Confections! (2006-2012)

[apronstrings]

OUTSTANDING!!! Exactly what kind of chocolate did you use??? I MUST try this next week.

[patsikes]

Hey Vanessa,

Most of our holiday chocolate work was a bust...just too hot and humid down here. Had the AC blasting all day long and still could not get things to work right. Most of our peppermint bark and cranberry bark bloomed and the caramels where just not right.

Unless we could build a climate controlled commercial kitchen down here (which is a pipe dream) I think PS I Love You Fine Chocolates is done for a while....

Patrick

[Desiderio]

Patrick , I am sorry to hear that .But I am sure that you will have time to organize yourself with some better equipment.Getting use to a new climate and a new life isnt easy, but I am more than positive that things will get togehter for you , just give it a little time for you to get use to the new situation, learn how things work there.

Best of Luck to the the both of you ,Hugs

[Desiderio]

OUTSTANDING!!!  Exactly what kind of chocolate did you use??? I MUST try this next week.

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I used 61% and some unswetned chocolate in combination, was the first try so i just eye ball it I think more or less about 100/150 gr in total.

[pastrymama]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but I wanted to share this with all you chocolatiers. It is a link to a site for a machine similar the the small home tempering machines but it is European I believe. There is a lot of information on tempering etc. and about 40 chocolate candy recipes. You will need to open the link then click on Tips then choose what you would like to read.

http://www.chocolatier-electro.com/english/index.htm

[Kerry Beal]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but I wanted to share this with all you chocolatiers.  It is a link to a site for a machine similar the the small home tempering machines but it is European I believe.  There is a lot of information on tempering etc.  and about 40 chocolate candy recipes.  You will need to open the link then click on Tips then choose what you would like to read.

http://www.chocolatier-electro.com/english/index.htm

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Looks like the Sinsation I used to have, now called Chocotec I think. Does a great job, but a bit noisy and quite a small quantity tempered at a time. I tend to temper at least 1 1/2 kg each time.

[pastrymama]

I just thought you guys might be interested in all the information and recipes on the site that can be used even without a machine. I didn't think anyone would be interested in the machine itself, since it is just like the American ones.

[Kerry Beal]

I just thought you guys might be interested in all the information and recipes on the site that can be used even without a machine.  I didn't  think anyone would be interested in the machine itself, since it is just like the American ones.

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Weird thing is the only part I can get to on that site is the machine, all the other pages come up blank so I didn't see the recipes.

[Anna N]

I just thought you guys might be interested in all the information and recipes on the site that can be used even without a machine.  I didn't  think anyone would be interested in the machine itself, since it is just like the American ones.

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It's a weird site - go to the bottom of the page and click on "Tips" and you will see "Confectionary Recipes".

[Kerry Beal]

I just thought you guys might be interested in all the information and recipes on the site that can be used even without a machine.  I didn't  think anyone would be interested in the machine itself, since it is just like the American ones.

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It's a weird site - go to the bottom of the page and click on "Tips" and you will see "Confectionary Recipes".

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Must be the Mac thing, that doesn't work for me, but Mark forwarded them to me as an attachment. There seem to be some interesting recipes. Let me know if there are any other little interesting tidbits there.

[Desiderio]

The first try with red wine jelly chocolates.I am quite pleased with the jelly chocolate flavor .Now i need to go back an write what I did LOL

[Kerry Beal]

The first try with red wine jelly chocolates.I am quite pleased with the jelly chocolate flavor .Now i need to go back an write what I did LOL

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Those look wonderful. Your dipping skills are excellent.

[tammylc]

Working on the last couple of experiments before deciding on my Valentine's Day selections.

After lots of tinkering (documented in the g pectin thread), I have a strawberry pate de fruit/ balsalmic ganache I'm happy with. Well, actually, I'll add a touch more balsalmic in the final iteration, but other than that I'm happy with it.

And here's the hazelnut praline recipe from the Shotts book:

Please excuse the HORRIBLY thick shells - my chocolate and I were having a little fight last night. They're usually much thinner than this. But the filling is really tasty!

[Desiderio]

Great job Tammy! Thank you for sharing you strawberry jelly recipe and for experimenting .Its gonna be a big hit , good luck for the Valentine's sale

How's the licensing process going?I am starting mine as well ,need to find a kitchen close to me to use.Its not going to be for Valentine maybe , if I do my homework well , by mother's day, we'll see.Let me know how things going for you.

[tammylc]

I filed me DBA with the County clerk's office, and submitted for my sales tax license. I'm waiting for a package from my insurance agent about what kind of insurance I need.

I filled out my form with all the information for the food establishment license. Now I just need to write a check and mail it in - I meant to do that today but caught up with a bunch of stuff.

It usually takes 30 days to do the food establishment license. I'm hoping it will go through faster. I don't know what I'll do about V-Day if it doesn't...

[mrose]

I filed me DBA with the County clerk's office, and submitted for my sales tax license.  I'm waiting for a package from my insurance agent about what kind of insurance I need.

I filled out my form with all the information for the food establishment license.  Now I just need to write a check and mail it in - I meant to do that today but caught up with a bunch of stuff. 

It usually takes 30 days to do the food establishment license.  I'm hoping it will go through faster.  I don't know what I'll do about V-Day if it doesn't...

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Tammy

As I remember, when the inspector comes out to do the check for the food handlers license, he can give you a temporary one after you pay the $75 fee. You can also call up the State after about a week & get your tax number from them instead of waiting for your paperwork to process.

For insurance you will need product liablity & accident, if someone comes to your premises & hurts themselves. That is if the store doesn't have it & you are covered. Liability is determined on sales, I think the lowest is $10k or at least that was all I could find. I got mine through an Independent agent who used Auto Owners Insurance. It cost ~$600 a year, paid quarterly.

Also check into setting up an LLC, it only cost $50? It has some advantages over a sole proprietorship, especially wrt liability.

Let me know your address, I would like to stop in when I am in Ann Arbor.

Mark

Edited January 14, 2007 by mrose (log)

[prasantrin]

I just made another batch of caramels. I stirred more, so I didn't get as much dark brown stuff (I did get a little), but I forgot the vanilla again! It still tastes good, though. I just finished cleaning the spatula!

I can't wait until tomorrow morning when I can cut into them!

[Kerry Beal]

Made a few things this week.

Playing around with new molds to make truffle logs. I used the PCB transfer sheets that are for pastry work. They are rather heavy acetate which means they didn't bend very well to fit into the molds. I'll be interested to see the effect when I use the more flexible transfer sheets I picked up from Tomric.

I forgot to take pictures of the 350 or so nice looking ones, but you get to see the rejects. A good start on the chocolate for the preschool Valentine truffle drive. I made a few extra because I had so much trouble last year with cracked, leaking ones. The raspberry filling is very liquid.

I really like this mold. The filling is key lime pie.

[Desiderio]

Kerry the truffle log are gourgeus!! Simply incredible.Did you buy the specific molds for the truffle logs?I have seen rubberchef has a few .Those bubbly molds are vey unusual good pick

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry the truffle log are gourgeus!! Simply incredible.Did you buy the specific molds for the truffle logs?I have seen rubberchef has a few .Those bubbly molds are vey unusual good pick 

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Vanessa,

I had the molds made at a local plastic place following the specifications that Mark Rose uses. I had them made one piece, because to make them exactly the same as his would have cost more. I find the 12 inch long one a bit big, I think I might look at 9 inches.

Those chef rubber molds look great, but I wonder how big they are. Does anyone out there have them? The price is certainly right.

The bubbly molds I purchased used from a fellow in Belgium who sells on e-bay. I've bought a ton of molds from him and have only been disappointed with a small number of them. They don't work out a lot cheaper than new ones, but I can get some shapes that are no longer available new. When I first started buying from him, they were considerably cheaper, but he has learned their value I guess.

[mrose]

The long mold is 12" and finished weight is approx 1#. A 9" mold would be nice since the weight would be about 12 oz. The short 6" logs sell very well.

mark

[choux]

Kerry, I have the triangular mold from Chef Rubber and it makes about 1" triangles. It is long, 15" with 4 channels. It's a little flimsy, definitely not as firm as polycarbonate molds. I've only tried it a couple of times, it is really hard to cut slices, they kept crumbling. I need to experiment with it more.

[Joni]

Kerry...key lime pie is my favorite! I want to just reach in and grab a few.....

[enurmi]

Firstly, I am absolutely in awe of all the magnificent chocolates here! I feel a little inadequate about my candymaking skills after this!

Secondly, I'm not quite sure if this is the right place to ask this, but where do all of you buy your molds? This will be my first time trying, so I want something simple and not too expensive-- like just the round bonbons. And two other related things: do any of you have a good beginner's recipe for a center, and can any of you direct me to a good tutorial about how to do this? Thanks!

[alanamoana]

Firstly, I am absolutely in awe of all the magnificent chocolates here! I feel a little inadequate about my candymaking skills after this!

Secondly, I'm not quite sure if this is the right place to ask this, but where do all of you buy your molds? This will be my first time trying, so I want something simple and not too expensive-- like just the round bonbons. And two other related things: do any of you have a good beginner's recipe for a center, and can any of you direct me to a good tutorial about how to do this? Thanks!

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there are a couple of good demos here on egullet:

molding larger bowls and things

using molds and transfer sheets

basic molded chocolates

tempering milk chocolate

for purchasing molds:

jb prince

chocolat-chocolat

just for starters.

there are a couple of other threads within the pastry and baking forum that are related to molding, tempering, and etc...you just have to do a search!

good luck, have fun and post photos of your results!