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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 asked a friend of mine to build a guitar cutter for me. He is a professional fabricator and based his design on specs found on this website and other pictures I could find online. It's a beautiful piece of equipment. The problem is that it doesn't cut through my caramels. I cook them to just below the hard ball stage then set them in a caramel ruler. When I try to cut them, the wires just don't make it all the way through, though it perforates enough where I can then follow the lines with a pizza roller. So my question is this, am I having problems because the wires aren't right (I don't know enough to tell you what kind of wires they are) or do those of you with professional guitar cutters have the same problem?? Thank you diana

CONFECTIONERY 101 by Kerry Beal This course will begin next week on Sept. 5. Please read through the introduction for information on equipment and ingredients. The Instructor Kerry Beal, The Chocolate Doctor, started making candy in childhood, learning how to make fudge from her mother and pull taffy from her grandmother. (Because she had the patience of a gnat, she had trouble waiting for her fudge, so it tended to be grainy. She's gotten better.) Her interest in candy revived as an adult, and she started working with chocolate about ten years ago after purchasing a small tempering machine while on holiday in San Francisco. That started her journey into all things chocolate. Kerry is the author of the Chocolate Doctor series of educational DVDs, which cover the basic techniques for working with chocolate. She plans to make at least two other DVDs in the series to cover airbrushing with chocolate and pan coating with chocolate. She teaches courses in chocolate techniques, caramel making and confectionery. Although she has no plans to open a chocolate or candy shop, Kerry loves to develop new recipes and enjoys reverse engineering what she tastes. Friends bring her treats from around the world with instructions to 'copy it for me. She supports her passion for all things in the kitchen with her day job as a family physician, so she truly is the Chocolate Doctor. The Series: Confectionery 101 The subjects we will cover in this course are: 1. Caramel 2. Nougat 3. Fudge/Fondant 4. Pull Taffy The art of confectionery is all about the control of crystallization: the crystallization of sugar in sweets and the crystallization of cocoa butter in chocolate. Caramel, toffee and butterscotch are all candies with a non-crystalline structure, the differences in texture being determined by the temperature to which the batch is taken. For caramel and related candy, sugar is dissolved and large amounts of glucose are added to retard crystallization. Very little stirring takes place, again to discourage crystallization. Producing nougat and divinity also involves the retardation of sugar crystallization. A combination of boiled sugar and glucose with a frappe of egg albumin gives them their characteristic texture. The density and chewiness is determined by the proportions of sugar to glucose and the temperature to which the sugar solution is cooked. Fudge or fondant is made by boiling sugar with a liquid to first completely dissolve the sugar, then cooling to the ideal temperature before beating to encourage the formation of crystals of the desired size. It is the very fine crystals that we produce under these conditions that give fudge or fondant its creamy texture on the tongue. Pull taffy is sugar syrup cooked to a soft crack stage then allowed to cool just until it can be handled. It is then pulled until it lightens in colour and the crystals form a series of parallel ridges, providing its characteristic texture. Required supplies Note: Much of the equipment and ingredients will be used in all four classes. Class 1: Caramel Equipment Heavy pot 6 quarts or larger Candy or digital thermometer Silicone spatula or wooden or bamboo spoon Caramel rulers or pastry frame or metal baking pan Parchment paper or Silpat or oiled marble slab Chef’s knife or pizza cutter or guitar cutter (if you are so blessed) Ingredients Sugar Glucose (white corn syrup) Butter Honey Heavy cream Vanilla Class 2: Nougat Equipment Small heavy pot Candy or digital thermometer Stand mixer Caramel rulers or pastry frame or 8 x 8 inch metal pan Chefs knife or pizza cutter Ingredients Sugar Glucose (white corn syrup) Egg whites Peanut butter Class 3: Fudge Equipment Heavy 4-quart pot Candy or digital thermometer Wooden or bamboo spoon or silicone spatula Marble or granite slab (optional) Scraper if using slab to agitate Ingredients Sugar, white and brown Glucose (white corn syrup) Butter Milk or cream Vanilla Pecans Class 4: Pull Candy Equipment Heavy 4 quart or larger pot Candy or digital thermometer Marble or granite slab or large platter or flat pan Two strong arms or taffy hook Scissors Ingredients Sugar Glucose (white corn syrup) Vinegar Peppermint oil (optional) I hope these classes will encourage you to follow along and try some new techniques. I don't pretend to know everything about confectionery although I learn a lot every time I teach. I look forward to everyone's input, tips and techniques and trouble-shooting ideas. Together we will be able to answer questions, make suggestions and encourage successful confectionery. So get out your heaviest pots, your silicone spatulas, and your candy thermometers, and let's make some candy. Note from the eGCI team: A food scale is also necessary for these classes. Please post your questions and comment on the class here, in the Q&A.

Please post your questions and comments about the Confectionery 101 Course here.

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!

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.

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.

In keeping with all those great eG threads like "Breakfast! The most important meal of the day", "Lunch! What'd ya have", "Dinner! What did we cook" and "What's for dessert?", I think it is time that the chocolatiers and confectioners on eG have a place to post their day to day "what did I make" pictures and projects. So to start things off - I'm on holiday for 3 weeks and our plans to go sailing got buggered, so here I am with some time on my hands to play. I haven't made nougat for a while so yesterday I measured out a couple of those egg whites that have been sitting in the fridge for a while and here's the result. Nougat with almond and pistachio. It is excellent! soft, chewy, with well toasted crunchy nuts. The only thing missing is a bit of milk chocolate on the ends. And of course the best part, the scraps. So c'mon folks, lets have a look at your candy, confections, chocolate. All those nice goodies that don't fit well into breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert.

I was wondering what everyone's favorite chocoltier is. My two favorites are La Maison Du Chocolat and Joel Durand. Luis

MARIA BONBONS (Brazilian Candy) Serves 60 as Dessert. Easy to make. Even kids can do it!! 3 packages Maria cookies 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk ½ cup seedless raisin 2 c (12 oz pkg) chocolate Morsels 1 T vegetable shortening PREPARE: Grind cookies in a food processor until you get coarse flour. Place ground cookies in a big bowl. Pour condensed milk while mixing with a wood spoon until you get dough. Make small candy balls. Place couple raisins inside the balls while shaping them. Coat candies with chocolate: Line baking sheet with waxed paper. Melt morsels and shortening in small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Dip each candy into chocolate using a fork; place on prepared baking sheets. Let stand until chocolate is set. SERVE: Place in candy cups to serve. Make about 60 candies. Keywords: Dessert ( RG1730 )

I have no difficulty tempering chocolate, but I do have a hard time keeping it at optimal dipping temperature for long periods of time. Can I buy a temperature-controlled melter, into which I can pour my tempered chocolate, for significantly less than I can buy a home tempering machine? If so, what model should I look for? Thanks, Jonathan

We were walking down Second Avenue today and saw that Elk Confectionery had closed. A "no further information" message from the phone company played when we dialed its number. Does anybody know what happened? Last time we were there, a couple of months ago I suppose, it seemed to be thriving.

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 temper chocolate using a variety of methods, depending on how much I need, what equipment I have available, and the mood I happen to be in on any given day. I started perfecting this method late one spring, when the house was too warm to temper on my marble slab, and I needed some tempered chocolate to make a couple of hundred mocha chocolates for a wedding shower. I soon discovered the advantage over the marble slab technique, no chocolate dripping off the marble onto the floor, no danger of dropping my 3 inch thick slab of marble onto the tile floor (again). EQUIPMENT LIST 8 cup pyrex measuring cup microwave safe silicone spatula accurate digital thermometer pan to hold cooling water microwave oven heat gun parchment to test temper chefs knife or chocolate fork to chop chocolate MELTING THE CHOCOLATE Chop chocolate, place in pyrex measuring cup, place in microwave and microwave on high initally for 1 minute. Stir after heating in microwave. Continue to heat for 20 to 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating. After you reach the point where there are just a few small lumps left (3rd picture), heat again for about 10 to 15 seconds more. The temperature will be about 40 degrees centigrade (104 F). I do not let the temperature get above 45 degrees C (113 F). COOLING THE CHOCOLATE Now place pyrex measuring cup in pan of cool water, taking care not to get any water in your melted chocolate or it will seize. I add a couple of ice cubes to the water to speed cooling. Stir the chocolate away from the sides and bottom of the measuring cup frequently. As the chocolate cools you will begin to notice that it lightens in colour and begins to thicken as you can see in the picture. As you drag the spatula through the chocolate you will notice that it forms slight ridges. When the chocolate cools to 25 degrees C (78 degrees F) remove from cold water and wipe the bottom of the measuring cup with a tea towel to make sure water doesn't get in chocolate. REHEATING TO WORKING TEMPERATURE Now I use the heat gun to reheat the chocolate to about 29 degrees C (84 F) which will be my working temperature. I stir continually while using the heat gun to heat the chocolate that is on the spatula, the outside of the bowl and the surface of the chocolate. Once the temperature starts to rise, I remove the heat, stir thoroughly and wait a minute before adding more heat because often as I stir chocolate off the sides and bottom of the bowl the temperature will jump up. I want to be careful that the temperature doesn't go above 31 degrees C (87) or it may drive the chocolate out of temper. TESTING THE TEMPER I let the chocolate sit and equilibrate for a few minutes before testing the temper. I place a thin streak of chocolate on a piece of parchment and let it sit for a few minutes. It will lose it's wet shine and solidify. It can easily be snapped in pieces. If it doesn't solidify in a few minutes let the bowl sit for 10 minutes or so and test the temper again. If that fails, you can try putting it over the cool water until it reaches 25 degrees again, reheat carefully and retest. This is not a technique recommended by 'proper chocolatiers', the standard teaching is that if you are not in temper, you must reheat back to 40+ degrees and start again, however I have had success doing this in some cases. Once your chocolate is in temper you can start having fun. Molding, dipping, making ruffles, truffles or masterpieces. If the chocolate cools a bit, I heat it back up again to the working temperature either with the heat gun or by adding warm untempered chocolate. The tempered chocolate will act as a seed for the untempered chocolate and put it in temper, as long as you don't exceed the working temperature. So try it out, post your sucesses and failures. Ask lots of questions. Kerry

Ummm I have done some mint chocolates in the past and I have used the peppermint extract, but I feel that the taste isnt that soddisfacent,so I did another batch with fresh mint instead ( I saw many chocolatiers make it with fresh mint ),so i did it , and finish up the chocolates. Unfortunally I tryed one yesterday and the taste its very very weird , too weird to be selled , the only positive thing is that it leaves a great fresh back taste in your mouth , but the firts taste I dont know how to explained but it is weird like you can actually taste the plante inside , I would say not too appealing. Now I am going to try a different appoach just to experiment something, I made some fondant and Im going to mix it with som epeppermint extract ( I need to find some mint syrup ) and the fill the chocolates with that. What are your experience with mint? And did this weird taste ever accour to any of you guys? Thank you

You lucky Islingtonites, Paul Young - a proper chocolatier, teacher (for himself, for Rococo, etc.) - opens his patisserie/chocolate shop on Monday. It's at 33 Camden Passage. I think he'll be offering freebies. I don't think I'll make it but would love to hear peoples' opinions: paul.a.young fine chocolates 33 Camden Passage Islington London N1 8EA

I worked out the details to colour the coat on these bunnies and showed one of my students how to make them. She is trying to make 30 of the middle sized rabbits for someone in time for easter, and is molding them solid rather than hollow. She has found they are frequently breaking at the neck or feet. I have had similar problems with some of my figural molds in the past. I have a lovely Antoine Reiche mold of 3 rabbits and a basket and when molded solid it often breaks across the neck of one of the rabbits. I also have a fabulous chef mold that breaks at the feet almost every time. The chocolate appears to be well tempered, it unmolds cleanly. Any thoughts?

Can somebody please tell me the addresses of Jaques Genin and Pierre Marcolini(sp?) in paris Thanx tarek

I just got back from montreal and stopped by suite 88 a chocolate shop on St. Denis St. They had some really interesting chocolates which were delicious. One category was chocolates filled with different liquors /cocktail combinations. I didn't actually realize this until after I got them and she asked if I knew how to eat them. I said I think so and she then mentioned that I bit a portion and "drink" the liquor and then eat the shell or eat them in one bite. (I had thought they were ganaches). How would one get the liquor into the molded chocolate?

This is one of a series of compendia that seeks to provide information available in prior threads on eGullet. Please feel free to add links to additional threads or posts or to add suggestions. Jacques Genin and Pierre Marcolini Chocolate Recon Lovely chocolatier Questions about a la Petite Fabrique Chocolatiers of Paris NYT Buche de Noel C Constant

Anyone seen results of Consumer Reports ratings of chocolates? Doesn't it seem odd to rate chocolate as such by bon-bons? Fillings and flavorings, however delightful, mask the pure qualities of the chocolate. It would seem that the way to rate chocolate is to taste in bar and bark forms - unfilled and with no flavors other than, perhaps, vanilla. Or should they have said they were rating bon-bons, which is another matter? And no Debauve & Gallais or Lindt 70 percent cocoa? What kind of test is that?

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!

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?

I've been looking into books and resources for making truffles lately and ran across Ecole Chocolat. It's in Vancouver and offers an online course. I'm tempted because the price is reasonable ($595 for a 3 month course) and it offers a followup hands-on course (one week) in either Vancouver, Tuscany or Paris (@ Valrhona's Ecole du Grand Chocolat!). I've been making candy as gifts for the past 15 years and have been considering making a career out of it lately. I would really like to concentrate on chocolate and candy. I'm not sure I'm ready to quit my job and go to school full time, due to financial reasons, so I'm excited about this online course. I'm thinking this could be a first step in seeing if this is the career for me. Anyone have any thought/suggestion on this? Also, if you know of any other programs available that may serve my needs, I appreciate the resource. Thanks!