Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )

[Bentley]

This one is called Caramel Cookie Monster - A layer of cookie butter milk chocolate ganache with crunchy cookie bits topped with a Tahitian vanilla caramel.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Bentley
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[Kerry Beal]

6 hours ago, Bentley said:

This one is called Caramel Cookie Monster - A layer of cookie butter milk chocolate ganache with crunchy cookie bits topped with a Tahitian vanilla caramel.

For some reason I'm getting albino Cookie Monster in a snow storm - oops now I can see it - nice!

Edited October 7, 2017 by Kerry Beal
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[minas6907]

Hi all! Well heres what I've done in the last few years:

Peach gummy rings

Assorted bonbons

Hazelnut dragee

Lavender bonbon

Assorted bonbon

Panned malt balls

Bubble gum taffy

Coconut taffy

Sponge candy

Peppermint meltaways

Peppermint patties

Peach pate de fruit

Macadamia dragee

Gummy bears!

Misc Bonbon

Enrobed walnut toffees

Aleppo pepper caramels

Sea salt caramels

Hazelnut gianduja in a terrine form

Marshmallow

Wedding gummy rings

Coconut and blueberry pate de fruit

Almond dragee

Wedding table

Lollipop tree

 

Thanks for the encouragement everyone, sorry for so many post at once!

[ChocoMom]

@minas6907    OMG!  Such beautiful and amazing work! Love, Love LOVE it!!!!   You're AMAZING!!! 

[pastrygirl]

Raspberry pie bonbons.  Raspberry flavor came out really well - some raspberry white chocolate I had made with freeze dried fruit ganache-ified with raspberry puree.  Pie dough layer involves  puff pastry scraps, brown butter, and white chocolate.

 

 

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Raspberry pie bonbons.  Raspberry flavor came out really well - some raspberry white chocolate I had made with freeze dried fruit ganache-ified with raspberry puree.  Pie dough layer involves  puff pastry scraps, brown butter, and white chocolate.

 

 

OMG this looks amazing and right up my alley.  Want want want.

[curls]

Finally starting to get cool -- starting to make chocolates & confections. Three flavors for October: dark chocolate truffle, fig & port ganache, and hazelnut gianduja with feuilletine... cooks treat fourth flavor -- port ganache (really just because I had extra port ganache & some extra shelled molds).

 

[curls]

Just made up a batch of mango & passionfruit caramels. Slab is cooling and it will be cut and wrapped tomorrow. Think I hit the right temperature on these (unlike the cassis caramels that I made at the eGullet Vegas workshop -- where I overshot the final temperature).

 

[RobertM]

10 minutes ago, curls said:

Just made up a batch of mango & passionfruit caramels. Slab is cooling and it will be cut and wrapped tomorrow. Think I hit the right temperature on these (unlike the cassis caramels that I made at the eGullet Vegas workshop -- where I overshot the final temperature).

 

WE overshot the temp......didn’t we?    It was my fault.....

Edited October 23, 2017 by RobertM (log)

[curls]

10 hours ago, RobertM said:

WE overshot the temp......didn’t we?    It was my fault.....

 

If you like, we can share the blame. They were still quite tasty just a bit challenging to consume.

[pastryani]

EYE am watching you...   hehe... creepy marshmallow eyeballs for Halloween. 

 

[Shelby]

12 hours ago, pastryani said:

EYE am watching you...   hehe... creepy marshmallow eyeballs for Halloween. 

 

These are awesome!!!!

[Jim D.]

@Bentley, are you willing to share the recipe for your Caramel Cookie Monster?

[Bentley]

Based on the postal tracking, this should be the last batch of chocolates I make before my EZ Temper arrives.  These are a white chocolate coconut lime ganache in a dark chocolate shell.

[Jim D.]

@Bentley, so are you going to reveal how you got that beautiful stripe? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Bentley]

6 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

@Bentley, so are you going to reveal how you got that beautiful stripe? Inquiring minds want to know.

Mask with tape, spray white, remove tape, splatter green, quick shot of white behind it.  The technique was loosely based on that black and gold bonbon someone posted in the "How to recreate these chocolates" thread.  

Edited October 29, 2017 by Bentley (log)

[Jim D.]

@Bentley, I haven't had luck with using tape--the color always seeps behind it. I must have used the wrong kind of tape. A food-safe type of tape supposedly exists (someone on eGullet said he had it, but he never returned to explain what it is and where to get it).

 

I don't think I have ever seen a perfectly round and smooth mold like that. It must have been quite a job to get the tape up the sides--somewhat labor-intensive, to put it mildly. What is the source of the mold?

[Bentley]

4 hours ago, Jim D. said:

@Bentley, I haven't had luck with using tape--the color always seeps behind it. I must have used the wrong kind of tape. A food-safe type of tape supposedly exists (someone on eGullet said he had it, but he never returned to explain what it is and where to get it).

 

I don't think I have ever seen a perfectly round and smooth mold like that. It must have been quite a job to get the tape up the sides--somewhat labor-intensive, to put it mildly. What is the source of the mold?

I also am still searching for the perfect tape.  On this bonbon, because the line is a splatter pattern, it didn't really matter if a little white seeped in. I also did another one with a solid gold line across a black background, and that one doesn't looks as nice because a little black seeped in and ruined the effect of the solid line.

 

sorry...didn't notice the second part of your post. The mold is from Pavoni. It's a 10gr round puck.  Not too difficult to tape but it does take time to do a whole mold. I don't really see how chocolatiers are using this technique in production quantities. It just takes too much time. 

 

Edited October 30, 2017 by Bentley (log)

[pastrygirl]

5 hours ago, Bentley said:

I don't really see how chocolatiers are using this technique in production quantities. It just takes too much time.

 

Are they though, or are they just instagram-ing one mold at a time?  Even Melissa Coppel admitted that a lot of her stuff isn't practical for retail production because you'd have to charge way too much to cover the labor.  OTOH, stagiaires & interns, if they can be trusted to do it right

[Jim D.]

6 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Are they though, or are they just instagram-ing one mold at a time?  Even Melissa Coppel admitted that a lot of her stuff isn't practical for retail production because you'd have to charge way too much to cover the labor.  OTOH, stagiaires & interns, if they can be trusted to do it right

 

Yes, I watched Melissa meticulously (a word that applies to everything she does) use a little sponge brush to paint an arc in a mold, then paint another arc slightly overlapping it. Beautiful effect, but....  Kate Weiser is a chocolatier who does demanding, meticulous work on a large scale (a sample box suggested that the pieces are hand-painted), but photos show assistants doing this.

[Bentley]

6 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Are they though, or are they just instagram-ing one mold at a time?  Even Melissa Coppel admitted that a lot of her stuff isn't practical for retail production because you'd have to charge way too much to cover the labor.  OTOH, stagiaires & interns, if they can be trusted to do it right

I don't see it often, but I am seeing it here and there.  I figure it's either small shops with a small-batch artisanal focus or larger shops that have interns or similar junior staff.

 

Yes, I watched Melissa meticulously (a word that applies to everything she does) use a little sponge brush to paint an arc in a mold, then paint another arc slightly overlapping it. Beautiful effect, but....  Kate Weiser is a chocolatier who does demanding, meticulous work on a large scale (a sample box suggested that the pieces are hand-painted), but photos show assistants doing this.

Melissa Coppel's work is quite meticulous and does seem to be extremely tedious and time-consuming.  Kate Weiser's painting seems to be sort of the opposite of meticulous.  A lot of splatter, flickers and similar techniques that don't require a lot of time or precision.  Not much that requires going cavity by cavity other than simple brush strokes.   Very different styles - both with beautiful results.

Edited October 30, 2017 by Bentley (log)

[Bentley]

Here's my first go-round with my new EZTemper.  The chocolate tempered beautifully, but I still have trouble working with the colored cocoa butter.  I rarely get it just right so that the bonbons fall right out of the mold. Had to throw these in the freezer for a few to get some to pop out.  Anyways, thanks to everyone who helped with my cheesecake bonbon recipe.  I was able to work from the various recipes people pointed me to and come up with something that I think worked pretty well.  These are a white chocolate cheesecake ganache with blueberry (blue) and strawberry (red) jam.  I might tweak the recipe just a bit, but I think they came out pretty darn tasty.  

 

 

[ChocoMom]

Having a marvelous time in the new chocolate room.  One of my elderly customers (91 yo)  at the retirement home ordered a whopping 22  12-piece boxes of chocolates for all his "sweethearts" for Christmas.  Needs them before Thanksgiving as he is having a couple surgeries coming up.   This is the beginning of his order: 

 Key Lime, Chocolate Mint, and Shotts' Vanilla and Triple Espresso  

[ChocoMom]

Forgot about these little guys...Honey-coconut-rum in 72%.  I loved the transfer sheet, so I keep trying to incorporate the creamed honey into chocolates.

 

 

[curls]

@ChocoMom along with the transfer sheet I really like the mould you are using for your honey bon bons. If you don’t mind sharing, who makes it & what model number is it?

Edited November 14, 2017 by curls (log)