Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )

[RWood]

I've been asked to make up some samples for a boutique for Easter. 

I think I got carried away with the Spring green ☺️🤷‍♀️. 

I've also ordered some Easter transfers to give them a more themed look.

[Jim D.]

@RWood, I'm glad to see that Jackson Pollock is alive and well. I like your techniques. Wasn't it you just a few days ago who posted that you didn't do enough work with chocolate to invest in a serious airbrush + compressor?  I think an "au contraire" might be in order.

 

I don't know where you got your transfers, but I recommend those from Chocotransfersheets.com, and they are close enough to your location to make shipping much easier.

[RWood]

11 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

@RWood, I'm glad to see that Jackson Pollock is alive and well. I like your techniques. Wasn't it you just a few days ago who posted that you didn't do enough work with chocolate to invest in a serious airbrush + compressor?  I think an "au contraire" might be in order.

 

I don't know where you got your transfers, but I recommend those from Chocotransfersheets.com, and they are close enough to your location to make shipping much easier.

Thanks! Yeah, it looks like I'm gonna have to after all. That's why these are all splatter 😎. The person who asked for these had originally asked if I could produce 10,000 pieces and, that unfortunately it's not possible at the moment. So, we are going to start small. 

I have ordered the transfers from there. They are about a half hour from me, so I'm picking them up instead of paying $25 to ship to me.

[Desiderio]

Rosemary Crunch. Rosemary creme fraiche ganache with a crunchy layer with homemade feuilletine and cocoa nibs. I added grounded rosemary powder to cocoa butter for the top decoration, I wanted more rosemary hint in there. I think the crunch should have been thinner, next time.

[Pastrypastmidnight]

It’s been a while since I’ve shared anything. I’m just now pulling out of my post-Valentine’s Day coma and starting to work again. Here’s what kicked my butt the past month .
 

My dessert-inspired Valentine’s collection (strawberries and cream, salted caramel

hazelnut, lemon meringue, key lime cheesecake, Venezuelan dark, dark chocolate raspberry, passionfruit caramel, cherry cheesecake, crème brûlée):

 

Cute little 5-piece (raspberry caramel, salted caramel, lemon meringue, peanut praliné):

 

Bonbons are great and all, but this sponge toffee is what I can’t stop eating  :

And just a shot of the pretty packaging my friend designed for V-Day (now I need to decide on regular non-holiday branding):

I love seeing what everyone is up to! Can’t wait to see what Easter brings. I’m soooooo ready for spring!

Edited February 20, 2020 by Pastrypastmidnight (log)

[curls]

Beautiful chocolates and pacakaging @Pastrypastmidnight! 

 

If you don't mind sharing, who are you getting your packaging from? Are you going with someone local for your labels and box sleeves? I'm currently printing my own lablels and considering outsourcing.

[sbain]

Those look fantastic @Pastrypastmidnight  and I am excited to try some sponge toffee. Do you add any special flavors, or just straight yummy sweetness? And love your packaging too

[Rajala]

This is a hazelnut caramel and gianduia. Happy with the result.

 

[Pastrypastmidnight]

8 hours ago, curls said:

Beautiful chocolates and pacakaging @Pastrypastmidnight! 

 

If you don't mind sharing, who are you getting your packaging from? Are you going with someone local for your labels and box sleeves? I'm currently printing my own lablels and considering outsourcing.

Aspecialtybox and the labels are such a small batch that I’m literally printing at UPs and cutting with an exacto knife and straight edge. That needs to change ASAP. 

8 hours ago, sbain said:

Those look fantastic @Pastrypastmidnight  and I am excited to try some sponge toffee. Do you add any special flavors, or just straight yummy sweetness? And love your packaging too

Just really good honey to give it some flavor. Other than that it’s pretty simple. 

[Desiderio]

15 hours ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

It’s been a while since I’ve shared anything. I’m just now pulling out of my post-Valentine’s Day coma and starting to work again. Here’s what kicked my butt the past month .
 

My dessert-inspired Valentine’s collection (strawberries and cream, salted caramel

hazelnut, lemon meringue, key lime cheesecake, Venezuelan dark, dark chocolate raspberry, passionfruit caramel, cherry cheesecake, crème brûlée):

 

Cute little 5-piece (raspberry caramel, salted caramel, lemon meringue, peanut praliné):

 

Bonbons are great and all, but this sponge toffee is what I can’t stop eating  :

And just a shot of the pretty packaging my friend designed for V-Day (now I need to decide on regular non-holiday branding):

I love seeing what everyone is up to! Can’t wait to see what Easter brings. I’m soooooo ready for spring!

 

Gorgeous line! You do such an elegant work, its a pleasure to look at, I can only imagine tasting them 😄

[Desiderio]

9 hours ago, Rajala said:

This is a hazelnut caramel and gianduia. Happy with the result.

 

Tug to my heart! Hazelnut and caramel <3. Beautiful.

[Rajala]

3 minutes ago, Desiderio said:

Tug to my heart! Hazelnut and caramel <3. Beautiful.

 

Thank you!

[Rajala]

So one thing I encounter some times, but just never asked about, until this very day... When I mould shells, sometimes some of them get some weird lines etc. What can be the cause of this? Is it just that the mould wasn't clean enough or is it something I'm doing wrong?

 

Look at the left one. Above the reflection of my lamp, you can see some lines. What's up with that?

 

[Kerry Beal]

De molding marks?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

De molding marks?

 

And how does one get rid of these?

 

[pastrygirl]

32 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

And how does one get rid of these?

 

 

photoshop

[Rajala]

De molding marks is a new one for me. Haha. But good to know that my mould isn't dirty at least.

[Kerry Beal]

If it's a good polycarbonate mold - without a huge smooth space (nothing prevents de molding marks on a huge smooth space) - make sure after pouring the molds you wait until it starts to crystallize around the edges and place it in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes - until you see that the bonbons have separated completely from the mold. 

[Rajala]

That's what I did, at 16°.

 

This is a standard hemisphere mould from Chocolate World. I think it's 3 cm in diameter.

 

It doesn't bother me that much, just so everyone here doesn't think I'm crazy haha. But I figured I would ask since there are lots of people who knows so much here.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Rajala (log)

[Kerry Beal]

7 minutes ago, Rajala said:

That's what I did, at 16°.

 

This is a standard hemisphere mould from Chocolate World. I think it's 3 cm in diameter.

 

It doesn't bother me that much, just so everyone here doesn't think I'm crazy haha. But I figured I would ask since there are lots of people who knows so much here.

 

Had it shown itself to be completely separated from the mold when you took it out?

 

My fridge is 4º C - it can stay in a 16º fridge indefinitely 

[Rajala]

2 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Had it shown itself to be completely separated from the mold when you took it out?

 

I bought a separate fridge for this (~USD 140,) I guess I'm a little bit crazy after all.

 

Not after 20 minutes, no. Looking at the "bottom" of the mould, the chocolate was still "stuck" to it. An hour or so later most of them were lose. One thing though, they had let go from the mould, but there were still stuck as in there were some kind of "vacuum" between the chocolate and the mould. Not sure how to describe it better.

[Jim D.]

8 minutes ago, Rajala said:

That's what I did, at 16°.

 

This is a standard hemisphere mould from Chocolate World. I think it's 3 cm in diameter.

 

It doesn't bother me that much, just so everyone here doesn't think I'm crazy haha. But I figured I would ask since there are lots of people who knows so much here.

 

 

Remember the earlier discussion about the issue with shallow molds (such as half-spheres, quenelles, and cocoa pods) when a strip of the chocolate used for molding sometimes shows outside the coloring, along the bottom edge of the bonbon? I think the "conclusion" was that there was no certain explanation and certainly no idea of how to prevent it.  One thought was that if it happens to Melissa Coppel--and she displays the defective chocolates--then there is probably no way of preventing it. Well, I put demolding marks in the same category, and I have (mostly) trained myself not to look at the bottom edges of shallow bonbons. Those marks occur very often on the surface of bonbons made in magnetic molds.

[Rajala]

3 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

Remember the earlier discussion about the issue with shallow molds (such as half-spheres, quenelles, and cocoa pods) when a strip of the chocolate used for molding sometimes shows outside the coloring, along the bottom edge of the bonbon? I think the "conclusion" was that there was no certain explanation and certainly no idea of how to prevent it.  One thought was that if it happens to Melissa Coppel--and she displays the defective chocolates--then there is probably no way of preventing it. Well, I put demolding marks in the same category, and I have (mostly) trained myself not to look at the bottom edges of shallow bonbons. Those marks occur very often on the surface of bonbons made in magnetic molds.

 

Yeah, I recall that!

 

You're probably right, it's probably hard to get each shell perfect. It's just annoying haha. But I've been seeing this for the 2-3 years I've been playing around with chocolate and haven't cared too much about it. But it's always interesting to know why things happens. What's more annoying is when one totally random bonbon decides that it won't demould for whatever reason. Maybe that's something we should discuss as well? 😂

[Jim D.]

59 minutes ago, Rajala said:

 

What's more annoying is when one totally random bonbon decides that it won't demould for whatever reason. Maybe that's something we should discuss as well? 😂

 

Oh, that has been discussed...a lot.  It remains one of the mysteries of chocolates.  I taught a mini-course last summer for two teenagers, and when I told them there are some things about chocolate we will never understand (for certain) and explained that it was just one more example of the fact that the chocolate is the boss, they found it annoying at first (they were both scientifically inclined and loved all the details of crystals), but they grew to find it funny, especially when, as you point out, one chocolate comes out perfectly and its neighbor refuses.  I try to remember to find it all funny (as I bang a mold on the counter to the point where I think I may prove that polycarbonate can be shattered).

[Rajala]

7 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

chocolate is the boss

 

Haha, I've heard this one before.

 

One thing though, I've heard/read (maybe even here) that shells that are too thin, are prone to not retract enough. Anyone know if this is correct?