Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )

[ChocoMom]

The PB Fluff is tempered milk chocolate, JIF creamy PB,  unsalted butter, marshmallow fluff, vanilla bean paste and salt.  If the butter is at room temp., it whips perfectly well with a spoon, the marshmallow fluff stays fluffy, and it pipes beautifully into the eggs,... or into one's mouth.    

I got to thinking later, it would make a marvelous filling for macaroons.   I can take a pic of it if anyone would like that, so you can see how fluffy it is. I just adore the light texture and taste. 

 

I handed out samples today to various folks, and got a unanimous thumbs up. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by ChocoMom
I forgot an ingredient!!!! (log)

[Tri2Cook]

9 minutes ago, ChocoMom said:

The PB Fluff is tempered milk chocolate, JIF creamy PB,  unsalted butter, marshmallow fluff, vanilla bean paste and salt.  If the butter is at room temp., it whips perfectly well with a spoon, the marshmallow fluff stays fluffy, and it pipes beautifully into the eggs,... or into one's mouth.    

I got to thinking later, it would make a marvelous filling for macaroons.   I can take a pic of it if anyone would like that, so you can see how fluffy it is. I just adore the light texture and taste. 

 

I handed out samples today to various folks, and got a unanimous thumbs up. 

 

Lucky various folks! That sounds amazing. Anything peanut butter gets my attention and then you went and made it fluffy! I'd love to see a picture... and my next store trip will include buying marshmallow fluff so I can start attempting to mimic it. 

[ChocoMom]

It still has its little air bubbles even though I just squeezed it through the piping bag....

 

[Jim D.]

My Easter chocolates for 2018. First, the eggs:

 

 

Clockwise, beginning with the red egg at top: strawberry pâte de fruit & strawberry buttercream, coffee ganache and rum buttercream, crispy hazelnut gianduja, dark caramel with Maldon sea salt.

 

Then the boxed selection:

 

 

Top row: (1) dark caramel with Maldon sea salt in dark chocolate, (2) coconut ganache & lime cream in white chocolate, (3) orange caramel with balsamic vinegar in dark chocolate. Middle row: (1) dark chocolate ganache with raspberry purée & rosewater in milk chocolate, (2) ganache flavored with Earl Grey tea in milk chocolate, (3) black currant ganache & crispy hazelnut gianduja dipped in milk chocolate and topped with a toasted hazelnut. Bottom row: (1) Morello cherry pâte de fruit & pistachio gianduja in dark chocolate, (2) chocolate chip cookie truffle dipped in dark chocolate, (3) mango pâte de fruit & mango ganache in dark chocolate.

[Tri2Cook]

9 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

It still has its little air bubbles even though I just squeezed it through the piping bag....

 

Well, that did it. Nothing I eat today is going to taste good because it won't be fluffy peanut butter. 

[Kerry Beal]

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery - this morning I made a batch of ChocoMom's Fluffernutter filling and filled about half a dozen big eggs with it. Very happy with the result! I used salted butter and a bit of molasses instead of the vanilla. 

[patris]

16 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery - this morning I made a batch of ChocoMom's Fluffernutter filling and filled about half a dozen big eggs with it. Very happy with the result! I used salted butter and a bit of molasses instead of the vanilla. 

 

You (and @Tri2Cook and @ChocoMom) are very, very bad influences. Now I am obsessed with the idea! This weekend I shall give it a shot.

 

[tikidoc]

Do we have an actual recipe with amounts or ratios (for pb fluff)?

[ChocoMom]

@tikidoc   Here it is, as best I can remember. 

 

12-14 oz tempered 38% milk chocolate

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp. - very soft.

4 oz -6 oz marshmallow fluff

6 oz Creamy Jif

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Salt to taste. 

 

There's a little variation in the amounts of certain items because I was tweaking it as I went along, which is just how I do things ordinarily. I added in a little more chocolate at one point to melt the PB more. And then I added in a couple more oz of fluff to compensate for the weight of the chocolate I had just added before that. I beat the chocolate and butter with a spoon, added the PB so everything was smooth and sort of melty, then added the fluff, a little more chocolate, and a little more fluff. then the VB paste and salt. 

 

Pretzel rods, Vanilla wafers, and Oreos are great tools to use if consuming outside of chocolates.

[patris]

10 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

@tikidoc   Here it is, as best I can remember. 

 

12-14 oz tempered 38% milk chocolate

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp. - very soft.

4 oz -6 oz marshmallow fluff

6 oz Creamy Jif

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Salt to taste. 

 

There's a little variation in the amounts of certain items because I was tweaking it as I went along, which is just how I do things ordinarily. I added in a little more chocolate at one point to melt the PB more. And then I added in a couple more oz of fluff to compensate for the weight of the chocolate I had just added before that. I beat the chocolate and butter with a spoon, added the PB so everything was smooth and sort of melty, then added the fluff, a little more chocolate, and a little more fluff. then the VB paste and salt. 

 

Pretzel rods, Vanilla wafers, and Oreos are great tools to use if consuming outside of chocolates.

 

Ooooh this is very generous of you. I was just going to wing it - thank you!

[MelissaH]

12 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

@tikidoc   Here it is, as best I can remember. 

 

12-14 oz tempered 38% milk chocolate

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp. - very soft.

4 oz -6 oz marshmallow fluff

6 oz Creamy Jif

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Salt to taste. 

 

There's a little variation in the amounts of certain items because I was tweaking it as I went along, which is just how I do things ordinarily. I added in a little more chocolate at one point to melt the PB more. And then I added in a couple more oz of fluff to compensate for the weight of the chocolate I had just added before that. I beat the chocolate and butter with a spoon, added the PB so everything was smooth and sort of melty, then added the fluff, a little more chocolate, and a little more fluff. then the VB paste and salt. 

 

Pretzel rods, Vanilla wafers, and Oreos are great tools to use if consuming outside of chocolates.

I think this would make a marvelous Twinkie filling.

[gulfporter]

My Mexican oven and I getting jiggy with each other.  I gambled on madeleines and they came out perfectly.  Will share the batch with my gardener and his family.  I'm not sure they really like the anglo bakes that I give them, but they are appreciative that we think of them at the holidays.  

 

While I'm not religious in the least, our village puts on a live Passion Play that is quite the production.  Buses pour in from Mexico City and beyond.  

 

For the devout, Good Friday's 4+ hour long Play which ends with a steep climb to "Calvary Hill" is the high point.  For us, it's Saturday night when locally made life-size paper mache' effigies of Judas, covered with large firecrackers are hung in the trees in our Plaza and then ignited at 11PM.  At midnight all the church bells toll for a solid 30 minutes. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by gulfporter (log)

[kayb]

On 3/19/2018 at 9:17 AM, patris said:

 

In flagrante delicious!

 

 

I have to ask...If you leave the bunnies alone a couple of days, do you come back to find little bunnies?

 

[Tri2Cook]

1 minute ago, kayb said:

 

I have to ask...If you leave the bunnies alone a couple of days, do you come back to find little bunnies?

 

Wouldn't that be nice? Make a couple at the beginning of March, tuck them away somewhere quiet and have all your production done when you take them back out at Easter.  None of the bunnies I've made with that mold have been kind enough to do that for me though. 

[Kerry Beal]

43 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

I have to ask...If you leave the bunnies alone a couple of days, do you come back to find little bunnies?

 

They seem more likely to disappear and I have to make another batch!

[tikidoc]

23 hours ago, ChocoMom said:

@tikidoc   Here it is, as best I can remember. 

 

12-14 oz tempered 38% milk chocolate

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp. - very soft.

4 oz -6 oz marshmallow fluff

6 oz Creamy Jif

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Salt to taste. 

 

There's a little variation in the amounts of certain items because I was tweaking it as I went along, which is just how I do things ordinarily. I added in a little more chocolate at one point to melt the PB more. And then I added in a couple more oz of fluff to compensate for the weight of the chocolate I had just added before that. I beat the chocolate and butter with a spoon, added the PB so everything was smooth and sort of melty, then added the fluff, a little more chocolate, and a little more fluff. then the VB paste and salt. 

 

Pretzel rods, Vanilla wafers, and Oreos are great tools to use if consuming outside of chocolates.

 

 

 

Thanks!!!!!!

[minas6907]

Heres something I've been wanting to do forever! Soft sugar panning! I finally got the courage to do, much thanks to @Trufflenaut. Heres what I've done so far. The first and second pictures are store bought spice drops. These so far came out of any sugar panned item thus far. The second picture is twizzlers pull and peel, again with the same coat. I initally wanted to actually pull the individual strands and cut them, to have a ton of small centers to pan, but when I realized that was a massive pain, I just cut the licorice sticks to size. It didn't come out the same...I think the syrup was too cold...not totally sure here, but there seemed to be extra mositure there. The last picture is some black licorice, the recipe came from Chefsteps. I don't totally like the amount of gelatin in them, but really, its not bad, and I go totally crazy for anything that is anise flavored.

 

Ultimately, I wanted to make a larger slab of licorice, dice it, and pan it. Looking for something along the lines of Good and Plenty. So I did that today...it didnt come out super well, next time I'm going to adjust the syrup. These feel like there was too much moisture in them, even though I measured it with a refractometer. Soooo, it would seem that I started off well and am just getting worse. I'll post picture of the new licorice dragees when they have a few days to sit.

 

And just as a reference, @Trufflenaut pointed me to a text called Confectionery Science and Technology. Fortunately, Amazon had a used copy for a reasonable price. It has a very detailed instructions for soft and hard sugar panning. My next project was going to be hard panning some chocolate lentils....but I realize I may need to scale back, I might try for a Jordon Almond for now.

[keychris]

 

[Eat.Choui]

17 hours ago, minas6907 said:

Heres something I've been wanting to do forever! Soft sugar panning! I finally got the courage to do, much thanks to @Trufflenaut. Heres what I've done so far. The first and second pictures are store bought spice drops. These so far came out of any sugar panned item thus far. The second picture is twizzlers pull and peel, again with the same coat. I initally wanted to actually pull the individual strands and cut them, to have a ton of small centers to pan, but when I realized that was a massive pain, I just cut the licorice sticks to size. It didn't come out the same...I think the syrup was too cold...not totally sure here, but there seemed to be extra mositure there. The last picture is some black licorice, the recipe came from Chefsteps. I don't totally like the amount of gelatin in them, but really, its not bad, and I go totally crazy for anything that is anise flavored.

 

Ultimately, I wanted to make a larger slab of licorice, dice it, and pan it. Looking for something along the lines of Good and Plenty. So I did that today...it didnt come out super well, next time I'm going to adjust the syrup. These feel like there was too much moisture in them, even though I measured it with a refractometer. Soooo, it would seem that I started off well and am just getting worse. I'll post picture of the new licorice dragees when they have a few days to sit.

 

And just as a reference, @Trufflenaut pointed me to a text called Confectionery Science and Technology. Fortunately, Amazon had a used copy for a reasonable price. It has a very detailed instructions for soft and hard sugar panning. My next project was going to be hard panning some chocolate lentils....but I realize I may need to scale back, I might try for a Jordon Almond for now.

Wow!!!  They look fantastic and smooth!  Hopefully, I’ll learn to do this one day.  What is the texture of the coating like?  Is it crumbly and crunchy?

[Eat.Choui]

Here are some pictures from Easter eggs.  The eggs are filled with various chocolate buttons and creatures.  Alas, I did not take pictures of the final product.

[pastrygirl]

3 hours ago, Eat.Choui said:

Here are some pictures from Easter eggs.  The eggs are filled with various chocolate buttons and creatures.  Alas, I did not take pictures of the final product.

 

 

Nice!  What are the green and the pink, did you make them yourself?

[Pastrypastmidnight]

Last minute Easter treats—I had the mold for a week but no time to play until last night. Finger painted. I just filled them with store-bought marshmallow cream and leftover malted milk ganache because that’s what I had time for.

P.S. Now I know I really need so white cocoa butter and to freaking make a decision on an airbrush. Maybe reading through the airbrushing thread for a 4th time will help me decide. Sigh .

[Trufflenaut]

For my mom’s birthday:

 

~2 1/2 lbs each of chocolate covered macadamia nuts and hazelnuts...  I deliberately left a lot of doubles (and a few triples) to go for more of a “nut cluster” effect

 

[Eat.Choui]

On 3/31/2018 at 7:01 PM, pastrygirl said:

 

Nice!  What are the green and the pink, did you make them yourself?

 

Sorry for the delayed response!

 

The green is matcha white chocolate and the pink is raspberry white chocolate that we mixed in-house (matcha powder and freezed-dried raspberry powder).

 

Here is matcha almond dragrees with the matcha white chocolate before the powdered sugar finish:

 

[DianaB]

Nougat has been my treat of choice for many years but my only previous attempt to make it at home was an absolute disaster.  The ingredients are not cheap and I was reluctant to try again after a first batch from which nothing could be salvaged.

 

Until a couple of days ago when I came across  honey that I had bought some time ago and which was still in good condition.  After reading around numerous recipes I stood for what seemed an eternity to get the sugars to the temperature recommended but the experiment paid off. We have nougat!

 

Any advice from you in respect of stabilising the result would be welcomed.  The pictures were taken 24 hours after the nougat was made.  In the 24 hours that have followed the rectangles have become rounded as the nougat gently and very slowly seems to be collapsing.  I’m wondering if there is anything I might add to the mix to prevent this?  The taste is better than I could have hoped for.