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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.

I've just made Rose Levy Berenbaum's Chocolate Chiffon Cake and really like it - light, moist, and very nice texture. BUT I am in search of a more intense, rich, chocolatey flavour with a deeper colour in my chocolate chiffon cake. I have read other posts referring to the recipe from Spago's Chocolate... would that be the one to beat, or are there others out there that would fit the bill? Also in search of the perfect frosting but that's for another thread once I've found the right cake recipe!

A friend of mine was wondering whether any chocolate bars contain MSG. A quick google indicates that this seems to not have occured but I was wondering exactly what would happen if you added MSG to chocolate. What would it taste like? Has anyone tried it?

Hi All! I'm part of a cooking club and our upcoming theme is "Gourmet Chocolate." We are trying to put together a whole meal from appys, sides, veggies, protien, etc. all including some cocoa or chocolate. Dessert has already been decided as Chocolate Souffle. Any fun suggestions out there for what we can make? Stuff you've tried yourself or recipes you've earmarked to try soon? Also, are there any basic thoughts about using cocoa/chocolate in savory recipes in general? Thanking you in advance I remain.... Genny

I've made my fist chiffon tonight. I had eaten many, but had never done one. I started by a cocoa chiffon. The result surprised me A LOT - it was even better than all those I had eaten before and made by other people. It was really soft and wet... oh God, there goes my diet! I've covered it with a chocolate meringue, based on a simple italian meringue to which I added melted chocolate+butter. I'll share my recipe with you so that we can compare recipes and maybe achieve an even better one. I've used: Dry items : 180g wheat flour 2 tsp baking powder 50g corn flour (MAIZENA, is it known on your countries?) 70g cocoa powder - I've used Valrhona 350g yellow sugar Wet items: 7 yolks 8 whites 125ml corn oil 200ml water And this was the result....

I'm in practice mode for an upcoming chocolate competition (which I won last year with chestnut mousse). This year I am making a variety of chocolate sushi rolls. The one piece that I haven't quite perfected is the rice. I am planning to make a coconut milk based rice, and I'm going to try three flavors - plain, chocolate (using Neilsen Massey choc extract) and green tea. My concern is texture - it needs to hold together but not be too ricey if you know what I mean. Thoughts? Thanks in advance, Rob

I'm looking to order some chocolates for Valentine's day. In the past I've ordered from Jubilee Chocolates and Vosges Chocolate and really enjoyed them. We like to try something new every year, and here are some places I'm looking at this year: http://normanloveconfections.com/ http://www.elbowchocolates.com/ http://www.chuaochocolatier.com/ http://www.recchiuti.com/ Has anyone tried any of these places? I would love to hear some opinions. Thanks!

Dunno if this is the right forum, but of all the beverage ones - I guess this is the closest. Anyways, I am trying to find a place online (or anywhere, for that matter) that sells boxes of the MarieBelle Aztec Drinking Chocolate Single-Serving packets. There was a place that used to sell boxes of 24 for $40, but they're sold out and have discontinued carrying the MarieBelle line. I have asked at the retail store here in NYC and they do not sell them through their retail channels - does anyone have any other ideas where I might find these? Thanks in advance!

The Mr. and I are thinking about trying our hands at making truffles for Valentine's Day. We are thinking about making heart and rose shape truffles w/ different ganache fillings. We are currently in search of a few good books that would lead us in the right directions. I've had my eyes on Chocolate Obession (Michael Recchiuti, et al), Pure Chocolate (Fran Bigelow, Helene Siegel) and Chocolate Chocolate (Lisa Yockelson), but not sure how useful they will be as resources for truffles. Also, we've been looking around for molds and transfer sheets to play around with. Anyone know of some good resources online or in the Bay Area? We'll also appreciate any recipes that people have success with. Recipes without alcohol would be great. TIA

Making 65% Dark Chocolate Required Materials: -Santha wet/dry grinder -Champion Juicer -Marble/granite/Silestone slab -Non-pourous cutting board -Pastry scraper -One-piece soft rubber spatula -Large plastic heat-proof/microwavable bowl -2-3 smaller glass/ceramic bowls -Tempering thermometer -Chocolate chipper -Parchment paper -Chocolate tablet moulds -Cotton batting -Medical grade 2oz/60cc plastic syringe with plastic nozzle -Microwave -Scale -Hair Blow Dryer Ingredients: -liquid lecithin -cocoa beans -cocoa butter -granulated cane sugar -vanilla bean Here is a photo of some of the materials. The Silestone slab that I’ll use for the tempering is underneath the table cloth…hiding. You’ll see that later. Before I begin it is important to point out one thing: Warning: Never get any water-based anything near chocolate. If even ONE drop falls into your chocolate, it will seize and be ruined. Keep this in mind for the entire chocolate making process. Day One: I ordered two pounds of Ghana Forastero beans from Mr. Nanci at Chocolate Alchemy. I decided not to start with criollo due to it being slightly trickier to roast. I have roasted beans twice before to make Mexican chocolate, and both times I was happy with the result. Both times I also used Forastero, so it felt like a good place to start. Because I haven’t wanted to invest in a cocoa bean cracker to break the beans down to nibs, I asked John to do that for me pre-roast. He winnowed them as well. The drawback to cracking and winnowing raw beans, however, is that the husk sticks to the bean a bit more and so one is left with a higher percentage of husk on the beans than if one were to do so after the roast. One expects to lose about 25% of the weight of the beans in husk, so from the two pounds of beans I bought, at the end of the winnowing process I should have had about 1 lb. 8 ounces. When my beans came I had about 1 lb. 12.5 ounces which told me that I needed to winnow a bit post roast. I’ll get to that in a moment. Roasting: For the roasting, I set the oven to 350 and placed the nibs in a ceramic baking dish. They were one inch deep and spread evenly. I placed the nibs in the oven when it was heated to 350, and took it out every 5 minutes to stir. Due to the constant opening of the oven, the heat was dropping from 350 down into the 200’s. When roasting in the oven, the idea is to start with a high heat to get the beans up to temperature as quickly as possible, and then lower it some to the roasting temperature. Due to the loss of heat every 5 minutes, and the fact that Forastero can take a pretty heavy roasting, I didn’t adjust the heat. At about minute 15 the kitchen began to fill with the smell of baking brownies. Actually the smell is better than baking brownies, but that is the closest smell I can compare it to. By minute 20 the beans were starting to become roasted enough to tell by looking (darker and glossier) and the smell had increased. By minute 25 when I stirred the beans, they seemed almost done as they had a strong brownie smell, with no hint of burnt odour and were quite a bit darker. I roasted them for two more minutes and then removed them. I tasted a couple nibs and the taste was a familiar deep cocoa flavour with its accompanying bitterness. I was happy with the roast and brought the beans out to cool, leaving them in the same dish they had roasted in. Here are the beans pre-roast, and then… Post-roast: Note the change in color of the beans. Winnowing: After the beans were cool, I winnowed them once more to remove most of the rest of the husk. To understand how I winnowed (with a blow dryer), and why it is not imperative to remove every last little bit of the husk with the setup I am using, I can do no better than to quote John Nanci of Chocolate Alchemy from his winnowing page at which there are also photos of the process: Winnowing “A few notes: For winnowing, just use any old hair dryer, although a small shop vac works great. Come in high and stir with your hands…You will soon work out how close the blowing air needs to be to blow the husk away, but not the nibs. After a few minutes, you should have a nice bowl of nibs ready for the Champion Juicer. Don't fret too much about a few pieces of husk here and there. The screen in the Champion will remove those few bits, and actually make a very nice filter bed.” Here is a photo of the winnowed and roasted beans: Next is grinding of the beans with the Champion juicer. Day Two: I started today by laying out everything I would need. This included: 1) Cocoa beans 2) Cocoa butter (heated until just melted) 3) One Piece spatula 4) Two large plastic microwave safe bowls 5) 2-3 smaller glass/ceramic bowls 6) Sugar 7) Vanilla bean (dried) 8) Liquid Lecithin 9) Santha mixer 10) Champion 11) Food Processor 12) Scale Cocoa Bean grinding: First I melted the cocoa butter until it was just melted (not too hot), in the microwave. I used 6 ounces for the approximately 24 ounces of cocoa liquor I would end up with. I started with 27.5 ounces of beans in a bowl, which included about a couple ounces of husk that didn’t get removed in the winnowing phase. I set up my champion with the small screen, and put the requisite bowls underneath the screen and underneath the waste output (one each). I turned on the Champion and ran the beans through at a moderate speed. After running the beans through one time I took a photo to show how much liquor had been extracted and how much “waste” existed. Actually, as you can tell, there is quite a lot of liquor mixed in with the “waste” husks, so the idea is to run it through again and again until virtually all of the liquor is extracted. The grinding case of the Champion can hold 3-4 ounces of material, so with a small batch of chocolate like this, basically at the end, the compartment will be filled with a lot of husk and only a little liquor, with not much coming out of the waste spout. This is what I was looking for, so I ran it through two more times and here is a second photo to show the difference: Finally, to wash out the last little bit of liquor from inside the grinding case, I ran the melted cocoa butter through the Champion and here is the final photo after the cocoa butter and liquor have been mixed together: I weighed the resulting mixture and it came out to be 834 grams which is just a hair short of 30 ounces I anticipated (29.29 actually). Basically, then, most of what was left in the grinding cover was husk that had been filtered out, with a little bit of liquor. No big loss. Sugar and vanilla bean grinding: Next, I put the very dry 1/3 vanilla bean (1 gram) and the 16 ounces of pure cane granular sugar (455.52 grams) into a food processor and processed at high speed for about 10 minutes, or until the sugar was reduced to a fine powder. It is NOT possible to use powdered sugar from the store as it contains corn starch and will RUIN the chocolate. The sugar must be powdered at home from granular. I measured out the approx. 2.65 grams of liquid lecithin. I need a better scale, and will buy one before I make chocolate again (preferably a pocket scale that measures in increments of .1 of a gram like the JS-500 or a similar scale). Using my Philips scale, I got the measurement somewhere between 2 and 3 grams. The amount that I wanted to add for my chocolate was .2% of the total mass of all the other ingredients (which was 1290.52 grams), since .2% is a fairly common amount to add in dark chocolates. It is not that exciting, but here is a photo of the sugar and lecithin: Chocolate mixing, refining, conching: Finally, I heated the chocolate liquor/cocoa butter mixture up to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit in a microwave safe plastic bowl so that when I added it to the Santha wet/dry grinder, which is much cooler (being made of granite), it would still be relatively warm when I added the sugar, which is a good idea to keep the Santha from bogging down too much at the outset. Here is a photo of the Santha pre-liquor. One can see its similarity to a large chocolate “melangeur”: So I added the liquor first. Here is a photo of the Santha after adding ONLY the liquor. It is somewhat smooth, but one can still see a fine grain: Then I added the sugar, vanilla, and lecithin. Here is a photo of the Santha after adding the sugar and lecithin to the liquor. It is no longer smooth, but rather is quite grainy, even after powdering the sugar, etc: I set the timer for 5 hours. Here is a photo of the mixture at 5 hours (still too grainy) 7 hours (grainy still): 9 hours (probably acceptable grain for grocery store chocolate): 11 hours (acceptable grain for many store bought chocolates): 13 hours (acceptable grain for many high-end chocolates, but I wanted to refine a bit further): Removed at 15 hours (extremely fine grain, practically not noticeable, but just short of what I consider the ultimate in mouthfeel—Domori Puertomar): The finished chocolate weighed in at: 2 lbs 7.25 ounces (1117.5 grams) after removing it from the Santha. Day Three: Today is the final active step of chocolate making, the tempering and moulding. Tempering I brought the chocolate (in a microwaveable bowl) up to 120 f in the microwave by heating it in 1 minute increments at a low power and stirring at each minute. After about 5 minutes it was at 120 f. I ladled about 1/3 of the mixture onto my Silestone workspace leaving the rest in the plastic bowl to cool. At this point I spread it out and drew it up over and over again for about 2-3 minutes until the chocolate became thick and almost unmanageable. I then added this chocolate back to the reserved melted chocolate and stirred slowly with a thermometer until it had melted. The resulting temperature was 89 degrees when I was done with about 7 minutes of stirring. Here are three photos showing three parts of the above process. I then moved the chocolate over to the kitchen table where my moulds were waiting. I had pre-coated them with a thin layer of cocoa butter as many do for their filled bon bons. ( I would come to find out later that I did not coat them 100% evenly) Filling the Moulds: I filled each four ounce mould with two plastic syringes (2 oz) full of chocolate. I tried to work as fast as possible as the chocolate viscosity was quickly increasing. After filling one entire mould, I wrapped it firmly on the table to even out the chocolate and release some bubbles. Unfortunately, the photo of that step is slightly blurred and so it isn’t that easy to see that the chocolate smoothes out very nicely. I then placed the moulds in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes until they set. De-moulding: After the chocolate had cooled in the fridge for 45 minutes I removed the moulds and de-moulded immediately. They had contracted, as I expected, and came right out of the moulds all in one piece and hard. Though the bars were quite shiny over all, I could tell that I didn’t apply the cocoa butter extremely skillfully in some areas, so there are places where the shine is a bit more matte. So, the lack of smoothness of the bars is due to two things. First, the cocoa butter issue, and secondly, that the moulds have a slight texture to them, which would have looked homogeneous, had I applied the cocoa butter more skilfully. Additionally, I slightly overfilled some of the bars. I should have added 3.9 ounces to each mould rather than the full 4 ounces in order to avoid this. I took a photo of all the bars together, and then the best looking single one. Finally, after about 15 hours of rest, here is a close up of one bar “snapped” in two so that you can see the texture. It had a very firm snap that I am really happy with, and the grain looks good too. This hints at a good temper, but I’ll keep everyone updated over the next few days if I notice any bloom at all. However, there are some air bubbles that I didn’t manage to get out of the chocolate. This impacts the “look” of the chocolate. I have decided that I will definitely invest in a chocolate vibrating table before I mould bars again. These bubbles would have been forced out of even this quite viscous chocolate with such vibration. Technically, the chocolate should now “age” for some time to reach its peak in texture and flavor. I have seen suggested that 3 months is an adequate amount of time, though I don’t imagine that these bars will be around by then. The best part of this experience is that the chocolate tastes absolutely fantastic, and the mouthfeel matches the flavor in quality. The grain of the chocolate is just barely recognizable (i.e., is a far finer grain than most chocolate bars…even many of the “artisanal” chocolates such as some of Amedei’s). I have never had a chocolate bar made with Forastero that is this good, and the bitterness that one would expect with a cocoa of this type is almost non-existent. Now, I can’t wait to buy some Ocumare (criollo) and experiment with that. At any rate, I hope that some of you have enjoyed this demo, however imperfect it may be. I tried to document as much as possible to give everyone the feeling that you were here making the chocolate with me. Of course I can’t convey the magnificent smell of the roasting beans with their rich house-filling cocoa aroma, and I you can’t taste the finished product that is completely worth every bit of the time and effort, but hopefully you now have some sense of how to make chocolate at home, and better yet, the knowledge that it IS possible. The 21st century is here, home chocolate making is no longer kitchen fiction, and I dare say, and only half joking: “Be on the lookout Domori, the Chocolate Alchemists are on the prowl.” (Just don’t tell him I’m the one who said it) Lastly, for all of you who are now interested in making your own chocolate, please come and visit the free Chocolate Alchemy Forum, where, in addition to eGullet, I have learned a lot of things that have helped me to finally make my own chocolate. Comments welcome. I’ll answer any questions that I can. Sincerely, Alan

Does anyone know this, off the top of their head? I have been put on very short chocolate rations to keep my caffeine intake minimal, and I'm going into withdrawal!!

So I'm not sure how many of you outside of PA are familiar with Wilbur buds, but they're a local teardrop shaped chocolate made by Wilbur Chocolate (duh). I recently bought a lb from a local sundries store called the Head Nut that sells among other things spices, candies, dried fruit, baking ingredients, etc. While it does make for a pleasant shopping experience, it doesn't really do much to enhance the flavor of chocolate and my wilbur buds taste like the store smells. Does anyone have experience with de-scenting chocolate of unpleasant odors? This is really some delicious chocolate and it's a shame that I might have to trash a whole bag just because the store that sells them doesn't properly store their products.

I am looking for a great recipe for a chocolate tart dough. I have a few, but they either seem to be a bit on the dry side and have a tendancy to break or they are extremely wet and difficult to handle. Any suggestions?

Does anyone have a recipe for a chocolate plastic that will cover cakes nicely that they would be willing to share? I have been testing different ratios of corn syrup to chocolate but still haven't came up with anything that would cover a cake. Does anyone have a favorite purchased plastic they like to use? Thank you.....

Hi all, for a banquet for my daughter's drum corps, I am making chocolate mice.... Not the pastry kind.... These mice are a simple confection made from a hershey's kiss (for the face and snout) and a long-stemmed cherry dipped in chocolate (for the back and tail), with two little slivered almonds for ears, and little dots of red icing for eyes. I have decided I would like to serve these mice on a platter with trompe l'oeil "cheese wedges." My original thought was to make a couple round pans of brownies.... Cut them into little triangles (like Steve and Dan did on their Food Network series Partyline, of course I forget exactly how they did it but the triangles were small and perfect.) Then I thought of coating the brownie wedges with something like a glistening soft fondant, tinted yellow. Does this work? Does anyone have any other thoughts for either the base or icing? Does anyone have a simple recipe for a fondant or icing that will take coloring and look shiny? Any other alternatives? Whatever help or advice offered is appreciated. Also does anyone know the cutting technique from Partyline? Basically you cut a round pan of brownies into eight wedges, then you cut the tip of a wedge...that's one triangle.... then you cut the rest of the wedge in a way so it makes more triangles... but I forget exactly how they did it. Thanks!

i have recently been using circulators for tempering chocolate, with good results, i have 2 more circulators on the way, and i am planning on setting up a system that will eliminate the need for tableing the chocolate the set up i am currently goes like this: i chop all the chocolate, add spices to infuse if needed, then cryovac them i then set one circulator at 45c for plantations chocolates / 56 for valronah, place the bags in the water with a thermal probe inserted into the bag through a weather strip to prevent water contamination, i then allow the chocolate to reach max temp required on the temper curve. at this point i am currently dropping to the lowest pint on a marble counter top manualy then the chocolate is re sealed in cryo bags and held at 32 in another circulator until needed now that i will have more circulators i want to set up a third waterbath set at 28c to be used in between the melting and holding, in theory this will work, any ideas?????

from Money CNN UPI article Seems that Starbucks did so well with Chantico that others have followed suit ... Do you like a hot chocolate beverage? More than either coffee or tea? Have you tasted or made anything which combines heat and chocolate as a beverage?