Report:eG Chocolate and Confectionery Conference

[mostlylana]

Wow... so green.... I hope there's another one.

I have to agree with Darienne Kerry - where do you get your energy?! I was telling my husband about you today and he mentioned that you sound like our friend Tom who's also a Dr. Boy that man gets a lot done!

It must be those multi-tasking and efficiency skills kicking in to all parts of your life. Lucky for us! We're reaping the benefits!

A big thank-you from me too!!

Have a great last day.

[Tri2Cook]

I'd also like to figure out how to add a black pepper flavor to a butter ganache without using essential oil. It wouldn't be a problem to infuse cream with black peppercorns, which then get strained out. But this particular recipe (one of Greweling's, minus the pepper) doesn't use any cream, just butter.

MelissaH

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Infuse the butter. Soften the butter to room temp, mix in some peppercorns, seal and toss in the cooler for a day or three. Soften again and sieve out the peppercorns. Fats love to pick up flavors and aromas, they even do it when you don't want them to.

You could also infuse the fruit puree with the peppercorns. Blitz the puree and peppercorns in a blender then sieve (unless the recipe calls for heating the puree, then just heat the peppercorns with the puree and sieve them out).

[Kerry Beal]

How generous of you to post all the photos also.  Kerry, you are nothing short of amazing.  In addition to being such a caring and knowledgeable person, you must also be indefatigable.

I assure you I am 'fatigable' - I'm not moving out of this chair this evening beyond getting the rug rat to bed. My dogs are barking!

[mkayahara]

What a great time! Airbrushing, shell molding, filling and backing, and slabbed ganache yesterday, then tempering, dipping and some non-chocolate centres/confections (nougat and buttercrunch) today. I have more chocolate than I know what to do with!

My goal in attending this conference was to gain a better understanding of how to temper chocolate, and I would say I gained that and a whole lot more.

I have some photos and a couple of short videos, and I'll try and post as soon as I've sorted through them.

Thanks for all your hard work, Kerry!

[patris]

How generous of you to post all the photos also.  Kerry, you are nothing short of amazing.  In addition to being such a caring and knowledgeable person, you must also be indefatigable.

I assure you I am 'fatigable' - I'm not moving out of this chair this evening beyond getting the rug rat to bed. My dogs are barking!

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I certainly hope you're getting some rest - you certainly deserve it! I'm so sorry to have missed it. Can't wait to hear and see more.

[isomer]

What a fantastic conference! This was so much more than I imagined it would be. It was really nice to meet and work with all of you, and make some new friends. Kerry, thank you so much for putting this conference together.

Here are some photos. First the chocolates:

These are filled with either caramel, raspberry butter ganache or icewine. The fillings were a group effort between Mike (what's your eG id, Mike?), MelissaH and myself. These are the first chocolates I ever made, so there were many causalties. These are the survivors:

These are stenciled and filled with curry-coconut ganache. Many thanks to John DePaula, whjo gently and expertly guided me to success on this batch:

Mike, MelissaH and I made these orange chocolates, which Mike enrobed:

Matthew Kayahara (mkayahara) gave me this one, which I think might have the curry-coconut filling as well:

Art and Wilma from Chocolate FX brought these lovely enrobed berries and nuts for us to try:

The very talented Steve Lebowits gave me these beauties which he made, and brought to the course to share with us:

Here is Kerry Beal showing us how to silkscreen, with MellissaH looking on:

I think this is Mike piping filling into his shells:

And finally, here are some shots of Brian Donaghy from Tomric giving us an "introduction to chocolate" demonstration:

[Kerry Beal]

It occurs to me that after we did the 3 methods of slab ganache making - the Greweling, the Morato, and the Wybauw - we didn't do a side by side comparison.

Could everyone comment on the slab they made and what the result was - did you compare your ganache with the other two?

[MelissaH]

What a fantastic conference! This was so much more than I imagined it would be. It was really nice to meet and work with all of you, and make some new friends. Kerry, thank you so much for putting this conference together.

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Amen to that!

So, how were the raspberry and slab ganaches? Because I had to get back home, I didn't get to taste those finished products. But I'm glad to see that the transfer sheet you painted up worked beautifully. (Does anyone have pictures of what happened with some of the other transfer sheets we had fun painting with colored cocoa butter? Did the ones with thicker painted designs work OK, or was thinner better?)

MelissaH

[mkayahara]

Matthew Kayahara (mkayahara) gave me this one, which I think might have the curry-coconut filling as well:

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Actually, that one should be nougat, if I'm correctly remembering which transfer sheets we used for which chocolates!

[Lior]

The survivors look excellent. The transfer sheet ones that John helped you with are lovely!! It is funny how one thinks he will remember what is in each chocolate, but doesn't!! Morato slab? Is it the ratios orsomething else that makes his different? Iassume Wybauw uses tempered chocolate in his slabs. This interests me a lot- the comparing of methods.

Thank for the pictures!

[Anna N]

I will let others report on the activites of the conference as I was basically the "detail" person but I have to say three things:

The meal prepared by Chef Dave and his staff will become the stuff of legend at our house.

I have never before spent two days with such a congenial group!

Kerry may occasionally fall prey to the rigors of being only human with aching dogs but she truly seems super human in the amount she can accomplish and in her ability to coax the best out of the rest of us!

[mkayahara]

As I mentioned above, I took a couple of short videos at the conference. You can find them on YouTube.

Kerry demonstrating how to silk screen a transfer sheet:

My partner filling shell molded chocolates with passion fruit caramel:

Kerry demonstrating how to temper chocolate by tabling:

Enjoy!

[jturn00]

What a fantastic conference! This was so much more than I imagined it would be. It was really nice to meet and work with all of you, and make some new friends. Kerry, thank you so much for putting this conference together.

Here are some photos. First the chocolates:

These are filled with either caramel, raspberry butter ganache or icewine. The fillings were a group effort between Mike (what's your eG id, Mike?), MelissaH and myself. These are the first chocolates I ever made, so there were many causalties. These are the survivors:

Wow! I wish I had the time to join in......

Isomer, what was the icewine filling? Sounds interesting? Was it based on white or dark chocolate ganache?

I am also interested in John's Curry-coconut filling. That sounds pretty exotic.

I've tried making different exotic fillings for family and friends before but they seem to just like my standard dark cocolate ganache or pear-caramel filling......

Jeff

[tammylc]

I am so sad that I wasn't able to make it! And here's another one begging for doing it again next year, please!

[chocoera]

love you guys!!!! i will try to post photos soon...and they will look nothing as good as those already posted, or as beautiful as john's..but they will be up nonetheless! i loved meeting everyone and made some great friends! (well, they are friends to me...not sure how the feeling is on the other end...) *ha ha ha* but yes, wonderful company, amazing food, and such an exciting time at the conference!

PS-thanks to those who found my spatula

[merlicky]

The fillings were a group effort between Mike (what's your eG id, Mike?), MelissaH and myself.

See this post for answer. Also, that picture is not me (easy way to tell is that there is no ring on the left hand).

jturn00, I believe the curry coconut recipe was the Madras from Grewling's book in the butter ganache section.

The meal was pretty awesome, the stuff of legend as AnnaN describes. An excellent deal too since it cost me less than the fairly average meal I had the night before in Niagara Falls.

Kerry, and everyone who pitched in and taught or helped organize, did a wonderful job. Thanks. And, keep posting pictures, since I didn't have my camera with me.

[chocoera]

love you guys!!!!  i will try to post photos soon...and they will look nothing as good as those already posted, or as beautiful as john's..but they will be up nonetheless!  i loved meeting everyone and made some great friends!  (well, they are friends to me...not sure how the feeling is on the other end...)    *ha ha ha*  but yes, wonderful company, amazing food, and such an exciting time at the conference!

PS-thanks to those who found my spatula

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ok, so i am not going to post 60 photos...that would take up like the whole thread! but here is an album you can view, just click on the link!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109...04&l=f468c1c417

also, a few questions regarding that packet of info kerry handed out: i did a wybauw ganache..thought the texture was very smooth and flavored carried well but it turned out super soft. we pre-coated the bottom and let set in fridge to harden, it helped when using the guitar cutter, so no worries...but would like to know if we think we just didn't have enough chocolate? (270 g, 250 g cream, 25 g invert, 50 g butter) or if it was the method (mix 30 C cream with 30 C chocolate, then add room temp butter) any thoughts? should chocolate go up to 300 or 320 g?

next: the chewy caramel recipe from chocolats et confiserie...has anyone tried this before? thoughts on flavoring and texture? could you make a big batch, spread on parchment paper or rulers, and cool, and then break off chunks and use when needed? i like to have caramel on hand for turtles, apples etc, but don't always use a full recipe, is there a problem with continually reheating and cooling a batch? does that change the texture? i like a pretty soft caramel, but i don't want it sliding off the apples...that's annoying...especially since i will then coat with chocolate after the caramel

love the buttercrunch toffee. nice job matt n' matt.

next: for our next conference (because i know we are having one...ask steve...he promised to set one up...there are witnesses) i was hoping to work on pates de fruits. i have tried three times and failed. any tips on this? can i sub tartaric acid for lemon juice or cider vinegar? what do you pour a pate de fruits in and how long can they last? (enrobed like kerry's cigar chocolate, or un-enrobed like a traditional pate de fruits) has anyone tried the recipe found in our packet?

ok...that's it for now! love you all!!!

wait. one more. i know passion fruit is like crazy compared to other fruits...if i wanted to sub a different fruit in the liquid passion fruit caramel or the passion/mango caramel, will that cause a problem in the final product texture?

ok. that's it. xoxoxo

[Kerry Beal]

love you guys!!!!  i will try to post photos soon...and they will look nothing as good as those already posted, or as beautiful as john's..but they will be up nonetheless!  i loved meeting everyone and made some great friends!  (well, they are friends to me...not sure how the feeling is on the other end...)    *ha ha ha*  but yes, wonderful company, amazing food, and such an exciting time at the conference!

PS-thanks to those who found my spatula

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Spatula will be winging it's way back to you next time I cross the border.

ok, so i am not going to post 60 photos...that would take up like the whole thread! but here is an album you can view, just click on the link!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109...04&l=f468c1c417

also, a few questions regarding that packet of info kerry handed out: i did a wybauw ganache..thought the texture was very smooth and flavored carried well but it turned out super soft. we pre-coated the bottom and let set in fridge to harden, it helped when using the guitar cutter, so no worries...but would like to know if we think we just didn't have enough chocolate? (270 g, 250 g cream, 25 g invert, 50 g butter) or if it was the method (mix 30 C cream with 30 C chocolate, then add room temp butter) any thoughts? should chocolate go up to 300 or 320 g?

And that's the question - the recipe was the same for all 3 ganaches - just the technique of mixing was different.  Did we notice any differences/consistancies between methods?

next: the chewy caramel recipe from chocolats et confiserie...has anyone tried this before? thoughts on flavoring and texture? could you make a big batch, spread on parchment paper or rulers, and cool, and then break off chunks and use when needed? i like to have caramel on hand for turtles, apples etc, but don't always use a full recipe, is there a problem with continually reheating and cooling a batch? does that change the texture? i like a pretty soft caramel, but i don't want it sliding off the apples...that's annoying...especially since i will then coat with chocolate after the caramel

I make a batch, and will heat up bits of it to use for turtles etc.  Just store in an airtight container to prevent flavour pickup.

love the buttercrunch toffee. nice job matt n' matt.

next: for our next conference (because i know we are having one...ask steve...he promised to set one up...there are witnesses) i was hoping to work on pates de fruits. i have tried three times and failed. any tips on this? can i sub tartaric acid for lemon juice or cider vinegar? what do you pour a pate de fruits in and how long can they last? (enrobed like kerry's cigar chocolate, or un-enrobed like a traditional pate de fruits) has anyone tried the recipe found in our packet?

I heard him too - I'm going to hold him to it.  I had hoped to get to pate de fruit this conference (the road to hell and all that) - try the Boiron recipes I gave you - they use tartaric - you can make your own purees if you can't access the boiron.

How long they last - weeks and weeks enrobed, less coated with sugar.

ok...that's it for now! love you all!!!

wait. one more. i know passion fruit is like crazy compared to other fruits...if i wanted to sub a different fruit in the liquid passion fruit caramel or the passion/mango caramel, will that cause a problem in the final product texture?

Give it a try and find out!

ok. that's it. xoxoxo

[Marmish]

The fillings were a group effort between Mike (what's your eG id, Mike?), MelissaH and myself.

See this post for answer. Also, that picture is not me (easy way to tell is that there is no ring on the left hand).

jturn00, I believe the curry coconut recipe was the Madras from Grewling's book in the butter ganache section.

The meal was pretty awesome, the stuff of legend as AnnaN describes. An excellent deal too since it cost me less than the fairly average meal I had the night before in Niagara Falls.

Kerry, and everyone who pitched in and taught or helped organize, did a wonderful job. Thanks. And, keep posting pictures, since I didn't have my camera with me.

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I think that pic is Matty. Just to echo everyone else, I had a blast, learned a bunch and spent 3 days with the best group of people around. What a phenomenal time! Thanks again to Kerry for all her work. If we give her about a week, she'll agree to another one. And I DID witness someone else offering to host.

[merlicky]

also, a few questions regarding that packet of info kerry handed out:  i did a wybauw ganache..thought the texture was very smooth and flavored carried well but it turned out super soft.  we pre-coated the bottom and let set in fridge to harden, it helped when using the guitar cutter, so no worries...but would like to know if we think we just didn't have enough chocolate? (270 g, 250 g cream, 25 g invert, 50 g butter) or if it was the method (mix 30 C cream with 30 C chocolate, then add room temp butter) any thoughts?  should chocolate go up to 300 or 320 g?

We made the Wybauw too and also ended up with a really soft ganache.

I think his method is supposed to create a fairly firm ganache because the chocolate never leaves temper (doesn’t Grewling also table his slabbed ganaches?).

I think the problem might have been the percentage chocolate we were using; if I remember correctly that bags said that it was a 55% chocolate. I think most of the dark recipes with 1:1-ish ratios are formulated for 65%-ish chocolate, so this might have caused the ganache to be softer. A bit more chocolate would have probably helped (or a bit darker chocolate).

At least that’s my best guess.

[Kerry Beal]

Did any of the 3 ganaches end up with a good firm texture that was easy to cut?

[MelissaH]

Did any of the 3 ganaches end up with a good firm texture that was easy to cut?

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And---since I wasn't there to see the end product---what did they wind up like? Did they actually cut into squares that you could handle, or were they all something that might have been better off just piped into shells?

MelissaH

[Kerry Beal]

How about the goodies that Lior sent for us to enjoy - I've been working on the lokum and some of the snacky foods today. What did you take home? How are you enjoying it?

[Darienne]

OMIGAWD!!! What a time you all had. Just looked at ALL of Chocoera (aka Erika)'s photos.(Can't do U-tube on my hookup.) What a blast!

Loved the chocolates. They look so delicious.

Next year..........

[Anna N]

How about the goodies that Lior sent for us to enjoy - I've been working on the lokum and some of the snacky foods today.  What did you take home?  How are you enjoying it?

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Ooh yes - that was an incredible selection that Lior sent for us to enjoy. I snagged the chocolate gelt for my granddaughter and she is really enjoying them! Thank you.