Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )

[Chocoguyin Pemby]

Hi - I have just had my caramels tested for AW and the result came back at 0.38 - what does this mean - they just supplied the results no interpretation.   I am also having shelf life test done but have to wait for those results.   If anyone can share some info it would be much appreciated.  

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, Chocoguyin Pemby said:

Hi - I have just had my caramels tested for AW and the result came back at 0.38 - what does this mean - they just supplied the results no interpretation.   I am also having shelf life test done but have to wait for those results.   If anyone can share some info it would be much appreciated.  

Means they will last forever!

[Jim D.]

4 hours ago, Chocoguyin Pemby said:

Hi - I have just had my caramels tested for AW and the result came back at 0.38 - what does this mean - they just supplied the results no interpretation.   I am also having shelf life test done but have to wait for those results.   If anyone can share some info it would be much appreciated.  

 

Melissa Coppel's guide to Aw readings:

1.00 - 0.95 - 1 to 2 weeks
0.95 - 0.91 - 2 to 3 weeks
0.90 - 0.87 - 2 to 4 weeks
0.86 - 0.80 - 3 to 6 weeks
0.80 - 0.75 - 5 to 15 weeks
0.74 - 0.65 - 12 to 20 weeks
0.64 - 0.60 - 15 to 30 weeks
0.5              - 15 to 50 weeks

 

J.P. Wybauw's:

 for an Aw greater than 0.85:  maximum of 3 weeks

 for an Aw between 0.70 and 0.85:  maximum of 3 months

 for an Aw between 0.65 and 0.70:  maximum of 9 months

 for an Aw below 0.65:  "the ganache is microbially stable" (I'm assuming that basically means "forever")

 

[Chocoguyin Pemby]

Hi Jim -  Thanks for that!!!  I will not worry if they last 3 weeks anymore!!  That is about the longest they last around here.  I am selling them at a local market so it's good to know I am not going to harm someone. 

[Jim D.]

The September 2020 assortment:

 

 

Clockwise, beginning with the blue bonbon at the top:  (1) "marjolaine" (hazelnut gianduja ganache, almond gianduja ganache, nut meringue), (2) "crème brûlée" (caramel crunch, vanilla buttercream), (3) Speculoos cookie butter & milk chocolate, (4) "caramel macchiato" (caramel ganache, vanilla ganache, coffee ganache), (5) pistachio gianduja, (6) lime cheesecake with graham cracker crust, (7) salted caramel with shortbread, (8) layers of extra-dark chocolate ganache with Angostura orange bitters & vanilla buttercream, and (in the center) (9) cherries and caramelized almonds with almond gianduja

[Matthew.Taylor]

First things first, here’s the link to the recipe I used for this.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pistachio-butterfiyou-know-9440781
 

if you guys watched the recent Good Eats Halloween special, you’ll have seen this recipe. I’m not sure if this is the right thread to put this in, but it is kind of a chocolate. I’ve wanted to find a recipe for this particular candy bar for awhile, but could never find one that didn’t involve candy corn. Mine aren’t quite as “neat” as those shown on the show, but I like them. If my math is right, there’s a total of 540 layers of sugar and nut mixture in these things. 
 

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by Matthew.Taylor (log)

[Chocoguyin Pemby]

So I had some left over caramel sauce from a meal and thought I would make some turtles with some pecans I had left over as well.  I reduced the caramel sauce to make it thicker 236F, roasted the pecans and arranged them in 3's on some parchment paper.   I poured the caramel over the pecan clusters and let it set.   While I was dipping  a batch of caramels in chocolate the 2 trays of turtles were supposed to set up - they did not as the caramel was a tad soft - I ended up scraping the cluster off the parchment and forming a log out of the mass - a sticky log.  after the first attempt I rinsed my fingers and put the second tray in the fridge.  finished dipping the first tray and was able to slide and scrape with a spatula to get the rest off and dipped - the weren't as bad as the first batch but not what i had in mind.  I let the chocolate set up and packaged 1/2 the caramels for a delivery and added 2 turtle 'turds'  as I  called them.  As I walked out I had a taste test of one of them and it was amazing - so much better than any turtle you can buy.  One of the best things I have ever made - by fluke kind of  the sure don't look pretty but taste amazing.    And I write all this and try and attatch the photo taken with my iphone and it is in the wrong format!!!   Sorry y'all no photo!!  eerrrrgggghhhhh!    What the heck is HEIC format and why is my phone doing that??

 

Anyways 5 minutes after delivering the caramels plus the turds, the customer texted me and ordered 25 turtle turds he loved them so much - now I have to figure out how to replicate them. 

Edited October 22, 2020 by Chocoguyin Pemby (log)

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, Chocoguyin Pemby said:

So I had some left over caramel sauce from a meal and thought I would make some turtles with some pecans I had left over as well.  I reduced the caramel sauce to make it thicker 236F, roasted the pecans and arranged them in 3's on some parchment paper.   I poured the caramel over the pecan clusters and let it set.   While I was dipping  a batch of caramels in chocolate the 2 trays of turtles were supposed to set up - they did not as the caramel was a tad soft - I ended up scraping the cluster off the parchment and forming a log out of the mass - a sticky log.  after the first attempt I rinsed my fingers and put the second tray in the fridge.  finished dipping the first tray and was able to slide and scrape with a spatula to get the rest off and dipped - the weren't as bad as the first batch but not what i had in mind.  I let the chocolate set up and packaged 1/2 the caramels for a delivery and added 2 turtle 'turds'  as I  called them.  As I walked out I had a taste test of one of them and it was amazing - so much better than any turtle you can buy.  One of the best things I have ever made - by fluke kind of  the sure don't look pretty but taste amazing.    And I write all this and try and attatch the photo taken with my iphone and it is in the wrong format!!!   Sorry y'all no photo!!  eerrrrgggghhhhh!    What the heck is HEIC format and why is my phone doing that??

 

Anyways 5 minutes after delivering the caramels plus the turds, the customer texted me and ordered 25 turtle turds he loved them so much - now I have to figure out how to replicate them. 

Home made caramel turtles truly are the best! Addictive. 

 

I vaguely recall having that same issue with my phone and having to change something so it would go back to JPEG - but don't remember how I did it. 

[Rajala]

Since I made some bonbons for the first time in a couple of months, I need to post them here!

 

Gingerbread bonbons

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by Rajala
Grammar (log)

[Rajala]

On 10/18/2020 at 12:12 AM, Matthew.Taylor said:

First things first, here’s the link to the recipe I used for this.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pistachio-butterfiyou-know-9440781
 

if you guys watched the recent Good Eats Halloween special, you’ll have seen this recipe. I’m not sure if this is the right thread to put this in, but it is kind of a chocolate. I’ve wanted to find a recipe for this particular candy bar for awhile, but could never find one that didn’t involve candy corn. Mine aren’t quite as “neat” as those shown on the show, but I like them. If my math is right, there’s a total of 540 layers of sugar and nut mixture in these things. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bet they taste amazing. I want to to this, but I never get it to work. I can't view the recipe either due to geoblocking. I get sent to the UK site.

 

[Jim D.]

@Rajala, tell us what the layers are in the gingerbread filling.

[Rajala]

23 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

@Rajala, tell us what the layers are in the gingerbread filling.

 

Well of course!

 

1. A caramel with gingerbread spices. I make a wet caramel which I deglaze with cream that I heated up together with the spices

2. A ganache made out of Valrhona's Orizaba and again gingerbread spices for the cream.

3. A crispy layer with same chocolate, ghee, coconut oil, gingerbread pieces and some sea salt

Edited November 15, 2020 by Rajala
Spelling (log)

[Jim D.]

14 minutes ago, Rajala said:

 

Well of course!

 

1. A caramel with gingerbread spices. I make a wet caramel which I deglaze with cream that I heated up together with the spices

2. A ganache made out of Valrhona's Orizaba and again gingerbread spices for the cream.

3. A crispy layer with same chocolate, ghee, coconut oil, gingerbread pices and some sea salt

 

Sounds very good.  If you don't mind, I have more questions:  What made the third layer crispy?  Did you use something like gingersnaps ground up or ... ?

[Rajala]

2 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

Sounds very good.  If you don't mind, I have more questions:  What made the third layer crispy?  Did you use something like gingersnaps ground up or ... ?

 

Yeah, kind of. Gingerbread in Sweden is a little bit different from what you have. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_snap

 

Check the Scandinavian part there. But those become the crispy element.

[Jim D.]

6 minutes ago, Rajala said:

 

Yeah, kind of. Gingerbread in Sweden is a little bit different from what you have. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_snap

 

Check the Scandinavian part there. But those become the crispy element.

 

That's what I was assuming.  Here gingerbread is a soft cake.

[Rajala]

6 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

 

That's what I was assuming.  Here gingerbread is a soft cake.

 

Ah, got it. My mistake. I never realized gingerbread was just the soft one. We call the "cookies" pepparkaka, and if we make a soft one, it's prefixed by mjuk (soft). Mjuk pepparkaka.

[EsaK]

11 hours ago, Rajala said:

3. A crispy layer with same chocolate, ghee, coconut oil, gingerbread pieces and some sea salt

 

Did you manage to make that layer pipeable and self-leveling, so that it's easy to cap? I'd think that's possible to do when putting enough fat to the cookie part. Though that makes me wonder how crispy the crispy is then. 🤔 Need to test some..

[Rajala]

1 hour ago, SarahPorta said:

I hope it helps.

 

Thank you!

[Rajala]

1 hour ago, EsaK said:

Did you manage to make that layer pipeable and self-leveling, so that it's easy to cap? I'd think that's possible to do when putting enough fat to the cookie part. Though that makes me wonder how crispy the crispy is then. 🤔 Need to test some..

 

Yeah, that was the whole idea with it and combining clarified butter and coconut oil. Here's the recipe for the crispy part. You'll have to translate it. 😛

 

Quote

Krisplager med pepparkakssmulor

 

- 100 gram Valrhona Orizaba 39%
- 8 gram kakaosmör
- 25 gram ghee (skirat smör)
- 25 gram deodoriserad kokosolja
- 75 gram pepparkakor (köpta eller hemmagjorda? du bestämmer!)
- 2 gram havssalt

 

1. Smält chokladen med kakaosmör, ghee och kokosolja (kokosoljan kanske redan är smält om du har VARMT hemma)
2. Krossa pepparkakor till fina smulor (jag använde en mortel). Även saltet, om flingorna är stora, behöver göras lite mindre i mortel eller bara med hjälp av ens fingrar.
3. Temperera blandningen till 24°
4. Blanda choklad- och fettmassan med pepparkakssmulor och salt.
5. Spritsa ut fyllningen ovan på ganachen, när den har satt sig så att krispet inte blandas med ganache.

 

 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, EsaK said:

 

Did you manage to make that layer pipeable and self-leveling, so that it's easy to cap? I'd think that's possible to do when putting enough fat to the cookie part. Though that makes me wonder how crispy the crispy is then. 🤔 Need to test some..

 

You bring up the issue I encountered when I tried to make a pipeable cookie layer (rather than inserting an actual cookie and surrounding it with something to keep it crisp).  I ground up cookies and added chocolate (I tried various chocolates as well as cocoa butter), and it worked in terms of being pipeable and being much better at filling up the cavity without leaving gaps, BUT the layer was no longer crisp.  I know of a chocolatier who regularly makes a pipeable layer of ground graham crackers for a cheesecake bonbon, but I had no success with it at all. 

[EsaK]

9 hours ago, Rajala said:

 

Yeah, that was the whole idea with it and combining clarified butter and coconut oil. Here's the recipe for the crispy part. You'll have to translate it. 😛

 

 

 

 

Many thanks Rajala! Swedish being the second language here I guess I should've been able to fully understand that but I admit going for Google Translate for some parts. (Which turned out funny as krisplager translated into crisis problems. I guess getting crispy things inside chocolates can turn into crisis!)

[EsaK]

8 hours ago, Jim D. said:

 

You bring up the issue I encountered when I tried to make a pipeable cookie layer (rather than inserting an actual cookie and surrounding it with something to keep it crisp).  I ground up cookies and added chocolate (I tried various chocolates as well as cocoa butter), and it worked in terms of being pipeable and being much better at filling up the cavity without leaving gaps, BUT the layer was no longer crisp.  I know of a chocolatier who regularly makes a pipeable layer of ground graham crackers for a cheesecake bonbon, but I had no success with it at all. 

 

I remember reading about those adventures Jim, and thinking that cookie layers inside bonbons wasn't something I was gonna do. But when you see things done, you kind of need to try yourself too. Oh well. 

 

When you ground up the cookies, did you have any "bigger than sand" pieces left? Just wondering if that was why it wasn't crispy, or what did you think? Getting your cookies or whatever you're using ground up so that it's not all sand but some more distinct pieces, but still small enough to allow levelling into a small layer, is something I imagine is not as easy as one would hope. Or am I assuming wrong? 🤔

[Rajala]

10 minutes ago, EsaK said:

 

Many thanks Rajala! Swedish being the second language here I guess I should've been able to fully understand that but I admit going for Google Translate for some parts. (Which turned out funny as krisplager translated into crisis problems. I guess getting crispy things inside chocolates can turn into crisis!)

 

Haha crisis problems. That's what you get with chocolate quite often, right?

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, EsaK said:

 

I remember reading about those adventures Jim, and thinking that cookie layers inside bonbons wasn't something I was gonna do. But when you see things done, you kind of need to try yourself too. Oh well. 

 

When you ground up the cookies, did you have any "bigger than sand" pieces left? Just wondering if that was why it wasn't crispy, or what did you think? Getting your cookies or whatever you're using ground up so that it's not all sand but some more distinct pieces, but still small enough to allow levelling into a small layer, is something I imagine is not as easy as one would hope. Or am I assuming wrong? 🤔

 

I used ground graham crackers for my experiment (totally ground). The issue with leaving "bigger than sand" pieces is that they won't pass through the tip of a piping bag (and if you cut the opening to be larger, it's impossible to pipe without making a huge mess).

[Jim D.]

On 11/16/2020 at 6:54 AM, Rajala said:

 

Yeah, that was the whole idea with it and combining clarified butter and coconut oil. Here's the recipe for the crispy part. You'll have to translate it. 😛

 

 

How fine were the cookie bits and how did you manage to pipe them while still leaving them large enough to have crunch?  That's the question!