"Chocolate Obsession"

[Trishiad]

I just got home from a demo class given by Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage. They're doing a little tour to promote their new book "Chocolate Obsession". Not only was it a great presentation but I bought the book and it's fabulous. Because my focus is on candies rather than pastries I found it better than Fran Bigelow or Cantal Cody's books. The book has a recipe for just about everything in his shop. Rose Caramel, Tarragon and Grapefruit Truffle, Burnt Caramel ganache, plus some really yummy triple-chocolate cookies. The book is just under 200 pages and most of it is recipes.

Michael and Fran are both so personable and compliment each other well in the classroom. For only $50 I learned a number of things I didn't know (don't use fresh herbs for infusions because of water content. Instead, dry your own) and saw that even someone who makes thousands of bonbons a day still makes mistakes and has strange things happen. He told a story about racks of chocolates going bad all of a sudden for no apparent reason until they realized that a bread baker had moved in upstairs and there was a tremendous amount of yeast in the air. They had to install a special air filtration system.

I often have a stragler or two when inverting my molds and find myself whacking the inverted mold on the counter while my son covers his ears. Michael did the same thing today. He even crushed one with the mold just like I do!

If they are in your area you may want to check out their class. Or pick up the book if you have a chance.

[nightscotsman]

Cool!

Here's the book on Amazon: Chocolate Obsession

[K8memphis]

He told a story about racks of chocolates going bad all of a sudden for no apparent reason until they realized that a bread baker had moved in upstairs and there was a tremendous amount of yeast in the air.  They had to install a special air filtration system. 

I often have a stragler or two when inverting my molds and find myself whacking the inverted mold on the counter while my son covers his ears.  Michael did the same thing today.  He even crushed one with the mold just like I do!

If they are in your area you may want to check out their class.  Or pick up the book if you have a chance.

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What a very strange reaction to have happen. I think it's even more amazing still that they determined what caused it. And for him to turn out to be (near) mortal too whacking molds like the rest of us Very cool. Now I wanna get the book...thanks for the highlights.

[Carolyn Tillie]

And did you end up dining anywhere, per our previous suggestions????

Inquiring minds, etc.

[Trishiad]

I had a ginger ganache filled heart and a burnt caramel bon bon as my starter followed by a triple-chocolate cookie, a whoopie pie with candied orange and a milk chocolate malted drink for dessert.

My mom is sick and couldn't make it for the birthday dinner. My birthday has been bumped to next week when we'll likely dine in Sebastopol at Lucy's or at Pignoli in Occidental. Thanks for the help though. Next year I celebrate on my birthday, by myself if I have to!

[ladyyoung98]

Cool!

Here's the book on Amazon: Chocolate Obsession

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when i hit that link it created some confusion for me so i found this after the search

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/158...0662102-9855943

[Wendy DeBord]

I grabbed a copy of their book last week at the book store. It only took me seconds to know it was worth buying. It does look fabulous. I've already got two items from their book tucked into my bi-weekly menu change..........just barks (something quick).......but I'm very excited to try some of their recipes.

I liked their approach/style in how they teach you to work their recipes, teach you about chocolate. It's very informational, yet not overwhelmingly technical.

Nice photos, there are many other recipes besides truffles/chocolates.

[ALTAF]

Nice photos, there are many other recipes besides truffles/chocolates.

What are the other recipes ?

[Wendy DeBord]

Definately worth checking out: Recchiuti Confections

Check out their news letters!

Other recipes..........brownies, sauces, souffle, typical desserts......beautifully photographed.

I made their white chocolate bark with caramelized cocoa nibs and the caramelized peanuts on milk chocolate bark yesterday for my ala carte menu..........having forgotten my book at home I just worked from memory (which you all know my memory isn't so sharp).........I thought these were really great!!! In relation I had purchased $30.00 in chocolate bars from Vosages the day before and I thought what I made was superior.......and I'm no confectioner. I can't wait to make more recipes from this book.

[ALTAF]

thanks wendy

[Daniel]

Well, I am sold.. Just bought the book and am looking forward to it..

[jgarner53]

I love Recchuitti chocolates! His stuff is beautiful, the packaging exquisite, and such a treat!

I can't remember if I knew that he and Fran Gage (my own pastry teacher's mentor) were doing this book. I will have to check it out.

[Daniel]

I recently bought two kilos of bittersweet chocolate and this book.. Looking forward to a lot of things..

Edited October 13, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

Made the burnt caramel ice cream today after letting the mixture sit over night.. I just have to say that it is fantastic.. The consistency is rich and creamy.. The left over burnt caramel is sitting in my fridge and I am planning on making truffles with it..

[Wendy DeBord]

This past week I made his fleur de sel caramels and dipped them in semi sweet choc.. I ran into 2 inperfections.

1. My salt didn't incorporate as it should have. The recipe calls for a fine/or med. texture fleur de sel........but my jar didn't state which it was. So I made a batch x4 and as I was pouring out the caramel the salt had sank to the bottom of the pot. So the last pan got the majority of the salt....and it just sank to the bottom as it set up. I was able to cut that area out and still use the caramel.

I'm thinking I should have used ordinary table salt or ground my fleur de sel to make it finer. Yet I worry that it still may sink. I'm wondering if anyone offer some advice on this issue? I want to be able to call them fleur de sel caramels............yet I think it's only going to work on top, not inside my caramel.............. Or maybe I did something wrong?

2. Second issue I had was maybe a combination of the recipe and my skill. The caramel is devinely soft.....I let it "setup" for two days at room temp. before attempting to cut them. When I did, I got some spread........and they were definately too soft for me to dip in chocolate. I wound up putting them in the cooler to firm them up before dipping.....which creates some moisture. Next time I'll wrap them better when I chill them to avoid having to hand pat down each caramel to rid it of moisture. BUT anyway I'd still love to learn how to do this better and I'm seeking advice from experienced confectioners on this topic. How do you enrobe/dip soft caramels? Are you really leaving them at room temp. and still able to handle them in the chocolate? Do you just use a firmer caramel to avoid that issue?

Thanks

[John DePaula]

This past week I made his fleur de sel caramels and dipped them in semi sweet choc.. I ran into 2 inperfections.

1. My salt didn't incorporate as it should have. The recipe calls for a fine/or med. texture fleur de sel........but my jar didn't state which it was. So I made a batch x4 and as I was pouring out the caramel the salt had sank to the bottom of the pot. So the last pan got the majority of the salt....and it just sank to the bottom as it set up. I was able to cut that area out and still use the caramel.

I'm thinking I should have used ordinary table salt or ground my fleur de sel to make it finer. Yet I worry that it still may sink. I'm wondering if anyone offer some advice on this issue? I want to be able to call them fleur de sel caramels............yet I think it's only going to work on top, not inside my caramel.............. Or maybe I did something wrong?

2. Second issue I had was maybe a combination of the recipe and my skill. The caramel is devinely soft.....I let it "setup" for two days at room temp. before attempting to cut them. When I did, I got some spread........and they were definately too soft for me to dip in chocolate. I wound up putting them in the cooler to firm them up before dipping.....which creates some moisture. Next time I'll wrap them better when I chill them to avoid having to hand pat down each caramel to rid it of moisture. BUT anyway I'd still love to learn how to do this better and I'm seeking advice from experienced confectioners on this topic. How do you enrobe/dip soft caramels? Are you really leaving them at room temp. and still able to handle them in the chocolate? Do you just use a firmer caramel to avoid that issue?

Thanks

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I am not an expert on this issue, Wendy, but I think that caramels often need to be refrigerated before cutting so that they will hold their shape; unless you're making the really hard ones (which I don’t like).

There are a few other points that may be important:

1. Length of cooking time. I find that if I'm cooking a small batch of caramels, rather than a large one, I have to use a lower flame. Allowing the caramel to develop slowly seems to affect the end product in texture and quality.

2. Type of pot used. Recchiuti always specifies that you should use an unlined copper kettle if available. I don't have one but that's what we used in France.

3. Temperature and humidity of your kitchen may, of course, be key factors as well.

One more thing: before you change your fleur de sel, I'd figure out the firmness problem first. That may solve the sinking salt problem. And didn't Michael say that he likes a bit of crunch from the fleur de sel?

[Trishiad]

I never refrigerate my caramels and they're quite soft. I do, however, avoid slicing them in a kitchen warmer than about 75 degrees. If I must slice them on a warm day I work quickly to dip as soon as I slice. In fact, Recchuiti's caramels are a bit more firm than mine and should be a little difficult to slice and hold their shape well.

You may want to check your thermometer as 1 or 2 degrees will make a difference here. Also, I too have noticed that sugar hardens differently based on how quickly it's melted. We touched on this in some previous thread (can't remember when or why).

I would mix that salt in a quickly as your little paws can stir and dump it into a pan pronto to keep the salt incorporated. There's not a huge crunch to his caramels, it's kind of subtle I think. Plus you get crunch from the garnish.

I am not lucky enough to have a big a** copper pot and haven't had any trouble. Not that I'd turn one down....

[Wendy DeBord]

Just to breifly respond to the points brought up:

Recchiuti tells you to NOT refridgerate this recipe (and I think all of them thru out his book) that's why I let it set for 2 days. He's continually makes the point to not use the refridgerator to hold items throughout the whole book.

It all cooked beautifully, no crystalization, I didn't have a copper lined pot, I did cook on med./low heat. My kitchen is running around 80F right now and the humidity was high the day I made the batch.

Technically it's a pretty terrific recipe. The batch size is pretty darn small so x4 batch was only 3, 8"x8" pans of caramel. Technically it should have been 4 pans worth but I wanted mine thicker then he suggested.

I added the salt when suggested and did stir right up until I was pouring it into the pans to set. The salt grains still remained behind in the pot, then sunk. I tried to keep them moving but they didn't co-operate.

I would have loved the slight crunch of the salt to remain in the caramel. That wouldn't have been a problem. And I could have/should have added fleur de sel to the top of my chocolate because I really dig salt and chocolate.

This recipe turned out great, don't get me wrong. I'll definately be making it again. The caramel is soft, I can't image it being any softer and still being able to dip it so I'd say it was pretty perfect. Just too soft for me to manage it being dipped into chocolate at room temp. once I refridgerated it I could handle it easily. I can't believe anyone else could have dipped those caramels at room temp. either......as dirrected by the recipe. Thats why I questioned myself.

[Trishiad]

I think it's your room temp. my caramels would be a gooey mess if left sliced for even 15 minutes in an 80 degree kitchen and we don't have much humidity here.

The potential problem with refrigerating before dipping lies with the temperature and texture difference. As soon as your caramel hits the warmer chocolate it will begin to soften whcih may lead to leaks and geysers of caramel breaking through the chocolate shell.

Further, when dipping something cold like that you won't get the sheen that one looks for in a hand dipped confection.

Recchuiti has the bonus of working in a tall building near the bay with big windows which they can open to quickly cool the kitchen. And again, not much humidity. Even when it's foggy I rarely have the kitchen failures that folks seem to be having in other parts of the country. I'd be curious what would happen if you made a batch at home where it's cooler.

Edited October 16, 2005 by Trishiad (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

Your right, I didn't get a beautiful sheen, but they did seal well (which was a worry).

[Mel]

Hello - The extent of my work with chocolate is Pierre Herme's book....is this book way above my head or something from which I could start learning? THX!

[Trishiad]

It's an easy read with clear recipes.

[Mel]

Thx so much! Book has been ordered!

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Here's a question...particularly for Trish and Wendy, both of whom have made the Fleur de Sel caramels. I want to make the flavor of these, but in a molded chocolate. (I am waiting to make them as a cut caramel until my husband finishes making my guitar...lucky girl that I am having a husband who designs and builds custom machinery for a living.)

I was planning on using Recchiuti's base recipe from the Rose Caramel filling (sans the rose oil of course) and adding my Fleur de Sel to that, but am a little concerned given Wendy's experience of sinkage of her salt in the thicker, slab form. What do you think? Am I inviting similar problems?

[Wendy DeBord]

I made a batch over the weekend using regular salt, to see if it incorporates better. I'll be tasting it today at work and I'll let you know if it worked better. Just for the record, I don't have access to a guitar and I just hand cut them, then dipped them in chocolate......they were auesome.

I don't see why you couldn't use any caramel recipe for a molded chocolate filling.

BUT (I wish one of our professional confectioners can answer this) How do you cleanly add your caramel into your chocolate molded base? I always struggle to keep my edges clean so I can finish them with a clean sealed edge......the caramel strings as you cut off the flow....help..........anyone have the solution to that?