Chocolates with that Showroom Finish, 2012 –

[Nickos]

On 11/23/2018 at 3:36 PM, Jim D. said:

 

I really like that purple. Do you mind describing where you got it or (if you mixed it) how you came up with the color? I just spent quite a bit of time trying to achieve a "royal purple" without success. I started with Chef Rubber's Jewel purple color, which is very dark (and therefore looks a lot like dark chocolate--so what's the point of having color?), and added some white and red. But I ended up with a Victorian "dusty rose "color--OK but not very purple.

thanks a lot! here is the link for the food color http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Germany-imports-Edible-powder-purple-color-Handmade-chocolate-fondant-cake-baking-decoration-Arts-food-grade-powder/32727622920.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.69.7a9e3489nwVLiL&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_5_10065_10068_5735120_319_317_10696_10924_453_10084_454_10083_10618_5735220_10920_10921_10304_10922_10307_10820_10301_10821_537_536_5734920_10843_10059_10884_10887_100031_321_322_10103_5730820_5729920_5735020,searchweb201603_51,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=8ebb0aad-d519-4ab7-ad8a-bb388417cfdd-9&algo_pvid=8ebb0aad-d519-4ab7-ad8a-bb388417cfdd

[ptw1953]

I wish for a very merry Christmas for all @ egullet.  I think of you all as being some of the most inspiring and creative people I have ever come into contact with. It is a pleasure to converse with, and learn from, you all...

 

Philip

[Kerry Beal]

 

Back to Jo's question on how much chocolate to add to a mold. 

 

 

Apparently too much!

[gfron1]

I always struggle with that too, and that's why I'm looking forward to doing 3D work at the eG workshop in May

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, gfron1 said:

I always struggle with that too, and that's why I'm looking forward to doing 3D work at the eG workshop in May

I was over at Walker's Chocolates in my home town - they do all sorts of stuff on the spinner. I asked how they decide how much to put in - Jen said trial and error - sometimes the bunny heads are solid!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I still await interior pictures of my baby.

 

[blue_dolphin]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I still await interior pictures of my baby.

 

 

This video of a guy breaking his chocolate egg made me think of you: https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/b2smef/this_guy_breaking_open_chocolate_eggs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2019 by blue_dolphin (log)

[minas6907]

Heres one I'm pretty proud of, I used the 'feather technique' from the Savour School videos, its a clever design, wish I thought it it myself. I didnt color the chocolate and cocoa butter mixture black as they did in the video, but just used the same chocolate that I used for casting the shells. The center is a white chocolate butter ganache with Kahlua.

Edited March 27, 2019 by minas6907
Submitted too soon (log)

[EllaCh]

On 3/27/2019 at 5:08 AM, minas6907 said:

Heres one I'm pretty proud of,

 

Minas6907, you should be. Your chocolates look beautiful. May I ask what you think of Savour School? Do you find their online videos good?

[minas6907]

2 hours ago, EllaCh said:

 

Minas6907, you should be. Your chocolates look beautiful. May I ask what you think of Savour School? Do you find their online videos good?

Thank you very much! I think the videos definitely are good, although I was expecting a tiny bit more on the sugar confections side, but its fine. Its not bad to just try out for a month, the price comes to about $9.00 usd, and I know I've spent alot more then that on useless kitchen items. One motivating factor was that I've been wanting to make a glazed entremet cake, nothing too complicated, just a simple cake. The Savour School videos seemed like a solid reference to turn to, since I'm not familiar with the cakes, mousses, or molds used, I figured it would help me to see the process done properly.

Edited March 28, 2019 by minas6907 (log)

[EllaCh]

18 hours ago, minas6907 said:

Thank you very much! I think the videos definitely are good, although I was expecting a tiny bit more on the sugar confections side, but its fine.

 

Thank you for your reply, I think I will try it although I am wondering whether they offer good number of pralines, bonbons etc recipes. I emailed them asking whether it is possible to get a detailed list of recipes available but no reply at all. Anyway, our bonbons are truly georgeous 🙂

[Jim D.]

I asked this question previously, and @keychris, who is very familiar with the school, answered me as follows:

 

Quote

I just a quick count, there's 18 videos for what I would consider bonbons, including moulded and enrobed chocolates and truffles.

I signed up and have profited a great deal from the videos. Kirsten Tibballs, who does most of them, is very talented in decorating bonbons and has many good ideas. There are guest teachers doing some of the videos, such as Melissa Coppel. Kirsten's demonstration of the "feathering" technique (referred to most often on eGullet as dendrites) makes the whole process easy to understand--see the example from minas a few posts earlier. And finally, I love watching KIrsten: she seems to have such a good time in the work.

[EllaCh]

3 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

I asked this question previously, and @keychris, who is very familiar with the school, answered me as follows:

 

Thank you, Jim D. 🙂

[Nickos]

made some new chocolates last week, banana and coconut flavor

[sbain]

What a great looking bonbon (and photo)!

[Nickos]

1 minute ago, sbain said:

What a great looking bonbon (and photo)!

thanks mate

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

Early days in the experiments.

 

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

 

Early days in the experiments.
 

That's pretty cool. If this is the early stages, can't wait to see where you're planning to go with it.

[Desiderio]

I just saw (yes, I am really behind in the chocolate world these days :-P) that Andrey Dubovik has an online class for his stunning techniques. Has anyone here enrolled (its about $650) in it, and or what are your thoughts on it?

Also I did enrolled in the trial for the chocolate academy online. I have enjoyed the videos, and the chocolate techniques, so far, but I am interested in learning some more coloring techniques, even though, my coloring equipment need some serious updating :-D. 

[Jim D.]

Yes, several eG members have taken the course. There is an entire topic (of many pages) devoted to discussion of it.

[Desiderio]

Thank you Jim!

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, Desiderio said:

Thank you Jim!

I see from eGullet notifications that you are looking at that thread. I think I wrote a review of the course. It has now been a year since I took it. My thoughts are still on the positive side. I learned a lot, and I still use some of the designs he taught (just today I did the "Outer Space 2" one, it has layers of yellow and green), though I have adapted them in some cases. Perhaps more importantly, I use the techniques I learned in the course to do other designs (sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much). To my great disappointment, I never mastered his major technique, the "eye" design. Sometimes I get it right, but I never have enough usable bonbons for it to work when one is actually "in production" He makes it look so easy, but it's not. I even had someone video me as I did it, sent the videos to Andrey, he evaluated them, but I still could not get it right enough of the time. For what it's worth, he would not say anything about other techniques he has been using since the course went online ("maybe in a future course" was the response). Would I do it again?  Definitely. There are other chocolatiers supposedly with courses in the works (Melissa Coppel and The Chocolate Lab are two I know of). I am especially interested in the latter as I think they have some wonderful designs. Sometimes they demo how they do things, but new designs are always appearing on their Instagram feed.

[Kerry Beal]

Dubovic is teaching at Melissa's antlier this month. There are still spaces I believe.

[Jim D.]

9 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Dubovic is teaching at Melissa's antlier this month. There are still spaces I believe.

Ah, Kerry the tempter at it once again.

[Desiderio]

Thank you again Jim,

 

I made it through the thread, and it was very helpful. It also made me realize, that probably for now, that is not a class I should be taking. Having been away from regular chocolate production for few years, and just getting back, my equipment needs some updating. The air compressor and the airbrush, would not cut it, also I am not looking forward to buy more molds, for the moment at least. Maybe a face to face class would work best, since all that I need would be there :-P.

Meanwhile, I'll take all of the tips you guys gave on making your own colored Cb, and try my hands at that, which I am sure is already challenging. Temperature and humidity control is an issue that I need to conquer  at this moment, (new personal kitchen and new working kitchen).

I am looking forward to a professional class though, I will check Savour as well.

 

Thank you!!!