Confections! What did we make? (2014 – 2016)

[Anna N]

10 hours ago, Smithy said:

Actually, I like the marbling on those very much!  I think the one at the top with little squiggles is especially fun and intriguing, but they all look great. If you really don't think these look good, feel free to send me the rejects.  

 I absolutely agree. They look very classy to me.   

[Tri2Cook]

21 hours ago, Smithy said:

Actually, I like the marbling on those very much!  I think the one at the top with little squiggles is especially fun and intriguing, but they all look great. If you really don't think these look good, feel free to send me the rejects.  

 

11 hours ago, Anna N said:

 I absolutely agree. They look very classy to me.   

Thanks! I tend to be my own worst critic even when I'm comfortable with what I'm doing and I'm not in the comfy zone yet with this stuff... but I'm having fun. The collective knowledge in these forums along with a lot of patience from Kerry is making it a lot easier going than it would probably be otherwise.

[pastryani]

Speckled Eggs filled with salted caramel.  Happy Easter everyone! 

[Jim D.]

pastryani,

Very nice decorations on the eggs.  Were the background colors done with an airbrush?  Could you tell me what mold you are using and approximately how long the cavities are?

 

[pastryani]

Hi Jim - thanks!  Yes, I used an airbrush for the blue ones, but later discovered that a gloved finger worked almost as well with this mold with much less clean-up, though you can clearly see the swirling in the non-speckled ones.  The mold is called "Polycarbonate Mini Egg, 32 cavities" from NYCAKE.  You can get it directly from them or they also sell it on Amazon.  I just took measurements of the bottom of the egg: from top to bottom it is 1 1/4", and from left to right at the widest point is 15/16ths.  Hope that helps!   

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

15 hours ago, pastryani said:

The mold is called "Polycarbonate Mini Egg, 32 cavities" from NYCAKE.  You can get it directly from them or they also sell it on Amazon.  I just took measurements of the bottom of the egg: from top to bottom it is 1 1/4", and from left to right at the widest point is 15/16ths.  Hope that helps!   

Thanks! I know it wasn't me who asked but that's the type of mold I want to get for next year.

[rajoress]

pastryani - those speckled eggs are amazing! I'm stuck in my comfort zone of old fashioned chocolates - no colors at all! One day I'll branch out I hope. We had unexpected humidity last week (and then a snowstorm yesterday...!) so my coffee truffles were rolled in chocolate and not dipped! My caramel cashew clusters ended up in the fridge to cool down and ended up fine, I was worried they would bloom. Thanks for looking!

Ruth

[pastryani]

On April 5, 2016 at 7:43 AM, rajoress said:

pastryani - those speckled eggs are amazing! I'm stuck in my comfort zone of old fashioned chocolates - no colors at all! One day I'll branch out I hope.

 

Thanks Ruth!  It's a lot of trial (and even more error haha), but that's how we learn, right?!

 

And there's nothing wrong with "old-fashioned chocolates"!  Your goodies look yummy - the truffles with chocolate nonpareils remind me of rum balls that I used to eat as a kid. 

[gfron1]

I'm working on a new candy bar - salted butter caramel, toasted pecans, malted nougat ground and set in 75% ganache. Later topped with coconut and dipped.

[keychris]

 

messing about with the marbled effect at home. Not perfect but it's not bad for a first try.

[Kerry Beal]

Caramelized some milk chocolate today - as tasty as the white - maybe more so because less sweet. Picture and picture here.

[keychris]

 

Reflections of the big gum tree outside the window These are dark chocolate ganache with cherry coconut jam.

[gfron1]

Whoa! What a shine!

[pastryani]

Super shiny KeyChris - nice job!!

 

Can I ask what tape you used for the stripe?  I've tried different tapes before and the CB always seems to seep through and gets under it.

[keychris]

that's a line of dark chocolate piped on, then spray red, then spray white, then cast in dark. You can see on a couple where the line chipped off a bit when I scraped the mould after I sprayed the red layer - half dark chocolate, half white.

[keychris]

 

Here's a better shot of the marble effect I achieved. I'm not sure if I'll do it again, it stressed me out too much

[pastryani]

4 hours ago, keychris said:

that's a line of dark chocolate piped on, then spray red, then spray white, then cast in dark. You can see on a couple where the line chipped off a bit when I scraped the mould after I sprayed the red layer - half dark chocolate, half white.

 

Cool, thanks!  I've seen that a lot recently but your lines looked so neat I thought it had to be tape. 

 

Yes I noticed the half dark/half white and thought it was a very cool effect!

[Tri2Cook]

5 hours ago, keychris said:

Here's a better shot of the marble effect I achieved. I'm not sure if I'll do it again, it stressed me out too much

Nice. And I agree on the not sure I'll do it too frequently. With my amateur setup of equipment, trying to get all 3 chocolates melted, tempered and at working temp at the same time was a juggling act that I don't think will be repeated often.

[keychris]

 

 

Bubbles are the bane of my existence :'(

[pastryani]

Peanut butter and grape jelly bonbons.  Next time I think I'll go bigger on the jelly part.

 

 

 

[Bentley]

My latest from the Ecole Chocolat class.  They are actually shinier than they look in the picture.  I need better lighting!  

I feel like I'm learning a lot - but so much more to go.

This is a milk chocolate hazelnut gianduja in a milk chocolate shell.

Edited May 20, 2016 by Bentley (log)

[keychris]

finishing these off today

 

[RWood]

Peanut butter nougat and honey vanilla caramel with peanuts (sorta like a snickers). I made these to send to my dad for Father's Day/Birthday this weekend.  I used my usual caramel, and Greweling's peanut butter nougat, minus a lot of the molasses. Both his nougat and PB fudge has way too much, at least to me.

 

[ChocoMom]

Oh, these are all so lovely!!!!  You're all keeping me inspired and excited to get started again.

The electricians come out on Monday and need to know the volts and amps of all the machinery and appliances...so I've had to go back through and find new toys again.

After looking at machines, and then looking at all these masterpieces----I think I'm feeling the happiness and excitement again.    Thank you all for posting pics of your lovely creations!!! 

[curls]

Thanks to @patris for sharing your marshmallow bars at the workshop in Toronto. This weekend I made two batches of marshmallow bars...

- vanilla marshmallow with peanut butter, chocolate and graham crackers

- cinnamon marshmallow with chocolate and graham crackers