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

[Mette]

I envy - always - the beautiful work you all do. It's been so long since I did any choccolate work that I seem to have lost my touch - nearly 2 years....

 

 

My white chocolate, most of the milk chocolate and the cocoa butter had gone off, so had to be binned, I forgot to bang out the air bubbles and the fleur de lys mold was a bit of a disaster - it released find but the surface of the chocolate looked 'grainy' - I suspect some old cocoa butter residue has gone through a weird reaction from sitting so long - the flavour is fine so I hit it with some gold dust.... that's what going to university and having a full time job does to you, but now the end is in sight...

Edited January 3, 2015 by Mette (log)

[ChocoMom]

Looks terrific from here, Mette!  

[minas6907]

Here's something I made when I got a chance to play with some sugar last week, meet mr. Snowman.

[Darienne]

Had to save your photo in order to look at it, but it was worth the trouble. 

[minas6907]

Here's a few things from today. I got a silicone lego mold to play around with, so the hard candy bricks are the result of that. And a few days ago we were going to make some hot cocoa for some company we were having, so I made peppermint marshmallows to accompany.

[Smithy]

Wow...edible 'legos'! What fun!

[minas6907]

Thanks Smithy!

Here's two more from some free time I had yesterday. Black cherry berlingots and a blown sugar swan.

[minas6907]

Here's some things from today. Anise gummies, peppermint sticks, and peppermint berlingots.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Hi minas,

 

I love your swan. It captures the grace and beauty of the creature!

 

Thanks for sharing it.

[minas6907]

Here's two from today. Blood orange jellies and something else I was playing with, thai tea infused caramels.

[ChocoMom]

Okay...going to try to post the latest and greatest ----just in time for V-Day:

 

 

Flavors

"Lips" are Strawberries-n-Cream ganache cast in 72%; used Garnet Red and Pink Quartz cocoa butter for the colors.  The white chocolate rectangle with the red transfer sheet design is the same filling. I couldn't decide which one I liked better....   So, I made both.

 

White chocolate heart with the yellow and pink swirls is Mango and Passionfruit; so is the heart with pink transfer sheet;

 (Another case where I could not decide.)

 

Shell is hazelnut/milk chocolate

 

Square- with red transfer sheet....dark chocolate mint

 

Square with stripes....2 layer: Espresso and Kahlua

 

Dome with red swirls is the Cherry Bomb.  Dark Choc, cherries, brandy. 

 

Going to go eat the rejects for dinner.

[Smithy]

I'd help you with those rejects if I were close enough. In fact, I might insist that your standards were too low and you needed to define them all as rejects. 

[Jim D.]

A photo of the chocolates I made for Valentine's Day.  Some of the dipped ones leave something to be desired in technique. Coconut continues to be a problem--it's difficult to find a recipe that remains moist but still can be cut neatly.  Where applicable, I have included the source of the recipe in parentheses.

 

Row 1:  passion fruit, molded in white chocolate (Greweling); layers of crispy gianduja and black currant, dipped in milk chocolate (Wybauw); strawberry cream, molded in white (Kerry Beal of eGullet); peppermint cream, molded in dark chocolate (Notter).

 

Row 2:  coconut cream, dipped in dark chocolate, topped with chocolate-covered almond (combination of several recipes); crème brûlée, molded in dark; chocolate chip cookie truffle, dipped in dark, topped with cocoa nibs; dark cherry with kirschwasser, molded in white (Greweling).

 

Row 3:  dark caramel with sea salt, molded in milk (Notter); caramelized pineapple, molded in milk (Wybauw); layers of dulce de leche and coffee, molded in milk (Greweling); pistachio and hazelnut praline dipped in dark, topped with toasted pistachios (Wybauw).

 

[Matthew Kirshner]

Hey everyone,  figure i could share whats on the valentine's menu.  I must say Chocomom and Jim, beautiful chocolates!! 

 

From the back:  Dark Mousse Cup, Chocolate Macaron w/ rasp. jam filling

Middle: Dark chocolate Truffle, Starwberry Macaron and Purple Almond Macaron, both w/ ganache piping

Front: Caramel bonbon cast in dark chocolate, Milk cherry ganache cast in white chocolate heart, Irish cream cast in dark chocolate(the circuit pattern transfer sheet), and Raspberry Lime filling cast in dark chocolate

 

[ChocoMom]

Matthew,

Thank you for your kind words!   All of your pieces look amazing, but that heart! It is absolutely striking!  Did you make a transfer sheet with the design?  Everything about it just screams "Wow!"

 

Jim D,

The selection you posted is fantastic!  I love the dome with the stripes, and the red/orange airbrushed pieces. I think I must ingest a bit too much caffeine, because I never seem to keep my hands steady enough to make those perfect, exacting stripes inside the dome mold. Gorgeous work!!!!

 

Smithy,

My kids feel the same way you do about the rejects.   My 9 year old will eat any and every piece she sees; my 16 year old will swipe and eat all things milk chocolate; and my 17 year-old is choosy, but he always seems to gravitate towards the one with the least "rejects". 

 

Incidentally, Fri/Sat/Sun was Winter Carnival weekend here, so it would have been the perfect excuse to make the trip over!  The snow/ice sculptures at MTU make a trip totally worthwhile, but add in some chocolate?  THAT's a winner! 

 

Whoever ends up on the receiving end of all these confections should count themselves both blessed and loved!       Beautiful work, everyone!   -Andrea

[Matthew Kirshner]

Chocomom- the transfer sheets were bought(i believe i recieved them from Chefrubber) but thank you for the kind words.  My wife was mad i didnt bring her any, but valentines day is only 5 days away, she can wait, lol

 

The heart to tell you the truth, i was hoping to spray, but the gun was not working.  There is a clog in the in the intake tube that i just can not get out, so the next best option was to smear the cocoa butter

[Jim D.]

Jim D,

I love the dome with the stripes, and the red/orange airbrushed pieces. I think I must ingest a bit too much caffeine, because I never seem to keep my hands steady enough to make those perfect, exacting stripes inside the dome mold. Gorgeous work!!!!

Andrea,

I can't take a lot of credit for the white stripes.  It's just white chocolate piped from a bag with a very narrow opening.  I place all the domes on parchment and then move back and forth making lines over the whole batch.  They don't all look that neat, I must confess.  I have seen some pieces (on eGullet, I think) with a single very neat stripe extending over the cavity, but from what I have read, that entails using adhesive to block out part of the cavity, spraying the stripe, removing the adhesive, then spraying the whole cavity a contrasting color.  Aside from the technique involved, I have never been able to find food-safe adhesive.  Your pieces, by the way, are beautiful.

[minas6907]

Here's a few things from this week. Watermelon jellies and hard candy roses (apple flavor).

[curls]

Valentine's Day chocolates: passion fruit, muscovado sugar salted caramel, hazelnut gianduja and feuilletine, marzipan & cherry-raspberry pate de fruit.

 

 

[chocoera]

look beautiful curls!!

and flavors sound bomb-diggity! mmmmm

[minas6907]

Here's two items from the last two weeks. I've been wanting to experiment with fruit flavored caramel, so I made one with a banana puree. Those pieces were enrobed and topped with honey powder. Then I also made agar jellies, im addicted to the citrus slices! I just think they are so fun to make!

[rotuts]

""  agar jellies ""

 

since its well know'n  I dont know that much nor taste as much and enjoy as much as I might .....

 

those 'citrus-ey' items do indeed look delicious

 

but Im not an agar jellies person   my loss Im sure

 

however, yours are so stunning,

 

Im calling my Pals at the NYC  MOMA  so they might put these on permanent exhibition.

 

Rats, Ive lost their number  

 

 

however, they are still stunning.

Edited February 25, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

minas,

 

I'm even a fan of Brach's orange jelly wedges. I remember when you could scoop them from bulk bins in the grocery stores as a little kid.

 

I would probably swoon over your citrus creations. They are so pretty, and the peel/rind/flesh layers look so precise and more perfect than Mother Nature makes them. Are they as fiddly as they seem to an uneducated eye?

[minas6907]

Hey, I had a request for the mods. You can feel free to delete the post that has the watermelon jellies and rose lollipops. I posted those pictures from my phone and (just loggin in to EG today from my computer for the first time in a long time) had absolutely no that they are so obnoxiously huge! I'm so sorry, that has to be incredibly annoying, and was not purposeful! I usually just view the forum from tapatalk on my phone, so I had no idea!

[Kerry Beal]

Four bins of easter molds have just moved from their storage spot into the chocolate lab.  Should have some items to report before long!  Panning will have to take a back seat for a while.