PLANNING: eGullet Chocolate and Confectionery Workshop 2024

[curls]

Wonderful @Kerry Beal!!! Looking forward to the soapwort experiments! 

[RanaMN]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

 

I have had my eG family since 2006 and my eG chocolate and confections family since 2009 - so by now you all know I'm like a dog with a bone. 

 

So yesterday morning - after taking care of some family stuff - I ran out to Brampton to pick up some soapwort from a place called Botanic Planet. There is apparently a store in Burlington (where I live) called Botanic Universe - but I was unable to locate it at the given address and the answering machine instructs you to leave a number - so that was out. I didn't know if they had it anyway. 

 

So driving home from Brampton I saw Rana's message about the bitterness and panicked a bit with my 1 lb of soapwort on the seat beside me. I licked the bag and only detected a hint of bitterness so hope still remained! (I didn't really lick the bag - I licked my finger and picked up some of the powder on the outside of the bag) 

 

Last night I took 25 grams and put it in a pan with water and started it boiling, then started reading which said to rinse it well before cooking - so dumped that batch, and started again with a fresh (now clean) 25 grams and about 500 ml of water. Didn't take long to boil it down to around 75ml. Tasted for bitterness - only a hint - so feeling hopeful. I popped that in the fridge overnight and this morning before work I made the natef - 400 grams of sugar with 200 grams water, a 1/4 tsp of citric acid, cooked to 115º C, then added 125 grams of honey that I had heated in the nuke and brought to 121º C. I drizzled that into the beating soapwort solution (most of it - lots ended up on the counter) - need a pan with a spout. Tasted the natef - again only a hint of bitterness.  Heated 500 grams of tahini to around 60º C, put into a short, wide stainless bowl I have (riffing off the pans they were using in the video) and mixed everything together using a flat silicone spatula. Pressed into a silicone bread pan - flattened as best I could - I think the video said 18 hours was the ideal time for unmolding - but I suspect it will be either 12 or 24 for me. 

 

Forgot to add any vanilla - and did add one drop of citrus flower essential oil (my rose water and orange flower water didn't smell that good - the new ones I bought for the workshop were in the car). 

 

All this to say - I think we will be able to continue the experiments at the workshop using this source of soapwort!

 

 

 

 

Omg, this is super exciting! I don't know you yet, Kerry, but I love you already. Guess what I did yesterday. I tossed away the bitter soapwort water and then reboiled the used soapwort again, thinking and hoping the bitterness would go away. It didn't completely go away, but it was less bitter. I tried to use that and made some as well, using a different process (I will explain more in person) and added very little soapwort water (just 4 tablespoons for 400 grams of product). My final halva tasted good according to my family (I still think it has a slight bitterness), but the final texture wasn't as crunchy as it should be. It was more fudgy, possibly because I didn't use enough soapwort or my sugar wasn't boiled enough. I found some more info online, mainly from a paper a student wrote comparing the usage of powdered soapwort vs. liquid, regarding percentages in the halva. I will share that in person. Here are my pictures from my experiment. 

Side note: I said I would bring good jar of tahini, but I didn't realize our tickets don't include checked bags, so I won't be able to bring that on the airplane.

 

[Kerry Beal]

I'll add tahini to the list! What is the brand you prefer?

Edited May 14 by Kerry Beal (log)

[RanaMN]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

I'll add tahini to the list! What is the brand you prefer?

Searched for years to find decent Tahini here, and finally landed on Lebanon Valley Tahineh Extra... I can find it in the Middle Eastern stores in Minneapolis or order it from amazon. I already checked Amazon Canada to order it to your house when I realized I couldn't bring it with me, I could not find it there. 

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, RanaMN said:

Searched for years to find decent Tahini here, and finally landed on Lebanon Valley Tahineh Extra... I can find it in the Middle Eastern stores in Minneapolis or order it from amazon. I already checked Amazon Canada to order it to your house when I realized I couldn't bring it with me, I could not find it there. 

Not looking like it's available anywhere here. 

[RanaMN]

9 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Not looking like it's available anywhere here. 

It's okay. I think with that much sugar in any brand will probably be okay. Usually, I am super picky when making hummus because it does change the taste of the end product drastically.

[curls]

@Kerry Beal is the kitchen well stocked with scales, spatulas, ladles, bowls, etc.? I’m packing for the trip… planning on bringing some recipes, mold scrapers, dipping fork, and empty containers. Also going to see if I have some molds to sell/trade. Anything else I should pack?

 

What time is the workshop starting on Friday? How many people will be attending?
 

Looking forward to this!

[Anniebakes]

On 5/8/2024 at 8:57 PM, VistaGardens said:

I could benefit greatly from understanding the various capping techniques and when to use them.  And to figure out why sometimes my capping is an epic failure.  Might someone be able to speak to that topic?

 

I’m sure we can help with this!  

[Kerry Beal]

7 hours ago, curls said:

@Kerry Beal is the kitchen well stocked with scales, spatulas, ladles, bowls, etc.? I’m packing for the trip… planning on bringing some recipes, mold scrapers, dipping fork, and empty containers. Also going to see if I have some molds to sell/trade. Anything else I should pack?

 

What time is the workshop starting on Friday? How many people will be attending?
 

Looking forward to this!

We were there today to determine just that. There are scales, bowls, spatulas, two microwaves. Totally agree you'll want your own recipes, mold scrapers, dipping fork, and empty containers. Bring molds - there are none. Apron or chef coat or both. 

 

We will start to get there at 8 to eat Rodney's treats - then start up around 9 on Friday. 

 

With last minute drop outs and additions we are around 22. This is a shared kitchen so there might be a customer or two in there doing their thing while we are working. 

 

 

[curls]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

We were there today to determine just that. There are scales, bowls, spatulas, two microwaves. Totally agree you'll want your own recipes, mold scrapers, dipping fork, and empty containers. Bring molds - there are none. Apron or chef coat or both. 

 

We will start to get there at 8 to eat Rodney's treats - then start up around 9 on Friday. 

 

With last minute drop outs and additions we are around 22. This is a shared kitchen so there might be a customer or two in there doing their thing while we are working. 

 

 

Sounds good. Thank you.

Earlier you mentioned that Rodney was bringing two Selmis… will he be bringing an enrobing line too?

 

Lucky customers! We’ll turn them into chocolatiers. 😉

[Kerry Beal]

Turns out that we only have power for one Selmi - so we will run dark chocolate. We will have the enrobing line on it. Rodney is going to have to rewire the plug tomorrow evening.

I’ll bring melters for white and milk. 

[curls]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

Turns out that we only have power for one Selmi - so we will run dark chocolate. We will have the enrobing line on it. Rodney is going to have to rewire the plug tomorrow evening.

I’ll bring melters for white and milk. 

Wow! So many thanks to Kerry and Rodney for all they are doing to arrange this workshop!!!

[RanaMN]

1 minute ago, curls said:

Wow! So many thanks to Kerry and Rodney for all they are doing to arrange this workshop!!!

YES! I was just thinking the same thing! 

[YetiChocolates]

Hey Kerry, I’m bringing some chocolate bricks I got as samples at the NW choc fest last fall that I won’t be using, people can probably use them in ganaches, and also some transfer sheets that I’ve had but don’t have a use for and they are simply taking space at this point. Happy to donate to the cause. 

[Kerry Beal]

7 minutes ago, YetiChocolates said:

Hey Kerry, I’m bringing some chocolate bricks I got as samples at the NW choc fest last fall that I won’t be using, people can probably use them in ganaches, and also some transfer sheets that I’ve had but don’t have a use for and they are simply taking space at this point. Happy to donate to the cause. 

Fabulous!

[Kerry Beal]

Plan seems to be if you are at the hotel to meet at 8 in lobby - with plan to get to the Cake Collective at 8:30. 

[Kerry Beal]

If I haven’t put it here before - address today is 1021 Meyerside - unit 2 

[Smithy]

The Workshop has begun! Go here for the 2024 Workshop Report.