Confections! (2006-2012)

[Becca Porter]

Well I have tried it a few times. Using seed method from various authors. I use my trusty thermopen as well. I will go through all the steps very carefully. Then I will test a little on a knife blade, think it is in temper, but then once all my product (usually caramel apples) are dipped, they slowly start blooming.

This last time at Halloween, the knife I tested never bloomed. Just the apples and turtles I made. It was heartbreaking. I think I have given up for a while.

[Kerry Beal]

Well I have tried it a few times. Using seed method from various authors. I use my trusty thermopen as well. I will go through all the steps very carefully. Then I will test a little on a knife blade, think it is in temper, but then once all my product (usually caramel apples) are dipped, they slowly start blooming.

This last time at Halloween, the knife I tested never bloomed. Just the apples and turtles I made. It was heartbreaking. I think I have given up for a while.

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Is the caramel apple and turtle completely cooled before you dip? Check out David's Wybauw thread here for a discussion on cooling that may solve your problem.

[Kim Shook]

Perfect orgy of goody making this week.

Chocolate dipped sponge candy (chocolate is still warm - that's why it is so beautiful and shiny - I am not gifted at tempering):

Benne Candy (sorry for the crappy lighting - still getting used to my wonderful new digital camera!):

And Cheese Straws (don't really belong in this thread, but I wasn't sure where else to put them):

[Kerry Beal]

Perfect orgy of goody making this week.

Chocolate dipped sponge candy (chocolate is still warm - that's why it is so beautiful and shiny - I am not gifted at tempering):

Benne Candy (sorry for the crappy lighting - still getting used to my wonderful new digital camera!):

And Cheese Straws (don't really belong in this thread, but I wasn't sure where else to put them):

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Looks great Kim. I've never made benne wafers, what is the texture? I'm sure if you dipped the ends of the cheese straws in chocolate, they'd be confections.

[Kim Shook]

Kerry - the texture of the benne candy depends on when you make it and how good your thermometer is . Last time they were very chewy (almost like a Squirrel Nut Zipper, if you know them), this time they were more crunchy, but not hard since they have so many sesame seeds in them. Kim

[Desiderio]

I finally found a solution for my left over ganache ,I always had the problem of little bit here and there , so I made some truffle bars they going to be a bomb

Flavors are:chai, raspberry,creme de menthe.I have to admit this was the first time I used a bar mold, I just bought a bunch of mold in Italy , since I was there way cheaper even with the exchange, so i wanted to try,I bought a egg one to so I can make some italian easter eggs when its time ( need to practice first )

Some Holiday production

Edited November 29, 2006 by Desiderio (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I finally found a solution for my left over ganache ,I always had the problem of little bit here and there , so I made some truffle bars  they going to be a bomb 

Flavors are:chai, raspberry,creme de menthe.I have to admit this was the first time I used a bar mold, I just bought a bunch of mold in Italy , since I was there way cheaper even with the exchange, so i wanted to try,I bought a egg one to so I can make some italian easter eggs when its time ( need to practice first  )

Vanessa,

Nice mold! It is going to be lovely. I'd attach a tiny piece of gold leaf to one square for a really elegant look.

Now, what is the name and how do I get a catalogue for that other italian mold company. (not Cabrellon) I've got the odd new and used mold from them but never been able to see all their products and they make some that are different from the typical belgian molds.

[mrose]

Desiderio

Dose this bar mold have 3 separate little compartments & do you know the finished weight?

Thanks

Edited November 29, 2006 by mrose (log)

[Anna N]

Vanessa - your holiday productions are beautiful!

[Desiderio]

I'd attach a tiny piece of gold leaf to one square for a really elegant look.

Kerry thats a great idea I will try to get some soon ( I am trying to get some transfer sheets too , but its hard to find a nice mix bombo they all came in pack of 15 -20)

The company in Rome its called Tervi and when I went there they had a room full of molds , I could have bought the entire thing if I had the money .Lots of the molds are the same one you find on bakedeco and similar , the clear ones, the disigns are the same , but you can find Tervi at http://www.tervi.it/index_i.html

you need to register to see prices , wich are around 9.55 euro for the regular ones.but no pictures only description.

[Desiderio]

Desiderio

Dose this bar mold have 3 separate little compartments & do you know the finished weight?

Thanks

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Its a whole bar , the molds have 12 bars in it , I didnt weigh them yet ,I can try , this ones are filled with ganache , so I would guess the weight would be different form a solid chocolate one.In fact they clled panetto and not bar the number in catalog is the 0912.58 STAMPO 1064 PANETTO 76X40

[Desiderio]

Thank you Anna , are you getting into the chocolate craziness yourself, for these holiday , I have seen you already started Remember there is no coming back

Edited November 29, 2006 by Desiderio (log)

[Anna N]

Thank you Anna , are you getting into the chocolate craziness yourself, for these holiday , I have seen you already started  Remember there is no coming back 

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Let's just say that burnt chocolate is not a pleasant smell!

[Eden]

drooling over the butter mints!  what recipe did you use??!!  thanks!

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Here is the recipe. Kim

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I was just thinking about making butter mints for the holidays. Do you think this recipe would work well with molds as well? I have a jillion candy molds, and need to justify their existance every once in a while

I'm guessing that the ingerdient "16 oz. box (4 c.) 10X, sifted" is superfine sugar?

thanks for any guidance, I've never made mints...

[alanamoana]

10x usually means powdered sugar...but I'll let Kim answer.

[fanny_the_fairy]

Hi there,

i'm not sure wether i should post here or not.

Last week end i made four different chocolates from Pierre Hermé PH10.

They were all outstanding. Very tender, smooth and tasty.

I was amazed to see how much butter goes into these little delights!!!

I am currently working on the impact of colour/vision on perceived flavour, so i thought it would be funny to see how people react when eating different chocolates but with no visual hints.

In that aim, i simply rolled the chilled ganaches in cocoa powder (i also dipped another batch in various tempered chocolates; eg. white chocolate+vanilla seeds for the vanille truffles).

Here are the results:

With visual clue (i.e. ganaches dipped in different chocolates)

The people detected the flavour almost immediately and the resulting perceived flavour was stronger.

Without visual clue (i.e. plain truffles rolled in cocoa powder)

It took a longer time for the people to guess the flavours which are now considered more subtle.

- Balthazar or cinnamon truffles

This is always a winner combination. The cinnamon adds warmness to the already rich ganache.

- Makassar or salted caramel truffles

These were very mellow and had a great caramel au beurre salé flavour. They definitely were a favourite.

- Lou or ginger truffles

These had the most robust flavour; tangy and powerful. I really liked it at first but quickly got bored.

- Barbade or vanilla truffles

Probably the most difficult flavour to detect – very delicate at first but then you get a burst of banana/vanilla taste which is due to the vanilla-enriched ganaches.

And to wrap up this very-unnecessary post here is a picture of the plain truffles (no pictures for the beautiful and shiny chocolates - blame my battery for that):

Edited November 29, 2006 by fanny_the_fairy (log)

[Patrick S]

Wonderful, fanny!

[cocoa-lulu]

Beautiful work! Other than chocolate, antique molds are my obsession. I think many get warped over the years from improper use and storage. I have some that look like someone has tried to clean with butter knife.

I found some itty-bitty vise clamps at a flea market that work well to "bring together" the seams on slightly warped molds.

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Would you post some pictures of your molds?

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Soryy, I'm caught up in the holiday mix. I would love to show off some molds. Give me a little more time to get some pics.

BTW, Outstanding photos on this thread!

[Desiderio]

Unfortunally , I only have one day off from work this week, so not much time for me and my chocolate making ( and my craziness ).

But I had so many things in mind that I want to try.

One of this was a chocolate box, for custom special order, I never made one so I thought I should start work on it.

Another thing is I would like to try and make very simple pulled sugar work , like simple ribbon to use as decoration ,I found few web site where they explain the process, I am going to give it a try, then I found those pearls ( cant remeber the name) the you can use instead of sugar , just melt them and use them? I guess.

Anyway I got some fresh ricotta and I want to make some ricotta truffle etc.

Definately need to work on it , the lid didnt come out too good , I have should use a silpat instead the parchment paper , because the white chocolate warped so the dark one went throuhg the white and bleed , oh well next time I will know right?!

[miladyinsanity]

Unfortunally , I only have one day off from work this week, so not much time for me and my chocolate making ( and my craziness  ).

But I had so many things in mind  that I want to try.

One of this was a chocolate box, for custom special order, I never made one so I thought I should start work on it.

Another thing is I would like to try and make very simple pulled sugar work , like simple ribbon to use as decoration ,I found few web site where they explain the process, I am going to give it a try, then I found those pearls ( cant remeber the name) the you can use instead of sugar , just melt them and use them? I guess.

Anyway I got some fresh ricotta and I want to make some ricotta truffle etc.

Definately need to work on it , the lid didnt come out  too good , I have should use a silpat instead the parchment paper , because the white chocolate warped so the dark one went throuhg the white and bleed , oh well next time I will know right?!

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Gorgeous!

The pearls you mentioned, were you talking about Isomalt?

[Desiderio]

Ahhh , well well, my experimentation with sugar it didnt go too well , but at least its a learning progress right ( umm )

My table is a shredder sugar mess

This is the best I could came up with!

[John DePaula]

Ahhh , well well, my experimentation with sugar it didnt go too well , but at least its a learning progress right ( umm )

My table is a shredder sugar mess 

This is the best I could came up with!

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Looks LUMINOUS, Vanessa!

[alanamoana]

Vanessa and anyone else who is interested...I have a colleague of mine who is very talented with sugar showpieces. I'll check with the forum management and see if they'll allow a sugar demo. I already spoke with him and he wants to do a demo, but it will have to be after the holidays. I hope this works out because it would be a fun addition to the culinary classes.

Hey Vanessa, you must be talking about Venuance pearls (an isomalt product) by albert uster. they sell them in different colors. but they're a bit expensive. probably better just to use plain isomalt.

it looks like you're getting some good shine on your sugar already, so good job! the sugar ribbons are the same as chocolate ones. they make each bow section separately and then "glue" them all together once you have all the pieces you need.

good luck with your practice.

the chocolate box is also a great piece already. we always learn "what NOT to do" before we figure out what to do, right?!

[Desiderio]

Ohh the sugar demo would be AWESOME!!I am sure everyone here would love that .

Yes thos are the pearls, and probably for someone with no experience its better jsut keep using sugar hehe.

Definately learn from mistakes thats the trick and thats how is suppos to be,and having fun it important to remeber .Next week I might try a different formula and maybe cook the sugar little bit less since I have no experience.One question , what kinda of gloves would be good to work the hot sugar, I was using regular vynil gloves the one for food serving etc, but I knwo they have specific gloves right?

Thank you

[alanamoana]

actually, they don't use special gloves. most people i know use latex gloves because they are tighter. or...they use very thin cotton gloves (like what they'd use at a photo shop) underneath latex gloves so that they have some insulation. you'll still end up with a blister or two while you're learning.