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There are a number of threads here on eGullet that showcase amazing looking chocolate truffles and bonbons created by members. I have been making chocolate truffles for a while now, and these threads have inspired me to take my chocolate making further. Unfortunately, it seems that there is a distinct lack of resources and support for chocolate makers in Australia. I am forced to buy polycarbonate moulds and coloured cocoa butter from Chef Rubber in America, and of course, shipping costs are quite high! At the moment, I am using Callebaut semi-sweet, milk, and white chocolates. I can buy them in bulk 2.5kg bags, and am happy with them, but would love a greater variety of high quality chocolates to choose from (and buy in bulk). I haven't been able to find any sources for gianduja, unsweetened chocolate, or high quality hazelnut or almond pastes. I also have had not any luck trying to find invert sugar (Trimoline or Nulomoline) in sizes less than 20kg, or invertase. So, are Australian chocolate makers left with no choice but to look overseas for supplies, or are there sources in Australia (preferably online) that I am not aware of? I would really appreciate any advice or assistance! Cheers. Jake

Hey Everyone, I'm new around here but own and operate my own chocolate website. Do we have any chocolate lovers on this forum? It's great to see such a huge community of people on here! I look forward to talking with all of you..... God Bless, Robert www.chocolateguild.com

Hello Everyone, I'm new around here but wanted to get started chatin with everyone. I am a chocolatier and was wondering if we had any chocolate lovers on this forum. I have been in contact with a few chocolatiers in your region(canada) and love to meet other with the same interests. Well if anyone is a chocoholic then reply!!! -Robert www.chocolateguild.com p.s. Anyone know of any good Chocolatiers or chocolate manufacturers in Canada?

I am wondering if there is any problem with shipping liquor filled chocolates as a gift. Does anyone here know the rules or can point me to the relevant official information? I've been sending gift boxes of standard truffles and bon-bons and am just about to experiment with making hand dipped and molded liquor centers. I'd like to be able to include them in my gifting.

Any ideas on how I can turn white chocolate into green? I thought on mixing some matcha green tea while tempering, but I don't know if that will work fine....

my girlfriend accidently washed my magnetic mold in a sink with dishwashing liquid. I know your never supposed to use soap on them, but will doing it just one time be ok?

I want to put a warm chocolate self saucing pudding/molten cake/souffle pudding on my cafe menu for this coming Winter in Australia.You know the kind with the soft saucy centre.Is there any difference in the names of these cakes or is it all the same sort of thing , just that different people call it a different thing? As I am the only chef in the cafe, my time in prep and service time is limited,so I want to keep it simple, but delicious both in taste and texture. I want to be able to have a product that I can freeze and take straight from the freezer to the oven and be ready in about 10 minutes after the order comes in.Is this possible?The other option I would consider would be to have the 1/2 baked cake in the fridge, ready for heating. I have 150ml souffle ramekin moulds and hope I can use these in the recipe.

My soon to be 4 year old daughter has requested a chocolate strawberry cake for her birthday. She would like it to have "pink" icing and chocolate covered strawberries on top. It will need to serve around 20 people. I was thinking of making the America's test kitchen sour cream chocolate cake, but need ideas for the filling and icing. I'm looking for something delicious but not too rich. My kids don't mind a nice bittersweet ganache, but I'm not sure the rest of the kids present will appreciate it. I'm hoping that our delicious local strawberries will be beginning to ripen by then (It is at the end of this month) Any inspiration or ideas?

I was looking at the fruit purees on this site http://www.lepicerie.com/customer/home.php?cat=287 how would you incorporate these into chocolates. would you mix it in the cream for a ganache or would you layer it in a mold? any ideas? luis

Needing some advice... Tell me if you think this is stupid : Mixing champagne with cocoa (powder), a good quality one, blend the mixture into a iSi whipper, and then foam it over some half-filled champagne flutes, really iced ones

Does anyone know any recipe where chocolate and champagne are used together?

This is probably a dumb question, so pardon me for my ignorance, but please tell me if I'm wrong: I am only able to find Dutch processed cocoa, even the regular grocery stores carry it exclusively. I have yet to see natural or un-Dutched cocoa or am I just not looking in the right areas? I seem to remember buying Hershey's natural cocoa at the grocery stores years ago, but no longer. Is there anywhere where I can find the natural version locally? I'm not too picky at this point on the brand. I need it for a chocolate cake recipe I'll be trying out - the Cook's Illustrated Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt cake which I have been inspired to try after reading the 17 pages of the quest for the perfect chocolate cake thread. Thanks!

Some friends of mine are of the conception that I know my way around a kitchen (Probably because I talk of my sourdough baking all the time *S*). They have asked me do to a chocolate cake for their child's baptism party. I have about one week to experiment, but I don't mind doing the cake(s) 2-3 times as "practice runs". I've read through a lot of the material in the eGullet "let's make the perfect chocolate cake" thread , and are starting to get an Idea of what's going on when baking such a thing... (Plastic wrapping, freezing, low temperatures, tooth picks and all that stuff.) In my head, I have this Idea of a very dark chocolate cake with a dark "mirror" frosting If you know what I mean. I've seen some photos on this forum I believe, but I was not able to recall where. That's what I really want to do. I want loads of High quality unhealthy delicious chocolate, I'll probably gain a few pounds just tasting and baking, but who cares .-) I also don't mind jumping in to learn to swim, so ideas on fancy toppings and presentation ideas are also welcome .-) So! If anyone can point me in the right direction for a recipe for the cake, maybe a "Ganache" and a black mirror frosting... I'd be very happy. I will of course post my progress in this thread. The b-party is 11. June, So I better start practicing some techniques .-) Maybe this can be one of thos experiments on how a totallty beginner cake-baker can get help from experienced ones to create a masterpiece in only one week !? Only time will show I guess

I have a recipe for chocolate truffles, and it states that intervase should be added to extend their shelf life (by preventing mold if there are air pockets). I checked the local grocery stores (including Whole Foods) and they've never heard of intervase. Google shows only 8 results for 'intervase chocolate'. Anybody heard of intervase, and where to get it? edit - oops, it's invertase . So, my question is - what places usually carry it, or know of any good mail order shops?

Hi all, One of my mates is a bodybuilder here and he loves chocolate, but doesn't really like buying it coz of the weight contracts that he is on. So, he asked if its possible to blend whey protein and make a chocolate ganache and enrobe it in really bitter chocolate so he can kill 2 birds with one stone. Has anyone done that or see any pitfalls in that? Thanks.

My company is in the planning stages of a commissary for our 4 stores and I am going to get a separate chocolate room. Yippee! Anyhow, my question to you all is what temperature and humidity level is the ideal? Karen

At my local SuperFresh in Philadelphia I spied a new (to me) brand of bulk chocolate: Belcolade. Web research showed this to be Belgian produced by Belcolade, a division of a larger Belgian firm, Puratos, which also has US plants and serves the baking and patisserie industries as well. Anyone have experience with the Belcolade Belgian chocolate? How is it? It was a relatively bargain at $7.99/pound in the supermarket, assuming the quality is decent.

Hello all, I'm trying to figure out the best way (in terms of a nice balance of time and money) to mold chocolate bars on a relatively small scale. I've been doing quite a bit of reading, research, and asking questions, and I've seen quite a bit of conflicting information. So, what I'm looking for now is real world experience. I'd be interested to know what people are doing who don't use a cooling tunnel, but who end up turning out chocolate with a nice snap and gloss without any obvious swirling (noting that many bars have a light swirling on the back if held at a certain angel to the light) or other finish issues. I have a number of questions that I would like anyone who fits the above description to answer (pretty please): 1) What is the thickness of your molds, and what is the material? 2) Do you warm up your molds to the temperature of the tempered chocolate prior to depositing? 3) What is the room temperature in your molding room? 4) What do you do with the molds immediately after depositing the chocolate? (i.e., do you do a number of molds and then put them all in a cooling area, or do you put them in one at a time?) 5) Your cooling area/room/chamber...what is the temperature? 6) Do you alter the temperature in the cooling area, or transport the molds to a different area with a different temperature while they are cooling? Please explain in as much detail as possible. 7) How do you handle airflow--what machines do you use (ceiling fans, large industrial standing fans, other?), and how are they mounted (how far away from the chocolate), and at what speed do you run them? 8) How much time do you give your bars before unmolding? 9) Finally, please explain any methods that you did use previously which led to bad results. Thank you in advance to everyone who participates. Since I'm designing a couple of rooms based on moulding and cooling, in part, I'm hoping to rule out really problematic designs ahead of time by learning as much as possible. I've read about all the theory that I can find including Minifie's, Beckett's and Chatt's books among others and am hoping that all of your experience will fill in the missing puzzle pieces.

It's hard to believe only about 15 months ago I saw the "Chocolates with that Showroom Finish" thread and my life would take a turn. I had been dabbling in truffles (hence the name) for a few years but after seeing Norman Love's "G" series and then the thread, I was hooked. A little background on me might help. I was a dot.comer in the late 90's through about 2001. I learned a lot in building businesses from new concepts and it was an exciting time. I co-founded one company and was a Director in another technology company that was in the USA Today as a "can't miss" business. We must have been part of that 5% error margin as we did miss. However, I do believe you learn more from failure than victory and I emerged with new skills and new experiences. I moved from Atlanta to Tampa/St. Petersburg and started a new career in call centers. Within a few years I had received a couple promotions and was considered an "A" player in the organization. I was recruited by another large company, left for a great opportunity and then 5 months later was brought back to my original company to head a department of 100+ employees with revenues over 60 million. I guess for most that would be enough but through it all there was a passion burning in me to express myself through chocolate. I kept learning on my own and through this great site and then had a chance to spend some time with Chris Elbow. I can't say enough good things about him, his product is top shelf but it goes deeper than that. He loves what he does and instead of guarding the knowledge, his passion for his work makes him want to share with others, great guy! I began doing charity events last summer, in essence paying people to eat my chocolates. I wasn't ready to incorporate so everything I did was a gift. I didn't make a cent, nor did I try. Much to my surprise, people really liked what I was doing and in Feb/March I did 4 events of about 1000 boxes and over 10,000 pieces. I supplied chocolates for an exclusive wine tasting hosted by a large, prestigious winery and have several large businesses eager to carry my product. Of course this was all done while working a very demanding schedule (I normally go to work at 5am and work 12-13 hours). Sometimes we find success, wealth, love etc. when we seek it but it is a unique and more powerful experience when without looking, it finds us. That has been my experience with chocolate/confections. Now I'm at a cross roads. I have a partner and we have developed a business plan, financial model and offering memorandum that we feel is solid. He has been a CEO and raised millions for other ventures. I'm making more money now than ever, I'm in upper management for a large company and yet my dreams are of chocolate. That's where I'm at now. I have several "advisors" reviewing the plans and will send out the finished business plan and a box of chocolates to potential investors in the next few weeks. I've done a lot of homework. I have pamphlets on many manufacturers of equipment (primarily enrobers) and have a nice budget to start (pending on investment). We are not looking to build slowly from the ground up, I know it can be done but it's not our preference. We are hoping to raise in excess of 500K. What I'm looking for in this thread is advice from those who are in a similar niche. Chocolatiers who have enrobers, cooling units, guitar cutters etc. who are able to do large production runs. Looking back, what would you do differently? What enrober would you choose? What additional options would you purchase? Would you choose a different location? Would you have a different production process? How did you deal with shipping? How have you extended shelf life? Who would you have hired/not hired? If hindsight is 20/20...what would you have done differently and what really worked? What books would you have purchased earlier? Would you have hired a consultant prior to setup? Did you price correctly? I feel confident that my passion and ability to learn will lead me to become a very proficient chocolatier. I've read and experimented and my desire to learn and create is insatiable. I'm sure we all look back on our lives and say, "if I could go back in time, I'd have studied more in school, focused on my career earlier...etc." We never really get that opportunity, but now, for me...it does feel like I'm getting a chance to start again. I'm at the beginning of who I will be as a chocolatier and I'm looking to do things right, not have to look back in a few years and wish I knew then what I know now. I guess that is what I'm asking for from those who are well past their beginnings and whose experience can help me choose a better path. Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks All.

Hi, I have enjoyed reading all the diff threads on chcolate, making, uses, etc...... But my daughter , 12 years old, bought me a 85% cocoa bar for my birthday , knowing how much I like , dark, bitter chocolate. However, YUK! Does anyone have any recipies I can use it in so as I don't dissapoint her, and perhaps we can all enjoy it! There has to be something out there to make it better! I really liked the thread on making your own chocolate at home, unfortunitly, not only do I not have the $ for the equiptment, the time might be a issue.....but it was lovely reading about it..........if you want to sell it..........my addy is.......... LOL Recipies please! ANYONE!!!!

I live where unsweetened baking chocolate is unavailabe. So far I've managed to get it brought by good-hearted guests from the US, which is fine for me. But now several people want the recipe for a vey good brownie I make, and I'm not sure what to tell them. I can get bittersweet chocolate here. The local bulk stuff is about the same sweetness is Nestle's morsels, as a guideline. Can I increase the chocolate and cut sugar, and get a decent result? I will be experiementing myself of course but if anyone has any guidelines it would be appreciated! I have no idea what the percentage of sugar to chocolate is with bittersweet chocolate.

My friend just got back from Belgium and England (bringing lots of chocolate to taste) and said one of her favorites were the creme fraiche chocolates (and these she didn't bring back for me to taste). A quick internet search shows that a number of chocolatiers offer them, but there is no description of the praline itself. So does anyone know, is this a ganache using creme fraiche in place of the cream or something else? A very basic recipe would be welcomed.

i've always just purchased my chocolate at the local baking store (NY Cake or in Chelsea Market), but it's very very expensive. And now that I'm starting to do more mass/retail production, I would prefer to spend less and buy more. Where does everyon else buy their chocolates (valhrona preferrably)? Thanks!

Ok looking for the right chocolate frosting/icing recipe has been making my head spin. This is to fill and cover a chocolate chiffon cake. What I have in mind: - is dark (darker than milk chocolate) - has a shiny finish - has a pudding-like consistency but is slightly fluffy - only the surface will semi-set upon sitting on the cake but inside will stay soft - will hold swirls but not piping - is able to stand at room temperature without melting down although it might soften slightly - tastes very chocolatey and not like milk chocolate - smooth, not grainy, heavy or dense Another poster thought a ganache frosting would do the trick but having spent the last few days trawling this site for everything about ganache, I'm not so sure it's the right thing... plus I have no idea which recipe to start with, there are so many. Add butter? Corn syrup/glucose? Whip? Let it sit? And for how long? I've read that slightly whipping/beating the ganache will lighten its colour - so how would you get dark as well as shiny and fluffy all at the same time? Help please!! (recipes, ideas, tips)

If anyone has this recipe, would you be kind enough to PM it to me? (Or post it according to the egullet rules, ie, in your own words)? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.