Report: eG Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2015

[Kerry Beal]

Well the gang is all here in the Washington, DC area (actually in Fairfax-Merrifield, VA) ready to get started tomorrow.

 

Today a limited number of us got together in RobertM's basement chocolate room with Mark Heim (retired Research Fellow from Hershey) to talk about and make nougat and caramel.

 

 

 

 

On the way to dinner in Occoquan we stopped by Potomac Chocolate's basement bean to bar chocolate production facility. Quite fascinating just how much equipment you can get in a few square feet if you plan carefully.  I believe he said he was making 65 lbs of chocolate per week.

 

 

 

 

Convection oven repurposed as a roaster - drill from Home Depot being used to turn the cage.

 

 

Cooler for roasted beans - note the fan.

 

 

Winnower fashioned from a Champion Juicer.

 

 

 

 

Melanger.

 

 

Newly manufactured conche.  

Edited May 16, 2015 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Hope someone can post pictures of the chocolate 'show and tell' as I didn't get any.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Kerry Beal (log)

[RobertM]

Mark was very generous with his time and knowledge, it seemed we spent the first hour (plus) just asking questions which lead into discussions which lead into more questions.

[RobertM]

...and even more discussions

[RobertM]

But, soon we were making a nougat and a caramel. That Hobart has been used by my family for more than 35 years....I recently had some repair work done on it, I was praying that it would work. Which it did!

A little small for the batch though....

[RobertM]

Soon we were fighting typical DC Friday night traffic to Occoquan, VA for our Meet and Greet/dinner. This year, Ashley wanted to host it at The Bottle Stop where she is the chef.

[RobertM]

Saying hi to good friends and meeting new ones....

[keychris]

I'm already jealous! Keep up the posts with lots more pics

[Darienne]

OMG.  I saw chocolates with a Durian filling.  Now I really am jealous!

[RobertM]

What an amazing, amazing day with Mark and Santosh

Mark showed us a most delicious Croquant and a Laminated piece while Samtosh showed a delicious savory piece and another with Mango

[RobertM]

Santosh

 

 

Edited May 17, 2015 by Smithy
Rotated photos per member request (log)

[RobertM]

Before dinner Kerry gave her basic tempering class giving way for major time to play tomorrow

[Anna N]

Kerry,

Were you telling that same damn fish story again? Is it sure looks like it.

[Chocolot]

 

Sharing a room with Kerry is always fun, especially last night. We decided to do a little shopping at a market near the hotel. As we were wheeling the cart outside, Kerry suggested that since we had so much stuff that it might be a good idea to take the cart to the hotel. Then as we get to the hotel, she thinks it would be a good idea to take the cart to our room so that we would have a way to haul all our stuff to the car the next morning. We sort of looked like bag ladies as we walked through the lobby to the elevator. We dropped off chocolates and panned goods to the front desk on our way out this morning.

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some pictures about the making of the laminated candy.

 

 

Our dinner at the school - beans on toast.

 

 

Salad.

 

 

Smoked cornish game hen with red Bhutanese rice.

 

 

Galette with grand marnier soaked chantilly cream.

 

 

 

 

[minas6907]

Whats the unit used to keep the sugar warm? Is it just on of those electric griddles? Does it maintain constant temperature?

[Kerry Beal]

Yup - just an electric griddle and an electric catering warmer.  It did maintain a reasonably constant temperature - but the adjustment is fussy. I suspect they have warm and cold spots like any warmer though.

[RobertM]

In my way to the conference this morning I saw this license plate in front of me - and after our discussion at dinner last night I had to post

[Kerry Beal]

Bob - you swinger you!

 

 

Breakfast at the hotel this morning - I suspect tomorrow morning's breakfast might be similar.

 

 

 

 

 

Experiments in pre-crystallizing ganache - the mango ganache on the left was pre-crystallized using seed from the EZtemper - it was able to be cut and dipped by just after lunch.  The other ganache had to be taken home by one of the participants as it had not firmed up by the time we were ready to leave.

 

 

 

 

Meltaway flavoured with ginger - also pre-crystallized - after a brief repose in the fridge it was cut on the guitar and rolled in powdered sugar

 

 

 

Peanut butter gianduja.

 

 

 

 

 

A few of the items produced.

[Chocolot]

The last stragglers.

 

Some of our finished goods.

 

One of the most impressive things I saw all weekend. Kerry's EZtemper. I saw it and still don't believe it! You have untempered chocolate at about working temperature, put a small amount (less than a teaspoon) of EZtemper silk cocoa butter. Stir  a few times, and let it stand for a minute. You then have TEMPERED CHOCOLATE!!  I kept seeing it happen, and I still don't believe it. I can't let Kerry have all the toys, so I am going home with my own EZ.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Chocolot (log)

[Kerry Beal]

For dinner tonight we went back to Four Sister's Vietnamese restaurant.

 

 

One of the sisters is a florist and provides the lovely flowers for the restaurant - peonies appear to be in season right now.

 

 

There were 9 of us - we ordered the dinner for 10.  This was the table before the food started coming!

 

 

Squid

 

 

Papaya salad

 

 

Tamarind soup

 

 

Pork rolls

 

 

Shaky beef

 

 

Chinese Broccoli 

 

 

Pepper chicken

 

 

Caramelized fish

 

 

Shrimps with ginger and lemon grass

 

 

Rice of course

 

 

Dessert

 

 

[Chocolot]

Mark showed us how to table the chocolate by pouring 1/3 onto marble or granite and working it hard. The more you scrape it, the better it is. He kept going until he had a paste of chocolate that he could pick up with the scrapers. He plopped it back into the 2/3 remaining chocolate and stirred it in. If he guessed right, it was in temper. A bit messy, and takes some practice, but it is his preferred method.

[Tri2Cook]

Looks like a lot of fun and sounds like a good learning experience. I'm enjoying the vicarious experience.

 

Experiments in pre-crystallizing ganache - the mango ganache on the left was pre-crystallized using seed from the EZtemper - it was able to be cut and dipped by just after lunch.  The other ganache had to be taken home by one of the participants as it had not firmed up by the time we were ready to leave.

One of the most impressive things I saw all weekend. Kerry's EZtemper. I saw it and still don't believe it! You have untempered chocolate at about working temperature, put a small amount (less than a teaspoon) of EZtemper silk cocoa butter. Stir  a few times, and let it stand for a minute. You then have TEMPERED CHOCOLATE!!  I kept seeing it happen, and I still don't believe it.

That's insane. I think that thing has to go on my wish list. I can't see investing in the small tempering machine I was eyeballing when this is available for not terribly more money. If I'm understanding correctly, it will serve the purpose of a tempering machine without a batch size limitation?

 

[Chocolot]

That's right, Tricook. I have several temperers, and I can see a lot of uses for this. I would recommend this over a small temperer. You can temper a LOT of chocolate in a short amount of time. Just to speed up ganaches will be a great time saver. When I get home, I can really put it to the test as I have a busy week ahead of me. I'll report back.

 

[curls]

Ganache slap delivered via pizza peel.  :-)