Chocolates with that showroom finish, 2004 - 2011

[tammylc]

Some moldy bonbons were just brought to my attention.    Oooops.  I've only been playing with molded chocolates (mostly at home) for about 2 years, but I've never had moldy ones before, so I'd appreciate any input on what might have gone wrong. 

My assistant made them while I was away, in mid-September, so they're 3 to 4 weeks old.  I don't have stabilizers and don't use a whole lot of sugar, so I know that is getting to the end of their lifespan, but I was still surprised.  A lot of the bottoms were incomplete (small holes), and after we found one moldy one, we looked at the rest and they all had a little airspace (1 to 2 mm) between the shell and the ganache that was fuzzy with mold.  Would the incomplete bottoming allow the ganache to dry out and shrink, or were they just poorly filled in addition to poorly bottomed?  I've only done a few batches with her, so it was actually a pretty decent solo try.  I'd like to be able to discuss what went wrong next time we make bonbons together.

I prefer slightly softer ganache because of the contrast with the crisp shell, and I want to be able to keep them at least two weeks.  I think some invert sugar is coming on the next container order, so that should help with shelf life, right? Am I just lucky that these were the first moldy ones?

Fuzzy bonbons is sooo not 'luxury hotel'!

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Was this a flavor you've done before and been able to keep that long?

One thing that will lead to faster molding is incorporating too much air into the ganache.

[schneich]

we also had mold issues last year. but we changed all our recipes to have at least 20% water content max, 30% sugar content min, 20% cocoabutter min, 15% milkfat max. since we do so we never had a problem again. also i believe you cant do without different sugar types to bind the free water in you confectionaries, we usually use three, glucose, invert sugar and sorbitol. sorbitol and invert sugar have exellent water binding capabilities we use them in total quantities of 100-200g per 2.5 kg batch

cheers

t.

[pastrygirl]

Was this a flavor you've done before and been able to keep that long?

One thing that will lead to faster molding is incorporating too much air into the ganache.

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They were honey ganache, and they have been fine before. It could be that she filled the cavities too full, then in scraping off the extra sort of pulled the ganache up, making air space, then the holes in the bottoms only contributed to the problem. Only a guess. It is a good reminder to balance my recipes better and learn to use invert sugar (if it ever gets here).

[Kerry Beal]

Was this a flavor you've done before and been able to keep that long?

One thing that will lead to faster molding is incorporating too much air into the ganache.

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They were honey ganache, and they have been fine before. It could be that she filled the cavities too full, then in scraping off the extra sort of pulled the ganache up, making air space, then the holes in the bottoms only contributed to the problem. Only a guess. It is a good reminder to balance my recipes better and learn to use invert sugar (if it ever gets here).

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If they contain honey, then they will already have a fair amount of inverted sugar in them. It's hard to trouble shoot a chocolate that you didn't actually make. There may have been errors introduced into the recipe that you don't know about that may have contributed to the mold. Certainly the holes in the bottom indicate some significant backing off problems. Sounds like there might be a variety of issues at work here contributing to the problem.

[ejw50]

Some moldy bonbons were just brought to my attention.     Oooops.  I've only been playing with molded chocolates (mostly at home) for about 2 years, but I've never had moldy ones before, so I'd appreciate any input on what might have gone wrong. 

Fuzzy bonbons is sooo not 'luxury hotel'!

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in his book, Frederic Bau says this can happen if the ganache is not properly crystallized or if it is too wet when backed. He says the "free" water absorbs into the chocolate, shrinking the ganache and leaving a tiny space which is an ideal hothouse for bacteria and mold.

Not saying this is it, just saying this is one source of mold according to an expert. I guess you could get the same effect if you backed the molds but didn't vibrate to ensure a good contact.

Edited October 14, 2008 by ejw50 (log)

[Skwerl]

The Wybauw and Bau books contain some interesting info on shelf life. That invert sugar should help some, but it might also be prudent to slightly increase the chocolate content as far as you can (without killing your desired texture) to further reduce the moisture. Holes in the bottom sound like the ganache was too cold when capped. I've noticed certain fillings poking little holes in the caps when I have been in too much of a hurry and pressed my luck with cold centers. When I put something in the fridge for "just a minute," I'm usually saying "oh, crap!" twenty minutes later when I remember that I put it in there, so I have seen this before a few times.

[Desiderio]

I experienced some mold in a batch of pumpkin chocolates, for the first time in almost 3 years. I have realized that the batch that developed mold, were the ones I had to set in the fridge because the darn kitchen was like 81 F!! I was working fast to avoid my chocolate and ganache to melt etc. So moisture was probably the cause and the puree itself. Usully I leave my molds filled with ganache overnigth to dry and the back them up, never had problem before, I have test batches from months ago that are still good, only thing is they tend to get dry and bloomed.

[Kerry Beal]

How do you suppose this effect is achieved. Do you think that something is swept over the airbrushed surface before it dries to remove a strip? or perhaps some sort of peel off frisket.

[mrose]

How do you suppose this effect is achieved.  Do you think that something is swept over the airbrushed surface before it dries to remove a strip? or perhaps some sort of peel off frisket.

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What about one of the clay tools used by clay sculptors (a wire loop on the end of a handle)?

Edited January 14, 2009 by mrose (log)

[Kerry Beal]

How do you suppose this effect is achieved.  Do you think that something is swept over the airbrushed surface before it dries to remove a strip? or perhaps some sort of peel off frisket.

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What about one of the clay tools used by clay sculptors (a wire loop on the end of a handle)?

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I'd worry I'd scratch the mold with those.

[gap]

I can't see the image clearly, but it looks like maybe they just piped a chocolate line across the mould and then airbrushed behind, then made shells with the same chocolate as they used for the line.

Edited to add: that might be why you get the white next to the chocolate line - it might be build-up from the spray.

Edited January 14, 2009 by gap (log)

[ejw50]

How do you suppose this effect is achieved.  Do you think that something is swept over the airbrushed surface before it dries to remove a strip? or perhaps some sort of peel off frisket.

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Any thoughts on how he makes a cheesecake ganache without killing shelf life?

[cmflick]

How do you suppose this effect is achieved.  Do you think that something is swept over the airbrushed surface before it dries to remove a strip? or perhaps some sort of peel off frisket.

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You could use a Q-tip or something soft like that to wipe some of the airbrushed color off. I use Q-tips to apply color sometimes and you can get a pretty defined line with them.

[Kerry Beal]

I don't seem to be able to link two previous posts to a reply.

I noticed that buildup - that's what made me wonder about the method. The line first seems logical as it's a technique that seems used a lot with his chocolates. I'll have to try it.

I think a cheesecake center should have a reasonable shelf life - ever see philly cream cheese go moldy?

[Desiderio]

I did some chocolates for Valentine's day and I did use some piped chocolate into the molds then airbrushed etc. By mistake I scraped some of the chocolate piping out and left a nice neat line into the colored part, now my shells were of the same chocolate so it didnt make any difference, but if you like you could simply leave the gap that the chocolate piping created so whatever chocolate you use will show thru the gap.

Forgot to say that after you spray the color on the piped chocolate, it does creat a little bit of build up around the edges of the piping, it is kinda neat.

Edited January 14, 2009 by Desiderio (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I did some chocolates for Valentine's day and I did use some piped chocolate into the molds then airbrushed etc. By mistake I scraped some of the chocolate piping out and left a nice neat line into the colored part, now my shells were of the same chocolate so it didnt make any difference, but if you like you could simply leave the gap that the chocolate piping created so whatever chocolate you use will show thru the gap.

Forgot to say that after you spray the color on the piped chocolate, it does creat a little bit of build up around the edges of the piping, it is kinda neat.

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So that might be the solution, pipe in a line, then spray - gotta try this next time I get the spray gun out.

[emmalish]

I did some chocolates for Valentine's day and I did use some piped chocolate into the molds then airbrushed etc. By mistake I scraped some of the chocolate piping out and left a nice neat line into the colored part, now my shells were of the same chocolate so it didnt make any difference, but if you like you could simply leave the gap that the chocolate piping created so whatever chocolate you use will show thru the gap.

Forgot to say that after you spray the color on the piped chocolate, it does creat a little bit of build up around the edges of the piping, it is kinda neat.

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So that might be the solution, pipe in a line, then spray - gotta try this next time I get the spray gun out.

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It looks more like it was brushed in than piped. The background image behind the photo of the chocolate is actually a close-up of the pattern. Looks like a little river of chocolate...

[Truffle Guy]

One thing you can use for that effect is a rubber tipped brush used by artists. We use it in our shop and it will not scratch the mold. So you could pipe or airbrush a line of white then take a flat edge rubber brush and pull it through to scrape out the cocoa butter and reveal the mold so that the chocolate comes through.

However, i t states the shell is white chocolate so it would be interesting to see if that dark line is cocoa butter or chocolate. That same effect is used on 5-6 other pieces and every one has the dark line revealed making me suspect it is chocolate that was piped and not cocoa butter.

In any case it is a neat look.

I did some chocolates for Valentine's day and I did use some piped chocolate into the molds then airbrushed etc. By mistake I scraped some of the chocolate piping out and left a nice neat line into the colored part, now my shells were of the same chocolate so it didnt make any difference, but if you like you could simply leave the gap that the chocolate piping created so whatever chocolate you use will show thru the gap.

Forgot to say that after you spray the color on the piped chocolate, it does creat a little bit of build up around the edges of the piping, it is kinda neat.

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So that might be the solution, pipe in a line, then spray - gotta try this next time I get the spray gun out.

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It looks more like it was brushed in than piped. The background image behind the photo of the chocolate is actually a close-up of the pattern. Looks like a little river of chocolate...

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[RobertM]

Going along with this line of questioning, John and Kiras make ladybugs and bees with a molded chocolate http://www.johnandkiras.com/SHOP/Spring-Gifts

Anyone have any ideas how they create this effect, especially in a production run?

[tammylc]

Oh, those are *adorable*!

[gap]

Going along with this line of questioning, John and Kiras make ladybugs and bees with a molded chocolate http://www.johnandkiras.com/SHOP/Spring-Gifts

Anyone have any ideas how they create this effect, especially in a production run?

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My guess is they pipe the detail in first. Once you get the hang of it, its not as time consuming as you might think.

[emmalish]

However, it states the shell is white chocolate...

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Oh, I didn't even notice that in the description. So to get that white line, would they brush in the dark chocolate, then brush a line of white chocolate over that, and then spray with dark chocolate, and then coat the molds with white? Sounds like a lot of work, but it probably wouldn't take all that long in reality...

[alanamoana]

Going along with this line of questioning, John and Kiras make ladybugs and bees with a molded chocolate http://www.johnandkiras.com/SHOP/Spring-Gifts

Anyone have any ideas how they create this effect, especially in a production run?

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edited to delete stupid answer and to say that in their website it states that they are painted by hand.

Edited January 15, 2009 by alanamoana (log)

[gap]

However, it states the shell is white chocolate...

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Oh, I didn't even notice that in the description. So to get that white line, would they brush in the dark chocolate, then brush a line of white chocolate over that, and then spray with dark chocolate, and then coat the molds with white? Sounds like a lot of work, but it probably wouldn't take all that long in reality...

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Hi emmalish - I think if you piped a line of milk/dark in and then sprayed, the spray would leave a slight build-up of the white next to the chocolate line. You could let that set and then back-off with white. Just a guess though.

[bluebeard]

okay, I'll throw my hat into the ring with some stuff I've been working on lately. still playingwith finishes and learning.