How do they do that? (the bonbon thread)

[Artisanne]

I had fun using a really simple technique that I'd used in the past, but usually just to make a few lines or words. I used the rounded edge of a brush (has to be totally smooth) and a gum stimulant. Anyone else want to try it?

[ptw1953]

36 minutes ago, Artisanne said:

I had fun using a really simple technique that I'd used in the past, but usually just to make a few lines or words. I used the rounded edge of a brush (has to be totally smooth) and a gum stimulant. Anyone else want to try it?

Wonderful and inspiring work Artisanne.

[Sweet Impact Mama]

49 minutes ago, Artisanne said:

I had fun using a really simple technique that I'd used in the past, but usually just to make a few lines or words. I used the rounded edge of a brush (has to be totally smooth) and a gum stimulant. Anyone else want to try it?

 

 

 

 

Extraordinary!!

 

[Westy]

Really cool look. 

[ChocoMom]

@Artisanne  Those look amazing!!!  

 

I have several of those gum stimulant things, but have only used them (thus far) for cleaning out the tight areas in molds, and trying an occasional stripe here or there. 

 

What incredible talent you have!!!  

[Rajala]

That looks great. Love the green/gold combo.

 

All the lines look a little bit middle eastern to me.

[Jim D.]

@Artisanne, those are beautiful and elegant designs. Your eGullet name is richly deserved.

 

I would bet the GUM stimulator company is wondering right now why it is experiencing a sudden upsurge in sales!

[Artisanne]

Thank you!

I'm just amazed at how easy it is compared to some other things I've tried. I did the taping thing, never again. what a messy p.i.t.a and half the time the cocoa butter still bleeds through. 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, Artisanne said:

Thank you!

I'm just amazed at how easy it is compared to some other things I've tried. I did the taping thing, never again. what a messy p.i.t.a and half the time the cocoa butter still bleeds through. 

I'm going to give it a try--though nothing as complex as some of those designs of yours. Unfortunately for me the GUM device brings back bad memories of a dental hygienist I encountered once who was obsessed with making her patients use such a stimulator.

 

I agree about taping. If there isn't bleeding under it, then tiny bits of the adjoining cocoa butter drift into (or get blown by the airbrush into) the stripe. PVC tape works the best. Of course, much depends on when the tape is removed.

[ptw1953]

1 hour ago, Artisanne said:

Thank you!

I'm just amazed at how easy it is compared to some other things I've tried. I did the taping thing, never again. what a messy p.i.t.a and half the time the cocoa butter still bleeds through. 

Can I ask if you found that there is an optimum time to wait after spraying the mould before creating the patterns? Immediately after spraying, or X minutes after spraying?

 

Philip

[Artisanne]

1 hour ago, ptw1953 said:

Can I ask if you found that there is an optimum time to wait after spraying the mould before creating the patterns? Immediately after spraying, or X minutes after spraying?

 

Philip

Philip, I can do it almost immediately depending on the cocoa butter. Within a minute or two of adding the first color. The main thing is if you start drawing some loops in the mold and the color pools up covering the lines then you just wait another minute. You want to have it remove easily leaving the nice lines. Depends on the color too, some cocoa butter colors (I use Chef Rubber) are thicker than others and will dry sooner than others. 

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I'm going to give it a try--though nothing as complex as some of those designs of yours. Unfortunately for me the GUM device brings back bad memories of a dental hygienist I encountered once who was obsessed with making her patients use such a stimulator.

 

I agree about taping. If there isn't bleeding under it, then tiny bits of the adjoining cocoa butter drift into (or get blown by the airbrush into) the stripe. PVC tape works the best. Of course, much depends on when the tape is removed.

Jim,  all I did was swirl it around kind of like a spirograph design. Depending on the color or shape of the mold you get different results. I'm not good with detail work and my handwriting is bad so it's very forgiving. 

 

[ptw1953]

On 9/19/2018 at 4:54 AM, gfron1 said:

I'm at a Coppel workshop right now and I asked her to show me her pinstripe technique. Here's hers:

I was limited by colors and time but I know what needs to be done now. Here's mine:

Just the left row. I didn't have time to do the rest.

Once I saw gfron 1's  post, I couldn't sleep very well, trying to deconstruct the process. One thing I have found out is that it is bloody difficult to get even close to doing it correctly; and I haven't got anywhere near close. My first (and probably, last) attempt...

[ptw1953]

I also did double taping on this one, as an experiment for future use...

Edited September 21, 2018 by ptw1953
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[gfron1]

24 minutes ago, ptw1953 said:

Once I saw gfron 1's  post, I couldn't sleep very well, trying to deconstruct the process. One thing I have found out is that it is bloody difficult to get even close to doing it correctly; and I haven't got anywhere near close. My first (and probably, last) attempt...

I'm off into the woods for the weekend, but when I get back I want to put the time into doing this correctly. There is absolutely no way of doing this in a profitable situation, but for show I'll put a couple of hours into a single mold. I'll demo it when I get back for folks.

[ptw1953]

On 9/21/2018 at 4:48 PM, ptw1953 said:

I also did double taping on this one, as an experiment for future use...

 

My latest offering

 

 

 

 

 

[ptw1953]

If you don't look too closely, these are fine...

[gfron1]

Here's the tutorial and I'll add my running active time (hands on time) so you know not to ever attempt these if you want to make money on them.

 

Start by polishing the mold. Then firmly press the tape into the cavity. She used her bare hands and we all questioned her on it, and her response was - if your hands are clean it will be fine. But more on that later. You'll have to develop your own technique. I have big fingers so I settled into a 3-phase pressing process for each strip.

Then press down with a q-tip to make sure there are no loose spots or air gaps.

Add your perpendicular strip and repeat the whole process.

This is what you end up with. This process too about 35 minutes to set the tape evenly and remove air bubbles. Cost if I had my lowest paid laborer: $8.

Then you look more closely and find all the mistakes that you didn't see the first time. I used my rubber nubbin' to get rid of those air bubbles. You'll note that I used painters tape bought on Amazon at 1/4". Melissa used Martha Stewart Craft tape that she bought at Michaels. It felt identical to what I used except hers was a pretty pink color.

I then re-polished carefully to address the potential finger prints. Spray with tempered cocoa butter. This was a Blue Saphire that I laid on fairly heavy. 

Now the grueling work. With a q-tip rub away oppositional triangles. The goal is to push excess into the tape creating a subtle line that will be trapped by the tape. The first cavity or two are easy as the cocoa butter is still soft, but very quickly it sets and you're cursing your choice to do this project. Start looking closely now at my lines because I've seen many people do this technique poorly and it screams at you when its bad. If you're going to do this micro thin line it has to be perfect to look good.

I averaged 3 q-tips per 2 cavities. And did I mention how hard it was to get the point!?

Then allowing your finger to caress the tape as its being removed from the surface to add just a touch of body heat, pull the tape away. If you don't do the step the way I'm describing you'll get flaking and tears.

You laziness very quickly begins to show...

I went back then and carefully polished with an alcohol dipped q-tip each cavity that I had just cleaned. Because at this point you might as well finish the job right. I sprayed with a thinned tinted white chocolate. Running time: 90 minutes. Cost for lowest paid employee on my staff to do the work: $22.50.

Shelled as per usual. (I'm using a slightly new technique that I learned from Melissa - to learn it for yourself take one of her classes or join us at the eG Chocolate and Confection Workshop next May in St Louis.)

And here's the result. I left one uncleaned so you can see the short version of this. I also colored it slightly different. These are pretty good but you can see all of the flaws - some more noticeable than others. But of course if you were the one doing the work you would see every single flaw. We'll call my employee rate to finish (active time only) $27.50 divided by 28 cavities...labor alone for a mediocre job: $1 per cavity plus ingredients, overhead and attrition of staff who say they'll never do that again...you can see where this is going. For passion not profit.

So there you go. That's how Melissa got this...except much better:

Edited September 24, 2018 by gfron1
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[Kerry Beal]

Fun to try - but life is just too short!

[Kerry Beal]

What if while they were just sprayed you ran your rubber nubbin along the side of the tape you want to lift before extracting the cocoa butter? Wonder if you could get a more even line.

[gfron1]

1 minute ago, Kerry Beal said:

What if while they were just sprayed you ran your rubber nubbin along the side of the tape you want to lift before extracting the cocoa butter? Wonder if you could get a more even line.

She said they tried it and you can't get the same precision. But we all know how OCD she is

[Tri2Cook]

1 hour ago, gfron1 said:

For passion not profit.

There are times, times I'm not entirely proud of, when my passion runneth under... this would be one of those times. Looks amazing but there is no way I have the kind of patience that requires. I strongly suspect molds would be bouncing off walls long before I finished.

[gfron1]

7 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

There are times, times I'm not entirely proud of, when my passion runneth under... this would be one of those times. Looks amazing but there is no way I have the kind of patience that requires. I strongly suspect molds would be bouncing off walls long before I finished.

Another way of tackling this is to do just one cavity. You'd be done in 30 minutes tops. 

[keychris]

OK, that's different to how I envisaged it, I thought you would mask off two of the triangles leaving the tiny line, spray, then remove the triangles and the cross, then spray again. It's amazing how she gets such a perfect result! (yours aren't too shabby either )

[curls]

Fascinating technique. I was thinking along the same lines as keychris. Melissa is definitely an innovator in decoration and flavors. Thanks for sharing Rob!

[ptw1953]

Many thanks to gfron1 for his demo;  I will attempt the technique when I am confident enough.

 

Granite and Gold...

 

Philip