Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )

[Rajala]

New bonbons. I don't know what to call the filling. It's a praliné, but it's not? It's "duja", but it's not? It's under investigation, will update you once I've figured it out

 

[GRiker]

@Rajala I really like the yellow stripe of cocoa butter.  Simple yet classy.  Would you share what tool you used to apply the cocoa butter to the mold? 

[Rajala]

1 minute ago, GRiker said:

@Rajala I really like the yellow stripe of cocoa butter.  Simple yet classy.  Would you share what tool you used to apply the cocoa butter to the mold? 

 

Yessss. I saw someone using a Dremel to make a "swirl" in their mold once, I tried that only to discover that force of something spinning could to other things.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRHqsfxjC2k/

[GRiker]

@Rajala  Nice! Thanks for sharing. It’s inspiring! I haven’t moved into the airbrushing world yet so I like to see how color is used without airbrushing. 

[Rajala]

2 minutes ago, GRiker said:

@Rajala  Nice! Thanks for sharing. It’s inspiring! I haven’t moved into the airbrushing world yet so I like to see how color is used without airbrushing. 

 

You're very welcome. Well, I'm kind of tired of airbrushes haha. Right now I'm thinking of what you can do except just blasting a mold with cocoa butter. 😅

[Kerry Beal]

Last workshop we wanted to look at decorating without an airbrush - don’t think we succeeded though 

 

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, GRiker said:

@Rajala  Nice! Thanks for sharing. It’s inspiring! I haven’t moved into the airbrushing world yet so I like to see how color is used without airbrushing. 

 

Chocolatier and author Tine Prefers Chocolate has an ebook on decorating without an airbrush.  Her striped bonbon is beautiful; alas, my experiments have not equaled hers.

[GRiker]

3 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Last workshop we wanted to look at decorating without an airbrush - don’t think we succeeded though 

 

We did do some stamping, Robyn showed her monochromatic decoration which was beautiful, but not a whole lot more than that. 

[GRiker]

1 hour ago, Jim D. said:

Tine Prefers Chocolate

I found it.  Thanks!  were you successful is adopting some of her techniques? 

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

Chocolatier and author Tine Prefers Chocolate has an ebook on decorating without an airbrush.  Her striped bonbon is beautiful; alas, my experiments have not equaled hers.

This?

 

 

 

[pastrygirl]

9 hours ago, Rajala said:

I don't know what to call the filling. It's a praliné, but it's not? It's "duja", but it's not?

 

Well now I'm curious.  What are the ingredients and what did you do to them?

[Jim D.]

15 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

This?

 

 

 

 

That is one of her color combinations; there are many others.  The "secret" is in the brushes.  She uses fan brushes, applying colors with some pressure so that the fan spreads.  I ordered fan brushes, but they were too flimsy to work.  Tine Forst is very helpful, answering any questions sent to her (even, in my case, when I asked her more or less the same questions several months apart!).  Here is my version, definitely not up to her results:

 

[Kerry Beal]

23 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

That is one of her color combinations; there are many others.  The "secret" is in the brushes.  She uses fan brushes, applying colors with some pressure so that the fan spreads.  I ordered fan brushes, but they were too flimsy to work.  Tine Forst is very helpful, answering any questions sent to her (even, in my case, when I asked her more or less the same questions several months apart!).  Here is my version, definitely not up to her results:

 

Picture of fan brushes?

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Picture of fan brushes?

 

Edited 12 hours ago by Jim D. (log)

[JeanneCake]

I wonder if snipping out some of the bristles would be  helpful? (by creating a small gap between the bristles)

 

Did you use the brush like this \   / in the mold?  Would it be different if you turned the brush 90 degrees so it was more "narrow" as you swiped the brush in the mold?  

 

I use a fan brush for painting on some of my cake designs.  I'll sometimes flip the fan brush from "wide" to "narrow" to get the look I want because a round or flat angled brush is too much for a thin vein. this might not translate to chocolate work though....

[Jim D.]

13 minutes ago, JeanneCake said:

I wonder if snipping out some of the bristles would be  helpful? (by creating a small gap between the bristles)

 

Did you use the brush like this \   / in the mold?  Would it be different if you turned the brush 90 degrees so it was more "narrow" as you swiped the brush in the mold?  

 

I use a fan brush for painting on some of my cake designs.  I'll sometimes flip the fan brush from "wide" to "narrow" to get the look I want because a round or flat angled brush is too much for a thin vein. this might not translate to chocolate work though....

 

The user presses down firmly as he/she paints from one side of a dome to the other.  The pressure forces the colored cocoa butter to the outside edges of the brush stroke, leaving the middle section somewhat translucent.  A stroke with another color fills in that translucent section and also deposits two more lines of color.  The curve of the dome makes the outer brush strokes quite difficult to get right (as is obvious from my example above).  Tine Forst has a keen eye for complementary colors.  I wish she would produce a video (rather than just the ebook) showing this technique.  I think it's all in the texture of the brush and the force used in moving the brush.  Almost worth a trip to Denmark to watch the process.  Ordering the fan brushes online is not terribly useful; purchasing them in an art store would be much better--if only one could find an art store these days.

[Kerry Beal]

So in one brush stroke are you using more than one colour on the brush (if that makes sense)?

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

So in one brush stroke are you using more than one colour on the brush (if that makes sense)?

 

No, one color at a time is used.  You can see more of the designs on Tine's Instagram page:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DRAgznvDc_4/