Confections! What did we make? (2012 – 2014)

[grammacake12]

this is what I made this week, so far.

this is crème de menthe with crushed rock crème de menthe candy on top.

champagne truffles, strawberry mash crème filled, peanut butter cups, butter rum w/ crushed candies on top. creme de menthe w/ crushed rock candy.

[DianaM]

My first attempt at piping chocolate design inside a mold. I now have a much greater appreciation for those zebras Jenjcook makes as it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. These are an experiment with an Irish Cream Liqueur milk chocolate ganache. Pretty tasty, not sold on my piping skills though

I think you should give yourself some credit, Willow. For a first attempt, they look nice, and where piping is concerned, practice really does make perfect.

[curls]

gianduja & feuilletine... wish that more people knew what these are or that I had a good American English equivalent... any ideas? Currently I go with chocolate hazelnut paste with yummy crunchy bits (but that is a bit too much)!

[Kerry Beal]

Yeah - I'd use the same description - but usually add "like the filling in those sea shell chocolates you get a Christmas"!

[Matthew Kirshner]

gianduja & feuilletine... wish that more people knew what these are or that I had a good American English equivalent... any ideas? Currently I go with chocolate hazelnut paste with yummy crunchy bits (but that is a bit too much)!

IMG_3016-800x600.jpg

when explaining feuillentine to customers I usually tell them its pieces of ice cream cones.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Maraschino-Amaretto Nanaimo bars with almonds and fresh coconut, Caoni gran cru Amazon 55% dark milk chocolate.

[Tri2Cook]

Maraschino-Amaretto Nanaimo bars with almonds and fresh coconut, Caoni gran cru Amazon 55% dark milk chocolate.

You get really creative with your Nanaimo bars. I love it.

[Jim D.]

gianduja & feuilletine... wish that more people knew what these are or that I had a good American English equivalent... any ideas? Currently I go with chocolate hazelnut paste with yummy crunchy bits (but that is a bit too much)!

They look delicious and beautiful as well. I made feuilletine once (with emphasis on "once"--it was quite a job). I've been thinking of buying that mold (which looks like a radiator to me). By the way, I like the cups you use for these chocolates. I can't tell how large the chocolates are, but are the cups larger than usual? I've been looking everywhere for larger ones. I like to use gold foil cups, but the largest they seem to come is size 5 (1 1/4" base). I've found brown and white cups as large as 1 3/4" base. In any event, great job on the chocolates.

[curls]

gianduja & feuilletine... wish that more people knew what these are or that I had a good American English equivalent... any ideas? Currently I go with chocolate hazelnut paste with yummy crunchy bits (but that is a bit too much)!

IMG_3016-800x600.jpg

when explaining feuillentine to customers I usually tell them its pieces of ice cream cones.

Thanks Matthew, that will help... crispy crepes just wasn't working for me.

[curls]

gianduja & feuilletine... wish that more people knew what these are or that I had a good American English equivalent... any ideas? Currently I go with chocolate hazelnut paste with yummy crunchy bits (but that is a bit too much)!

They look delicious and beautiful as well. I made feuilletine once (with emphasis on "once"--it was quite a job). I've been thinking of buying that mold (which looks like a radiator to me). By the way, I like the cups you use for these chocolates. I can't tell how large the chocolates are, but are the cups larger than usual? I've been looking everywhere for larger ones. I like to use gold foil cups, but the largest they seem to come is size 5 (1 1/4" base). I've found brown and white cups as large as 1 3/4" base. In any event, great job on the chocolates.

Thank you Jim. I got the candy cups from Revere Group, brown glassine size #5C (1 1/8" x 13/16"), they have many different sizes to choose from. I like that mold a lot, works well and looks pretty.

[judiu]

VERY, VERY upmarket Kit Kat bars? %)

[rajoress]

For Valentine's Day - Pierre Hermes chocolate caramel truffles. This time, I ended up with some crystallized sugar in the caramel but was ensured by my family that they liked the crunchy texture - go figure!

Thanks for looking,

Ruth

[Kerry Beal]

For Valentine's Day - Pierre Hermes chocolate caramel truffles. This time, I ended up with some crystallized sugar in the caramel but was ensured by my family that they liked the crunchy texture - go figure!

Thanks for looking,

Ruth

Classic - and next time you try to get that crunchy texture you'll be SOL!

[minas6907]

I've been extremely busy as of late, in the middle of a move, but here's the latest fruits of my labor.

Black Cherry Hearts

Assorted Taffies (Blueberry, Coconut, Pomegranate, Mango, Honeydew Melon, and Banana)

Cointreau and Cacao Nib Bonbon

Gianduja Bonbon

[rajoress]

Minas6907 - your stuff is gorgeous!

[YetiChocolates]

minas6907 I love the splatter on the Cointreau and Cacao Nib Bonbon...although I know you've said in the past chocolates aren't your forte, you're definitely seeming to get the hang of them...nice work!

[minas6907]

Hey, thank you so much, both of you! Recently I've gotten much more comfortable with chocolate, I wish I started much earlier! For a time I gave up and just stuck to sugar, but now I'm loving the stuff!

[Mette]

Finally managed to get the chocolate-things activated in the new kitchen

Hazelnut/amaretto ganache (left) and orange/balsamico caramel from Couture Chocolate. Very tasty but too soft - the recipe doesn't state a temperature, so difficult to control the texture.

[Jim D.]

Hazelnut/amaretto ganache (left) and orange/balsamico caramel from Couture Chocolate. Very tasty but too soft - the recipe doesn't state a temperature, so difficult to control the texture.

I really like that Curley recipe for orange/balsamic, and many recipients of my chocolates have also.  I had the same experience the first time--a napkin was needed to eat it.  Now I cook it to 230F (110C) (the temp recommended by Ewald Notter for his caramel pralines).  I was apprehensive about the amount of balsamic at first, but the quantity recommended is just about perfect (depending on the balsamic, of course).

[ChocoMom]

Mina and Mette....your chocolates look nothing short of amazing!!!  WOW!   I am still relatively new at using the airbrush..but I love it! And the finish on the green bon-bon is gorgeous!

Right now, I am waiting for the raspberry-wasabi filling to dry, then dip later tonight.  (See Andrew Shott's book...Making Artisan Chocolates, p 144-45)  I still don't know the equivalent of  "a pinch"  from his book, but I love the book regardless.   Might just be that I have small hands, so this recipe needed way more than "a pinch" of wasabi powder in the ganache.  I've sampled it over and over just to be sure.

 

  After I complete this raspberry one, the Vanilla/Espresso two layer truffles are next on the hit-list. I'm going to try those using the chocoflex mould.  Has anyone ever used the chocoflex before? Just curious to find out if it has to be treated any differently than other moulds. I do most of my truffles entirely by hand--so I'm not experienced with moulding ganache.  Any help/advice would be most appreciated!   

[grammacake12]

 

I am just starting out with transfers. This is my first ones I made today. Hopefully I will start getting them more uniform the more I do.

[Kerry Beal]

 

I am just starting out with transfers. This is my first ones I made today. Hopefully I will start getting them more uniform the more I do.

I've never seen a transfer used on that kind of mold - how did you accomplish it?

[Kerry Beal]

Mina and Mette....your chocolates look nothing short of amazing!!!  WOW!   I am still relatively new at using the airbrush..but I love it! And the finish on the green bon-bon is gorgeous!

Right now, I am waiting for the raspberry-wasabi filling to dry, then dip later tonight.  (See Andrew Shott's book...Making Artisan Chocolates, p 144-45)  I still don't know the equivalent of  "a pinch"  from his book, but I love the book regardless.   Might just be that I have small hands, so this recipe needed way more than "a pinch" of wasabi powder in the ganache.  I've sampled it over and over just to be sure.

 

  After I complete this raspberry one, the Vanilla/Espresso two layer truffles are next on the hit-list. I'm going to try those using the chocoflex mould.  Has anyone ever used the chocoflex before? Just curious to find out if it has to be treated any differently than other moulds. I do most of my truffles entirely by hand--so I'm not experienced with moulding ganache.  Any help/advice would be most appreciated!   

I've used the 'other' silicone ganache mold and found that I got the best results if I tabled the ganache before piping it in to the mold.

[Mjx]

. . . .

 

  After I complete this raspberry one, the Vanilla/Espresso two layer truffles are next on the hit-list. I'm going to try those using the chocoflex mould.  Has anyone ever used the chocoflex before? Just curious to find out if it has to be treated any differently than other moulds. I do most of my truffles entirely by hand--so I'm not experienced with moulding ganache.  Any help/advice would be most appreciated!   

 

Stroll on over to the Truffles: molded vs hand dipped discussion!

[Mette]

 

I am just starting out with transfers. This is my first ones I made today. Hopefully I will start getting them more uniform the more I do.

 

I'm really interested in how to achieve this effect as well - very cool!