Chocolates with that Showroom Finish, 2012 –

[tikidoc]

I had a friend and her daughter over to learn some basic chocolate making today. I was worried that Florence’s humidity would hinder tempering, but between the dehumidifier in the basement and the EasyTemper, we did ok. I played with the dendritic stuff a few days ago and finished them up as well. I was pretty happy with the results! The dendritic ones were molded in a chocolate I made in the melanger, the first time I have used it to make shells, and they came out well! Nothing fancy for fillings (PB/chocolate) we were concentrating on learning about tempering and shelling.

 

 

[Jim D.]

40 minutes ago, tikidoc said:

I had a friend and her daughter over to learn some basic chocolate making today. I was worried that Florence’s humidity would hinder tempering, but between the dehumidifier in the basement and the EasyTemper, we did ok. I played with the dendritic stuff a few days ago and finished them up as well. I was pretty happy with the results! The dendritic ones were molded in a chocolate I made in the melanger, the first time I have used it to make shells, and they came out well! Nothing fancy for fillings (PB/chocolate) we were concentrating on learning about tempering and shelling.

 

 

 

If you would like to pick up a substantial amount of $$, bring some of those frogs to Staunton for the "Harry Potter" festival the weekend after next. I'm told that last year parents were seen handing over major amounts of cash for all sorts of junk, including some jelly frogs. Imagine what they would pay for a chocolate one! Apparently they play a role in the Potter books.

[tikidoc]

Think I could get a reservation at the Red Hen???

 

oh , never mind, that’s Lexington...

Edited September 17, 2018 by tikidoc (log)

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

 

 

 

The last of my first big trials. 

[Anna N]

11 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

The last of my first big trials. 

Wow!  That seems inadequate but I don’t know what else to say.

[Toliver]

28 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

The last of my first big trials. 

This screams "holidays" to me (that's a good thing). It looks like snow crystals on blue. I imagine red would be lovely, too.

Great work!

[Tri2Cook]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

Wow!  That seems inadequate but I don’t know what else to say.

We seem to have encountered the same difficulty because that's almost exactly what I said when I saw them on Facebook. 

[gfron1]

Everything that we did in Melissa Coppel's workshop this week belongs in this thread, but here's one that I felt was particularly stunning in its simplicity:

[Jim D.]

7 hours ago, gfron1 said:

Everything that we did in Melissa Coppel's workshop this week belongs in this thread, but here's one that I felt was particularly stunning in its simplicity:

 

It is beautiful, but I would guess that "simplicity" refers to its final appearance more than the steps it took to get that appearance.

[Rajala]

On 9/20/2018 at 1:46 PM, Jim D. said:

 

It is beautiful, but I would guess that "simplicity" refers to its final appearance more than the steps it took to get that appearance.

 

Probably appearance and the steps. I reckon that this is probably the most simple thing that they did? 

 

Not saying that there were many steps.  

[ChocoMom]

Nothing wild and crazy, just sticking to the basics here for my MIL's 80th birthday.  Did 20 of these boxes for party favors.  

The heart is Thimbleberry ganache Guittard 72%. The dark red dome is wild strawberries and cream in Guittard 72%.  The milk chocolate cubes are sea salt caramel in Guittard 38%, then topped with a mixture of Maldon sea salt- and smoked sea salt.  

[gfron1]

On 9/20/2018 at 6:46 AM, Jim D. said:

It is beautiful, but I would guess that "simplicity" refers to its final appearance more than the steps it took to get that appearance.

If we don't count the precision as a step, then the brushing technique was not complicated. Two or three colors painted along the rim. Then...just don't screw up the temper. But yes, I was referring to the aesthetic simplicity which I found appealing.

[Tri2Cook]

15 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

Nothing wild and crazy, just sticking to the basics here for my MIL's 80th birthday.  Did 20 of these boxes for party favors.  

The heart is Thimbleberry ganache Guittard 72%. The dark red dome is wild strawberries and cream in Guittard 72%.  The milk chocolate cubes are sea salt caramel in Guittard 38%, then topped with a mixture of Maldon sea salt- and smoked sea salt.  

Somebody packed a box of chocolates with the knowledge that everybody fights over the caramel when there's only one! 

[Nickos]

Some of my bonbons

[Racing_Chocs]

I thought I would share a photo of some of the chocolate racing helmets I've been creating recently. 

 

I use a custom designed 40 shore Silicone mould, so will never get the stunning shine that can be achieved with a polycarb mould (unless I use that horrible tasting lacquer), but they still look great. My biggest issue is cracking of the coloured cocoa butter, since the silicone mould flexes when handled, but some of my customers actually like the effect.

 

You can find more examples on my Racing Chocs website www.racingchocs.com 

 

Matthew

[keychris]

you're getting great results, they look really good!

 

18 minutes ago, SilverstoneBakehouse said:

My biggest issue is cracking of the coloured cocoa butter, since the silicone mould flexes when handled, but some of my customers actually like the effect.

 

 

This is one of the biggest lessons anyone can learn - perfection is in the eye of the customer. We might see every tiny flaw, but the lay person who buys your creations only sees the beauty, and they think everything you put on there is meant to be there!

[Nickos]

Rocky road 

filled with Marshmallow•white chocolate crunch•hazelnut•pure chocolate ganache 

 

[Rajala]

Looks great!

[Rajala]

13 hours ago, SilverstoneBakehouse said:

I thought I would share a photo of some of the chocolate racing helmets I've been creating recently. 

 

I use a custom designed 40 shore Silicone mould, so will never get the stunning shine that can be achieved with a polycarb mould (unless I use that horrible tasting lacquer), but they still look great. My biggest issue is cracking of the coloured cocoa butter, since the silicone mould flexes when handled, but some of my customers actually like the effect.

 

 You can find more examples on my Racing Chocs website www.racingchocs.com 

 

Matthew

 

 

Nice to see the final result. I remember you posting about the moulds a couple of months ago.

[Chocolot]

 

 

Why is it that in person, your chocolates look pretty good, then you take a closeup and post them and all the flaws show up??  Square is a new flavor--Browned Butter in Dulce, Green is Caramel Apple Caramel, and heart is Passion Fruit, with a loose PDF and ganache. I'm sure I could have found thinner bottoms, but didn't want to waste them all trying to find it:)

 

[Rajala]

Is it passion fruit ganache? Almost look green.  

 

Looking goood, it's fun to airbrush, need to start doing it again.

[Chocolot]

Yes Passionfruit ganache. Probably the combination of Iphone and fluorescent lights changing the color.

[Rajala]

4 hours ago, Chocolot said:

Yes Passionfruit ganache. Probably the combination of Iphone and fluorescent lights changing the color.

 

Yeah, lighting can do do weird things.  

[gfron1]

My How I Spent My Summer Vacation collection (all the new skills and techniques from my summer chocolate workshops) : Citron creme brulee, bananas with caramel and rum, Pecan gianduja with Tahitian vanilla, Passion fruit cream, and Sesame honey caramel. #connoleyfinechocolates

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, gfron1 said:

My How I Spent My Summer Vacation collection (all the new skills and techniques from my summer chocolate workshops) : Citron creme brulee, bananas with caramel and rum, Pecan gianduja with Tahitian vanilla, Passion fruit cream, and Sesame honey caramel. #connoleyfinechocolates

And I would say it was a summer well spent!