and then gold hand painted on. All my offerings are only hand painted because I view using my compressor, and Paasche airbrush, as a baby would; not a scooby-doo of how to use them. Soon going to be searching YouTube for instructions I can understand. I have, though, made a jig for ensuring that I get a very pointed arrow shape when cutting the tape, and I'm in the process of making another jig to place the arrows correctly, and repetitively, into the moulds...

Finger swirls: this is my first time attempting this type of design. I like it very much, not least because there is no set design I am trying to replicate on each individual chocolate. I think I will make these for Christmas presents to my immediate family members, as that individuality of finished design should allow me to not be stressed in the lead up to Christmas day, worrying that that they are not visually perfect...

I should point out that the icing colour was white, and the text colour was sky blue...

Back in 1997, I was tasked to purchase cup-cakes with icing and '25 years' written on them; to commemorate the length of time our organisation had been in existence. It was done by lasers, with no detrimental effect on the cake and icing. So, maybe the same technique is still being used? Or, maybe not...

What a wonderful post ChocoMom. What a happy childhood you had. You have summed up very succinctly exactly what I am attempting to foster in my grandson. I have just become a grandfather for the 3rd time, with another girl due in November to my son and daughter-in-law in Sweden. So, with 2 boys in Scotland, and 2 girls in Sweden; I am sure I will get at least one of them to become a chocolatier.😊

Indeed Tri2Cook, you are spot on. My post was intended to be a jocular precis of that most enjoyable day. He's eaten nearly all the chocolates as well...😀

This last week has been the school holidays time here in Scotland, and my grandson asked if he could visit, to make some chocolates with his papa. By last Wednesday evening I had everything prepped: moulds cleaned, earlier made white and gold arrow shells, ready to be filled with salted caramel sauce (he loves salted caramel), the dendritic moulds prepared, and the technique explained to him; a joint decision to hand paint and etch the moulds was taken, and the guitar sheets were on-hand for capping. My EZtemper (aka Claudia (Cardinale)...) was settled at 33.7c. I was fully prepared for his visit, and looking forward to seeing the bonny boy again. My grandson arrived early on the Thursday morning and, after I'd made us breakfast, we set about the task in hand. All was well with the world as we messed around with moulds, styles, techniques and colours. We were really enjoying each others company; tasting the different softly-melted couvertures, whilst I explained, in detail, to him the differing approaches that are used in dendritic moulding. We were bonding further. Then came the capping incident... As I have grown older, I have become less and less able to be forgiving of people making elementary mistakes, even after a thorough briefing on what I expected them to achieve. I ran through the procedure of capping with a guitar sheet, no less than 5 times! He assured me, with an arrogance only the young can muster, that he was more than capable of the task I had set him. He asked that I did not stand over him whilst he worked. (This request seems to be a common one amongst my family members, and though it upsets me, I agreed to it.) Off to my shed I went. 5 minutes in the shed was enough for me; I just HAD to see his work. I flew down the path to my house, opened the kitchen door, and was met by a scene straight out of Mad Max. Chocolate everywhere, from the ceiling to his face and hair. Arrrgh, I screamed. Put the scraper down NOW, I shouted! It took me an hour to tidy up the mess. The moral of this story? Never, ever, ever let your your 4 year old grandchild cap chocolates, no matter the assurances given...😂 Images of our day's work attached...

Hello to you Chocoguyin Pemby. I used, as gfron1 has said, masking tape. Specifically, this stuff https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009OZ7KUA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi chris, i am a member of Savour, and their site was my first point of contact for inspiration. I have read a few of your informative posts there...