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I was just reading the starchefs website (Starchefs.com/Balaguer demo) and there were instructions about how "Chef Oriol Balaguer uses ice cubes to create a “coral” textured chocolate egg. " Shouldn't chocolate and water never mix? Is it becasue the chocolate is tempered before pouring over the ice cubes that this method works? The resulting egg looks great!

Back in 1983 Craig Claiborne & Pierre Franey published a recipe in the NY Times for a chocolate mousse cake. You make the mousse, bake 3/4 of it, and use the remaining 1/4 to frost the cooled cake. It's spectacular. Recently, I unearthed the recipe and made it for a women's group dinner. Needless to say, I was asked whether the dish included raw eggs, and had to confess it did. Do others still make such throw-backs to a bygone era? I read on the American Egg Association website that the risk of salmonella is something like 1 in 20,000. What do others think? Lucas' mom

After 6 years of making & selling chocolates in a very small mall space, I have the opportunity to expand into a brand new building (renting one of four shop spaces in the building.) I'll be buying a Hilliard's Six Inch Coater to add to the Little Dipper and the Mol d'Art melter I currently use. The coating process will be visible (behind glass) to customers. I'll continue to also sell fudge and candies and nuts, as gifts and for instant gratification, because the heavy walk-by traffic includes kids and adults, not all of whom are chocolate lovers (gasp!) I am considering adding espresso-based drinks, as this is lacking in this downtown area, although I am a little concerned with the heavy coffee aroma infiltrating my chocolates. My question for eGulleters is, any advice, thoughts, do's or don'ts? Anything you wish you'd done differently, or are particularly happy with, in your shops/kitchens? Anything you love or hate about chocolate shops you visit? I'd love to get any kind of input, as the blank floor plan seems to have taken up permanent residence in my mind's eye.

Hi. didn't want to put this where the best chocolate cake thread was. Got a request from a bride wanting a Milk Chocolate Cake with white frosting. """"She seems persistant"""""" arrgggghhh I don't do Milk Chocolate Cakes..........just Devil's and a Dark Chocolate, don't do frosting either. It's buttercream........... Anyone?????? Really don't want to mess around with tweaking my own recipes, looked on the web for some, not looking good out there, slim pickin's..... Help!

Cant seem to think of a way that it would be possible, though someone out there might have an idea as to how it could work. Cheers, PJ

Ok it was an accident not an experiment, acutally I did some chocolate last night after work and was very late,so I unmolded most of them right away , and some from a one mold didnt came out right away and I couldnt tap too hard on the counter because everyone were sleeping . Anyway this morning I went down , where I keep all my chocolates in the basement its very cold, and I unmolded the rest form that last mold, and I have noticed that the one I just unmolded are way shinier than the ones I unmolded last night after I covered them ( I waited ofcourse ). Now my question is , what can be the cause of this difference? The fact that the chocolate srhink even more in a cold ( not fridge ) enveiroment ( sp)? I am courious because if is the case I will change my unmolding time and place I guess . Thank you the pic isnt the best .

I want to try my hand at making chocolate babka, but don't know which recipe to use. Right now I am debating between Martha Stewart's recipe and Peggy Cullen's. http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?ty...MSL&site=living http://www.baking911.com/recipes/pastry/danishdough.htm http://www.baking911.com/recipes/cakes/babkachocolate.htm Has anyone tried either one of these recipes? Any advice would be great!! Thanks so much!

I'm now on a hunt for a recipe that appeared between 20-30 years ago in the Boston Globe's Confidential Chat pages (it was a printed forum "newsgroup" from way before the computer age). My mother got lots of terrific recipes from it, and one of them was called "Wowie Cake". As I remember it, it had flour, sugar, oil, vinegar, maybe some vanilla, cocoa and I cannot remember if it had eggs or not. It got mixed up in a single bowl, it was easy to put together and it rose and had a nice crumb. At one point, I think the recipe was reprinted with a cream cheese frosting. Anyway, I was reminded of it today when I was baking a cake per a client's request for a lactose intolerant group. The cake from the client's recipe is about a half inch high and very heavy - I don't think this is how it was supposed to come out but they originally wanted me to use a Duncan Hines boxed mix because it is/was dairy free and something they could have without worries. But when I went to the market to get this mix, I noticed that it listed non-fat dry milk and called them; then they gave me this recipe (verbatim): 2 cups cake flour 2 cups white sugar 3/4 cup cocoa 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Mix above ingredients til blended, then make a well in the center. Add the following: 2 eggs 1 cup cold brewed coffee 1 cup rice dream (a milk "substitute") 1/2 cup veg. oil 2 tsp vinegar The batter is thin (an understatement!); pour into greased/floured 9x13 pan; bake at 350 for 35-40 mins. So, I think there's a lot of liquid in this recipe for this amount of dry ingredients, I also think that my cocoa (Felchlin) is not what the average home-based cook has, and the sugar I use (fruit fine) is a finer granulation than what home based cooks use, I don't think either of these two differences are totally responsible for this cake being so dense/heavy and so very thin. There's barely enough leavening to support it and there's no structure to speak of. Anyway, if you've ever heard of the Wowie Cake and have a recipe, I'd love to have it again. And if you have any thoughts about this formula, I'm all ears. The cake is already done (it's SO heavy!! For lactose intolerant clients and those who need a dairy free alternative, I make a meringue buttercream with Fleischmann's unsalted margarine instead of butter. As long as it's flavored with something like raspberry or blackberry, it masks the margarine and works pretty well.) Thanks! Jeanne

I am throwing a surprise poker/40th birthday party for my husband. He absolutely loves single malt scotch and anything chocolate. I have the scotch part covered, but would like to set out a chocolate buffet. It needs to be mostly neat, finger food as they will be playing cards. So far I have thought of brownies, chocolate chip cookies, a variety of truffles (scotch, chile, . . . ), chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate cheesecake cut into tiny fingers or squares. I know not all of these are completely neat, but, it is chocolate after all. I am looking for some more ideas, perhaps something with nutella, peanut butter or pecans. Any suggestions?

Just this Sunday I tempered a batch of Callubet bittersweet chocolate for Fluer De Sel caramels and it flowed beautifully. Monday and today I molded with white chocolate and that worked out ok. But today I tried the bittersweet again and it just curled up in the tempering machine several times thicker than Sunday night. I tried it once again thinking that perhaps I had left a drop or two of water in divider, but it was just as bad. The humidity is 52% even with the air conditioner running and keeping the temp in my basement workshop down to 68 degrees F. Is this just too high? Do I need to make an emergency run for a dehumidifier? I've got three more batches to make for wedding favors for a reception on Saturday and I don't want to have to roll them all in cocoa!

As I'm brainstorming ideas on what to make for holiday gifts this year, I thought about chocolate covered almonds. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to make them. I just assume I'll dip roasted almonds in chocolate, doing several coatings. (Should I salt the almonds?) Thinking maybe on the 3rd coating, roll them in cocoa powder before letting the chocolate set. Instead of just plain cocoa powder, I'm thinking of spicing it up. Chili scented, curry scented and cumin scented. What portion of spice to cocoa powder should I start experimenting with? Also, anyone have a suggestion of which type of chili powder may work? Would cayenne be too spicy?

I'm getting married and was wondering if anyone knew of any places we could register that carries products for making chocolate, like tempering machines, molds etc

OK, I didn't actually see any naked people there, and it's a classy place, so Fenton, don't get any ideas. I'm guessing they're referring to the often unadorned, unobscured chocolatey goodness... www.nakedchocolatecafe.com It's at 1317 Walnut, which is to say, just around the corner from Capogiro, which presents a real dilemma when looking to quiet the yearnings of a sweet tooth. As the weather cools I suspect the decision might increasingly point this way, especially given that Naked Chocolate Cafe serves some seriously decadent hot chocolate. That's a gargantuan "Frozen Drinking Chocolate" on the left, which they say can be for one or two, and sure enough one normal person would likely be overwhelmed. eGulleteers? might need two. This was sort of like an extremely intense chocolate milkshake, but somehow even more chocolatey that any milkshake I've ever tasted. On the right is a "petite" Sipping Chocolate, which is hot, thick, creamy, amazing... The big frozen drink is $6, the petite sipping chocolate is $4.50. They have 4 different types of hot chocolate, coffee, teas, and combinations of the three. (Yes, they offer chocolate teas!) Much of the store is taken up by cases that contain their chocolate candies, baked goods, mousse, puddings, pots de creme, etc. It's a little overwhelming. Suffice it to say: chocoholics, make your way there immediately. I was a bit choco-saturated by the drinks (no, I didn't drink BOTH of them....) so I didn't try anything else, except for a sample of pistachio bark up on the counter, which was pretty tasty. But I'll be back for more. Looking at the photos later, I had to laugh at an accidental reflection from across the street: So, I guess there are always other options too....

Does any one have a US source for chocolate cigarillos.

i would want to find some book about the chocolate display. May i know anybody have idea? thank you very much

Has anyone tried this? Anyone have a good recipe that can be used in wedding cakes?

Quick question. I have a cupcake recipe that calls for using melted semi-sweet chocolate as a dip for a mound of creamy filling that is piled on top of the cupcake (think of those dipped cones at Dairy Queen). Can I use a bar of good dark chocolate instead of the semi sweet? What % is semi sweet anyway? How 'dark' is it? Thanks!

I was reading one of my L'Ecole books and it mentioned using a vacuum to make a ganache. The picture shows a very simple looking machine. Does anyone have any information on where I can purchase a vacuum machine for making ganache? Does anyone have any experience with this type of machine?

This past Saturday I presented 56 boxes of chocolates to a friend as wedding favors for her reception. My wife has shipped care packages of my truffles as far away as California and Australia, but this was my first time being under the gun to produce a large and varied batch on a deadline. I of course, drastically underestimated the time it would take and only started my first batch the weekend before. To make matters worse I lost a couple days due to the heat wave and high humidity before I bought a dehumidifier to augment the central air. That lowered the humidity enough to resuming tempering and dipping on Thursday. My wife and I were tying ribbon around the boxes at 2am Friday night with a 6am alarm for the long drive to Toronto. Still, it all came together. I want to thank all of those here who have provided tips, techniques, and encouragement. I have gotten quite a bit of information from the demonstrations, threads, and individual messages which brought me to the point that I had confidence I could pull this off. Here is a single box showing the variety. Thanks to chiantiglace for the demo on praline making and Kerry Beal and others for the tip on how to keep the crunch when it goes into the ganache. The box top with a label explaining what each chocolate is. My wife had whole sheets of sticky label and I cut them with a table cutter. The finished box all tied up in the brides colors. Special thanks to WhiteTruffleGirl for sharing her find of these great looking Empire boxes! And finally the entire batch that made the trip.

Ok finally I got my testure sheets ( still to hot to order transfer sheets ), I am going to use them for chocolates , and I was wondering a silly question, can i cut the sheets like I would for transfer sheets to fit the chocolate size?And can I reause them? Thank you much

Has anyone been to Eclat Chocolate on High St in West Chester yet (besides me)? Imagine the overachieving offspring of Ferran Adria & Willy Wonka's sister and you have an idea of what Christopher Curtin is like. They won Best of Philly for 2005 without advertising, an accomplishment in itself. Their artwork is on display and you can see the kitchen through a window behind the counter. Never have I seen 20 chocolates disappear so fast, especially when only 1 person was eating them.

I'll be heading out west again, and have a hankering for some delectable chocolates and cakes. The last time I was in Vancouver, I tried Thomas Haas chocolates (Yum! Esp. the Campari ones...) and Ganache Patisserie (delicious and very well-constructed mini cakes). Are there any other can't-miss chocolatiers and patisseries in town that I must try? Thanks!

Hi All, I am baking some cakes for a friend and am looking for a tried and tested dairy-free chocolate frosting/icing for cakes. Would appreciate any suggestions or recipes. Thanks alot.

My lovely husband has given me a surprise trip to London for my birthday, leaving tomorrow There will be lots of eating and drinking, but I also need chocolate recommendations! Please! What is good, what is overrated, what is best to avoid? Leaving tomorrow morning and having to work doesn't leave me much time to research, and besides, I prefer recommendations from the people in the know Thank you P.S. Will post pics if anything good comes my way in the UK

For les bon bons, I go to Christopher Elbow (see here)... any others? I know Andre's Confisserie makes some (see here), which are gorgeous but chalked full of vanillin, preservatives and other additives. Dean & Deluca's have a case of chocolates from NYC, and some of them are okay (see here). Here's the more challenging question: where to get good eating chocolate - like bars and such. I've been yearning for a good bar with nibs. The Better Cheddar has probably the best selection I've seen - but they're way over-priced and besides the usual suspects - Valrhona, El Ray, Scharffenberger and two Vosges Haute Chocolate bars that I like (Red Fire and the Oaxacan), their selection is pretty spotty. Whole Foods, surprisingly, and depressingly, is worse. Shcharffenberger and Valrhona are as good as they get. I know D&D's probably has some, but I never (for some reason) found them/bothered to look. Oh, and I know, surprisingly, World Market has some - again, Valrhona and Scharffenberger and the ubiquitous(ly sugary and creamy) Lindt. I'm looking for a "specialty" chocolate store - or one that carries a full(er) and more novel "varietals." I wonder if Christopher Elbow's new store will carry any....? Any others?