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Report: eG Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2014


Kerry Beal

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The white cutting board material "cigar roller" that he used to cut the hard candies is what I'm referring to.  I noted it in my blog 5 years ago because just like his new toys, he was going on and on about it being his new toy then.

 

Got it. Will be interesting to see what Jean-Marie's new toys are 3 years from now! Had a look at your blog posts from 5 year ago, lots of great information!

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Hey Kerry, the pipeable PDF is as simple as it appears? No tricks to it that weren't needed in the notes for those who saw it being done?

 

There were two pipeable PDF's made - one that went in Melissa's bon bon - used pectin NH.  The other as above.

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Dinner at the Vietnamese place (name unknown to me - address unknown to my GPS).

 

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Summer rolls - grilled pork and shrimp. 

 

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Banh xeo with fixings to roll up with it.

 

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Short ribs in caramel sauce.

 

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Gaylene's very hot noodle dish.

 

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Sarah's Bun  

 

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Bob's Bun bo Hue (I think)

 

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Dave's pho and bun.  

 

 

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The morning of our departure I had breakfast with Bob and Ruth in the the casino cafe.  For me Eggs Benedict on a biscuit instead of an english muffin.  

 

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And of course the necessary green!

 

 

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The finished bon bon.  (I like how she said Bon Bon...but I digress momentarily)

This had a fruit compote (reversible PDF) and a yogurt ganache - the shelf life was not very long at all.  I believe when we measured the aW it was somewhere around 0.63

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Aw of 0.63?  That should give you more than 6 months of shelf life!  Aw of 0.85 will give you 8 - 12 weeks.  ;-)

Steve Lebowitz

Doer of All Things

Steven Howard Confections

Slicing a warm slab of bacon is a lot like giving a ferret a shave. No matter how careful you are, somebody's going to get hurt - Alton Brown, "Good Eats"

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One of the things I came away with is the comments made by both Jean-Marie and Melissa regarding creating an individual style.  To paraphrase, they both said that anyone can follow a recipe and make a nice piece of chocolate, but that you need to develop your own style, your own sense of your identity. 

 

Just my opinion - but, I'm right

 

BRUNO - where did he go now???

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Can someone say mor about the gummie with marshmallow backing? Those looked cool! And they released easy from the silicone mold? Were the molds lightly oiled or anything before depositing? What did the gummie and marshmallow formulas look like? And they adhered together pretty well? Sorry for all the questions, I just havent seen that before, very cool, I wish I went!

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I am shocked to find this. Photos of my T-shirt!! My gosh. You are all so humble, waiting for me to find this. I seriously don't cry easliy, but this just shocked me. I am speechless. I am touched and I guess that is why the tears came. Thank you sounds awfully empty, so please accept it with a lot of feeling from my heart. xx


Edited by Lior (log)
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I am shocked to find this. Photos of my T-shirt!! My gosh. You are all so humble, waiting for me to find this. I seriously don't cry easliy, but this just shocked me. I am speechless. I am touched and I guess that is why the tears came. Thank you sounds awfully empty, so please accept it with a lot of feeling from my heart. xx

 

We're all looking forward to the day when we can all meet you in person!

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Steve Lebowitz

Doer of All Things

Steven Howard Confections

Slicing a warm slab of bacon is a lot like giving a ferret a shave. No matter how careful you are, somebody's going to get hurt - Alton Brown, "Good Eats"

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Wow!  Thanks so much for sharing everyone.  What a rich learning experience.  I LOVE those classy, simple decorations.  

A couple things I just gotta know....

 

That little yellow line on one of the chocolates looks like it goes down the side of the chocolate as well.  How do they do it?!  It looks like a perfectly straight line not a piped line??

 

And Ruth, this one's for you...  When you were organizing for this workshop you mentioned that JMA had a secret to making showroom chocolates every time - and it was EASY!  I've been holding my breath waiting for the reveal but no-one has mentioned it.  Don't tell me it's getting one of those elephant size spray booths!  :smile:

 

Congrats on a job well done to all the organizers.  I can only imagine the hours put into this event but the photos posted show what a success it was.

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Sunday was dedicated to playing in the kitchen and Melissa came in to show us some additional decorating ideas -

Jean-Marie stopped in on his "hog" - we cut the nougat and caramels from Friday and Saturday as well - Lionel stopped in for a visit; the Giant Squirrel made an appearance;

 

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What is the red "pearl" in the corner of the cut piece that causes the raised bit during enrobing?  I'm sure that you could do that with a number of things, but I'm curious....

Steve Lebowitz

Doer of All Things

Steven Howard Confections

Slicing a warm slab of bacon is a lot like giving a ferret a shave. No matter how careful you are, somebody's going to get hurt - Alton Brown, "Good Eats"

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Wow!  Thanks so much for sharing everyone.  What a rich learning experience.  I LOVE those classy, simple decorations.  

A couple things I just gotta know....

 

That little yellow line on one of the chocolates looks like it goes down the side of the chocolate as well.  How do they do it?!  It looks like a perfectly straight line not a piped line??

 

And Ruth, this one's for you...  When you were organizing for this workshop you mentioned that JMA had a secret to making showroom chocolates every time - and it was EASY!  I've been holding my breath waiting for the reveal but no-one has mentioned it.  Don't tell me it's getting one of those elephant size spray booths!  :smile:

 

Congrats on a job well done to all the organizers.  I can only imagine the hours put into this event but the photos posted show what a success it was.

 

They mix up alcohol and luster dust and spray the molds first. It takes quite a lot. It gives the colors a glow. To be honest, I didn't follow up on the tease, because it didn't work that well for me:) I found you have to spray heavy.

The line is with the same mixture, only thicker. Dip the edge of a piece of acetate in the mixture and quickly press into the chocolate as it is enrobed. Liron showed us the same technique in NOTL. The same mixture is used for many of the decorations-piping tip dipped in it and then pressed in the chocolate.

The red pearl was a PDF or maybe a jelly that she piped on the cut piece just before enrobing.

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Ruth Kendrick

Chocolot
Artisan Chocolates and Toffees
www.chocolot.com

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I'll have more time to go through my notes after this weekend, but I wanted to repost notes on airbrushing molds that I just shared on a different thread:

 

Regardless of the spray gun system, invest in a warming box (Steve and I both have good success with a dehydrator), set it at 33ºC and store your gun in it.  What I learned at the workshop that we just had in Vegas is to invest in a second gun and leave them both in so I always have a warm gun.

 

Why 33º?  Your molds should be at 19-21º, the cocoa butter should be at 30-32º and the room should be at 20º.  The cocoa butter should not exceed 34º so by setting the gun at 33º you keep it at the higher end of the range to allow for cool down as you use it.

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Sosa flavorings. Melissa was very keen on Sosa flavorings available from Koerner, in particular the cherry. She mentioned the kit and I found it on their site (http://www.koerner-co.com/MODERN-GASTRONOMY-INGREDIENTS-ESSENTIAL-OILS-&-FLAVORS-THE-ALPHABET-OF-FRUITS/c360_372_386/p3230/FLAVOR-KIT-UNITED-STATES/product_info.html) $700!

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Allequede was in Montreal a few days ago and grabbed me a bunch of the Sosa flavourings.  He saw the kit too - though it was more like $300.  Maybe cheaper in Canada?

 

One other issue of note - the alcohol being used for the decorations was isopropyl which I would never have considered using for food purposes - but in discussion with Ruth - the isopropyl seems to work better than ethanol.  Will have to try some side by side experiments.

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