Vojta

Very important thing, I forgot to say last time! I was made aware of it by my friend after giving free not painted samples: the painted bonbons taste worse than natural ones. I tested it myself and it is true. The coating of CCB gives a waxy/ tasteless feel. Compared to plain chocolate which melts better and testes sweet. Do you observe the same with your bonbons? The CCB is expensive and I was thrifty with it, yet still the downgrade in taste for the sake of appearance is here. Thank you very much @pastrygirl for sharing pictures. Looks colorful even on dark. Thank you @Kerry Beal for taking the time to dig the info for me! According to my calculation, Power flowers are slightly more expensive then making your own CCB, but almost 2x cheaper compared to ready CCB. Very promising. (Based on your post: 16 flowers/200g CB).

Thank you everyone! I finally managed to get great colors. The solution was to use much more coloring in homemade CCB (I tested with Jim D's method) and the second white opaque layer (made with white coloring, not just white CH). I like to hear that. How many flowers do you use per 100 g of CB? I was thinking about buying powerflowers, but couldnt calculate the cost, since idk the dilution. Does it mean Roxy & Rich is opaque enough or do you mix something in? I tried mixing white with green or yellow, to safe time with the white bacground CCB, but it was unsuccessful and I needed to do white 2nd coat anyway. Would love to know because that cuts spraying time in half (I am more concerned about avoiding CB clouds :D).

Hello I struggle with my colors lacking brightness and saturation (unless I mould in white CH). I've read this entire thread and I would like to ask some follow up questions. I will be so happy to hear from your experience. - Is a white coat after color coat necessary? Is there a way how to skip it and half the time spent spraying? - How do I know if my colored cocoa butter is opaque or transparent when shopping for it? - With what do yoi do white base coat with? I tried 1:1 CB:white CH, still dark bonbons. And reccomended titanium dioxide (white coloring) is now banned. Bonus: do you buy or make your own colored CB? Whats the best way how I can give some of my knowledge back? Thanks for having me here

How do you shell 100 molds using a melter (like Mol d'Art)? I am unable to achieve nice continuous work flow when shelling, and I am really unable to shell more than 20-30 molds. How does your workflow look like: Do you pour (drip) back inside the melter?, how often do you reheat/ remelt?, what temp you set your machine on?, how much chocolate/ how many molds?, how many molds you can shell, etc. When shelling, my chocolate is unacceptably more viscous even after 4 molds, making me to stop shelling after 8-12 molds completely. What I tried and didnt work for me: working with 2-3 kg CH adding extra CB setting the machine to 35 °C (95 F) or even 40 °C diluting with untempered CH All helped slightly, but I always end up in a state where I am above the working temp (ie higher than 32 °C (90F) for dark CH), yet still thicker than after tempering. I've managed to survive shelling more than 300 molds like this (over multiple days), but it's so frustrating that I am thinking of pouring out the chocolate outside my melter or stopping to use it. PS: room temp is 20-22 °C (68-36 F); I use Callebaut CH; I don't work slow use a ladle and scraper and its fast; I use CHWorldAntwerp 21 kg model with 6 liters or 13 liters stainless steel insert. PPS: the machine is temperature control is terrible, but I managed to work with 1 thermometer in chocolate and second in the machine

Didn't the bonbons jumped out, tilted or something? I was thinking about piping (filling) on a vibration table, bcs I usually face a little hill in my bonbon. This would allow me to make perfectly thin bottoms :3

Thanks Pete. Would never thought about pouring liquid into a ring. Will give it a try!

Wow manifique job! How did you get soft custard out of mould?

I think it is a risk easily. To cook the custard you need about 83 °C, while most recipes call for baking in a water bath in 160 °C oven. I steam cooked mine (thus the temp was 100 °C) and it was still enough to overcook. Might be just mine mistake though Thanks for letting me know. I need to test the texture differences

Why do you bake it in the oven at high temperatures and risk overcooking? Or making it complicated in sous vide. Isn't Crème Brûlée just a custard? Let's cook it in a saucepan, pour it into the dishes after and let them set. So much easier, isn't it? Where is the catch now, because nobody does it this way 😄

I was taught using cooking oil spray with silikomart plastic rings, so I use it everytime. Might be the case, happy experimenting!

I would oil the mould, should be enough. If that is not enough, I would try one of these: Chill or freeze the dough after it's inside the rings, so it enters the oven chilled. Wait until the tarts are completely cool before removing them from rings. The last two are my suggestions, unfortunately I don't know what causes the desired shrinking of the tarts. Let me know if it works.

Hi, Rajala. What kind of mould do you use? Tart ring/ mould and what material? Did you let the tarts cool before removing? Did you oiled the moulds? Did you chill the dough before baking (inside moulds)? PS: about my 'problems': it was the temperature mostly. I also developed a method that should work in warm kitchen like my, but haven't a chance to test it yet.

I don't know if its any help, but in the middle of Europe I get 1 kg (2.2 lb) of Callebaut N°811 for 13.4$, which is like go to chocolate of everyone. You can find cheaper brands, but you dont want to and more expensive like Valrhona aren't being sold here. And if I am not wrong you can get it for 7-8$ in Belgium, where it's made.

I agree with Jim. If you don't want cream, nor chocolate it's no longer a ganache. You could try to make a fruit 'ganache' from fruit puree with cocoa butter (and sugar) with the help of an emulsifier. Your best option is to make pate de fruit (PDF), which you can make both liquid and solid. Or fruit gel or syrup. Usually PDF is made solid into frames, then cut, then enrobed.

Yes: actually, I asked Kriss about this video: and he replied that they have efficient employees and room with constant temp = 18 °C. Unfortunately a luxury I dont have, but this is a great tip: I am going to try again this weekend. I will use the bigger circle method as it seems faster than bottom circle + side strip. I will also oil the rings better. Thank you.

Thank you, Pete. Yes, I tried both methods: larger circle and circle & strip. I might need to search for another recipe or buy air conditioning. My dough stays in playdoh consistency, as in the videos, for less than a minute.

Hi So how do you make tartelette shells effectively in larger volumes? When I make them it's a struggle. The dough is too soft and it's tearing. Making the shell out of 2 mm dough is impossible. After put in the freezer it becomes too hard and it breaks. The sweet spot between too warm and too cold lasts a minute only, meaning I am able to make 1-2 shells at most. And yes they have dimples and imperfections from me trying to fix them. And often they don't contract from the ring resulting in a destroyed shell upon removal. I am curious how you are able to make like 100 pcs with reasonable time frame and without losing your nerves Including a picture of what a perfection looks like to me and what I strive for: Looking forward to discussing with you.

Just curios why would you need a vibrating table? It can be done with your hand on a table, cant be? (I clench my muscles and shake my hand uncontrollably like I had Alzheimer and it works perfectly) any chance for a link/ name?

read through some of them but got lost a bit. Thats why I asked

Goergeous! You know how to. I love eclipse shape. Depends on you... read through outline of the course and think about how many new things you going to learn. For me only her last lesson has high value for me (troubleshooting), if it was possible I would take just that one. For the whole I a) lack the money. And b) because I did some mousse cakes and mirror glazes, I can follow a recipe even with small instructions given. Thus I just purchased her ebook. Thank you! ❤️ My only struggle is the lack of space in my freezer - what to do with leftover glaze. Maybe its a bit sweet too. I have no problems with the glaze by itself ^^ love it actually

I successfully demold finished chocolate pralines. ??? I pour chocolate into cavities to form shells for my next pralines. Question is simple: what is step 2.? Polish with cottom/ and alcohol/ wash in hot water/ use dishsoap/ do nothing/ somethig else? Does it depend if it was chocolate bar or praline/ if I used coloured CB or not? What if demolding was not that easy or successfull? I always washed in hot water with soft sponge and dish liquid. Dried, polished with cottom and used again. But I read I should clean my molds 1 or 2 times per year only! I thought residual fat will make demolding more difficult and inhibit shine. Where is the truth please? Whats correct?

If you are a complete beginner, then I would propably take it. If you ever made more than 3 mousse cakes with mirror glaze I would not. There are really good points in this discussion. I was quite blind wanting to achieve these instagram perfections. I think in a store kitchen at a larger scale mirror glazing can be doable. But for me as a home chef mirror glazes are one big struggle. I am curious.

In my opinion it's stamp (the thing you dip in color then dip onto surfuce). For such a small dimensions I believe it could be flat - without curvature.

Haha I came to ask exactly the same thing! Notwithstanding I use dark chocolate and black CB and 2 layers, I can still see marks on my praline. 3 layers dont fix it neither. I dont want more layers, bcs the CB is getting as thick as the choco shell... But I have to say in a darker room it is not noticable - thats for simmilar colors. White praline with dark choco shell is just impossible for me. So is it possible?

Even thought I consider myself as (advanced) beginner, I think it is not worth it. If you spend some time thinking about it you can invent/ come up with almost any design by yourself. Well a bit harder with this particular one, but if you search on the Internet you can find it.