Andrey Dubovic online classes

[Kerry Beal]

21 minutes ago, RobertM said:

Beautiful work Kerry......beautiful 

Thanks Bob - but I was merely following directions.

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Thanks Bob - but I was merely following directions.

Bob,

Don't fall for the humility. I have the directions, and they are anything but simple. This course is daunting (probably for anyone but Kerry Beal).

[keychris]

Is he telling you what to fill them with too? The impression I got was that the course is focussed on the decorative side of it more.

[Kerry Beal]

For sure in the decoration - there are 10 fillings - mostly caramel variations but only in a couple of spots is it suggested what mold to use them with.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

So this morning I decided to make some white cocoa butter (I cheated and used commercial for the deep space ones). I figured I'd use the Power Flowers as they make a nice smooth colored cocoa butter that doesn't require straining. I emptied the container of white from the discovery kit and went into the pail that I had brought back from France (thanks to the help of @jmacnaughtan) in 2015. They were clearly rancid. Got me thinking - I know we have frequently complained about white cocoa butter and off/strong tastes - none of the other colours are rancid - just the white. Must be oxidation (titanium dioxide) and lack of natural antioxidants that is causing the rancidity. 

 

So making our own white from powder would probably give us better tasting white!

[Jim D.]

55 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

So this morning I decided to make some white cocoa butter (I cheated and used commercial for the deep space ones). I figured I'd use the Power Flowers as they make a nice smooth colored cocoa butter that doesn't require straining. I emptied the container of white from the discovery kit and went into the pail that I had brought back from France (thanks to the help of @jmacnaughtan) in 2015. They were clearly rancid. Got me thinking - I know we have frequently complained about white cocoa butter and off/strong tastes - none of the other colours are rancid - just the white. Must be oxidation (titanium dioxide) and lack of natural antioxidants that is causing the rancidity. 

 

So making our own white from powder would probably give us better tasting white!

Having a white without an offputting odor is the holy grail--mainly because white is used to create lighter colors and for backing other colors trying to cover dark chocolate. By "discovery kit" do you mean this was Power Flowers? I know what they are but have never used them.

 

And when you say "making our own white," do you mean from titanium dioxide or from commercial powdered white cocoa butter? I always thought it was the titanium that contributed the bad odor and taste, but perhaps rancidity has been contributing to that.

[Kerry Beal]

23 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

Having a white without an offputting odor is the holy grail--mainly because white is used to create lighter colors and for backing other colors trying to cover dark chocolate. By "discovery kit" do you mean this was Power Flowers? I know what they are but have never used them.

 

And when you say "making our own white," do you mean from titanium dioxide or from commercial powdered white cocoa butter? I always thought it was the titanium that contributed the bad odor and taste, but perhaps rancidity has been contributing to that.

Yup - power flowers discovery kit 

 

 

Just poked my nose in the fat soluble white behind - smells fine and it's old 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Jim D.]

6 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Just poked my nose in the fat soluble white behind - smells fine and it's old 

 

So do you think this means it would be better if we mixed our own white? Perhaps already-mixed white should be sealed against moisture and refrigerated?

 

Not long ago I came across (don't remember where) some research on a new white color in testing to replace titanium dioxide. It turns out that coloring things white is very important in the food industry and not just in decorating chocolates. There are also some concerns about titanium's impact on the human brain (which may explain a lot in my case).

[Kerry Beal]

29 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

So do you think this means it would be better if we mixed our own white? Perhaps already-mixed white should be sealed against moisture and refrigerated?

 

Not long ago I came across (don't remember where) some research on a new white color in testing to replace titanium dioxide. It turns out that coloring things white is very important in the food industry and not just in decorating chocolates. There are also some concerns about titanium's impact on the human brain (which may explain a lot in my case).

Keeping it away from light and heat for sure. I was thinking it might be sensible to store any new white power flowers in one of my freeze dryer mylar bags with an oxygen scrubber pack in it.

[curls]

So the white power flowers went rancid but not the other power flower colors?

 

Guess I’ll check mine and get them in the freezer if they are still ok. I haven’t had issues with my colored cocoa butters (and some of them are a few years old). I keep everything in the cool, dark basement.

 

 Thanks for the heads up Kerry!

[Kerry Beal]

Yup - just the white.

[keychris]

I wonder if that's why I haven't had an issue with the odour that others have - I make all my colours from powder.

[Kerry Beal]

53 minutes ago, keychris said:

I wonder if that's why I haven't had an issue with the odour that others have - I make all my colours from powder.

I'll bet that's why!

 

 

[Bentley]

Are the techniques they are teaching in the class useful for production environments or are they mostly too involved and/or time consuming to be practical/economical for the typical shop?

[Kerry Beal]

 

It pays to have a handy hubby - rigged up a jig and a blade and sliced the tape in half for me. No finger loss for me!

[Kerry Beal]

Just now, Bentley said:

Are the techniques they are teaching in the class useful for production environments or are they mostly too involved and/or time consuming to be practical/economical for the typical shop?

I think most might be impractical for production - although generalizing some of the techniques might work. My Fuji is great for getting the fine splatter I need for a couple of designs - saves the whole painful toothbrush thing - but it's a little overpowered for the gradient techniques. 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

 

Filled this one with a mango cream (and by cream I mean fondant, butter, invertase) that I've been experimenting with for a client that makes a lot of creams but wants to do some molded chocolates with more pronounced flavors. 

[Tri2Cook]

Absolutely beautiful. And that filling sounds really interesting as well. 

[curls]

@Kerry Beal, do you get to see photos of the other student’s work or is the teacher the only one to see everyone’s results?

[Kerry Beal]

9 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Absolutely beautiful. And that filling sounds really interesting as well. 

It's kinda sweet!

[Kerry Beal]

8 hours ago, curls said:

@Kerry Beal, do you get to see photos of the other student’s work or is the teacher the only one to see everyone’s results?

Only here I think 

[Jim D.]

8 hours ago, curls said:

@Kerry Beal, do you get to see photos of the other student’s work or is the teacher the only one to see everyone’s results?

When we signed up, Dubovik asked for our Instagram account information so that some students' work could be posted. I won't be holding my breath to see mine there. The course has been a challenge--and we are only in week 1!

[Kerry Beal]

29 minutes ago, Jim D. said:

When we signed up, Dubovik asked for our Instagram account information so that some students' work could be posted. I won't be holding my breath to see mine there. The course has been a challenge--and we are only in week 1!

I don't recall giving my Instagram account - just website. Anyway I've been posting some pictures on Instagram making sure to link to his name. 

[curls]

2 hours ago, Jim D. said:

When we signed up, Dubovik asked for our Instagram account information so that some students' work could be posted. I won't be holding my breath to see mine there. The course has been a challenge--and we are only in week 1!

Jim D can you share what is making the course so challenging? Do you expect each week to be more challenging than the pevious week? Do you need to master the material to work on the next item or are different skills needed for each assignment?  

 

If you are willing to post some of your results, that would be appreciated. I am sure everyone’s chocolates look beautiful, even if they don’t all match Andrey Dubovic’s work.

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, curls said:

Jim D can you share what is making the course so challenging? Do you expect each week to be more challenging than the pevious week? Do you need to master the material to work on the next item or are different skills needed for each assignment?  

 

If you are willing to post some of your results, that would be appreciated. I am sure everyone’s chocolates look beautiful, even if they don’t all match Andrey Dubovic’s work.

There are several things making it a challenge for me:  I have been making the recipes that he suggests for each filling (for me that means just two so far). The first (a caramel with passion fruit, chocolate, and tarragon leaves) was very thick; the second--like Goldlilocks--was extremely fluid and required some major "adjustment"--though it did turn out OK after I added more chocolate, and it has a wonderful taste.

 

Other than that it's mostly the techniques:  The first was just airbrushing a mold, but what a mold:  Chocolate World 1754. Dubovic says he chose it to present difficulties with airbrushing (and he succeeded). It's also to be painted all black, which means it shows every imperfection, every missed corner, every speck of dust. The second lesson was not in itself difficult, but required many steps (utilizing 6 different colors of cocoa butter), and of course there is a video to guide one (and show the student what the perfect result looks like). I have the lesson open on a iPad next to the counter where I am working--an iPad now with chocolatey fingerprints all over it.

 

I would say a third challenge has been finding all the equipment and ingredients. One can make substitutions, but I decided to do what I could to find what he calls for (that may say more about me than about the course). Ever heard of Jin Xuan Oolong Milk Tea? I now have some of it. I could never have found everything without the guidance of Kerry, who is completing the whole course early because of her schedule--and always under the watchful eye of Amazon, ever willing to ship the smallest item (on which they could never be making money). It has been a huge help to me that the three of us on eGullet taking the course are constantly exchanging emails--where to find items, what to do about directions that seem puzzling, etc.

 

The lessons do not have to be completed in sequence, but Dubovik has designed them to go from simple to complex. All of them are available from the first day of access. The detailed instructions for each lesson are available for students to download; the videos are available until one month after the end of the course. Photos of the chocolates made (by him) in each lesson are available for anyone to see on Dubovik's website (I love the name of the course:  Pralinarium). We have to send photos of two chocolates each week for his evaluation. He also has a detailed section on how to take good photos of chocolates. As for posting mine, maybe....