Confections! (2006-2012)

[Desiderio]

Alana,

yes I cut them for dipping them in chocolate.They are very dark rich chocolate flavor almost rich chocolate cake flavor I would say ,I think you can cook it less but I like my caramel firm .

[Kerry Beal]

My experimentation yesterday and today has taken me to licorice. I had quite a time finding a recipe, but finally I ran across one in an old book I have called 'A Basic Course in Confectionary' by Ron Lees. Essentially you make a slurry of flour and water, add sugar and glucose then boil for about 3 hours, stirring constantly.

I discovered that the microwave makes quick work of the cooking. I just cooked it a minute at a time, giving it a good stir between nukes until it was firm and clear, indicating the starch was gelatinized. I added some soaked gelatin, some black colouring, some caramel colouring and some anise oil.

Last night I tried a batch that I divided and flavoured half with anise oil, the other half with some raspberry and strawberry flavouring. Since I tried cooking that batch on the stove, and had added more water to the slurry at the beginning, it really didn't firm up enough.

I'll be interested to see how chewy this batch becomes overnight.

[Desiderio]

Interesting I was thinking to try liquirice soon here.I found a web site with some confections recipes ( mostrly that uses modified starches thought ) ,I think the recipes are either british or australians , they use weird words and treacle , that took me some reserch to figured out what was

I am wondering how hard is to find liquirce extract.

http://www.penford.com.au/main.php?ID=7

This one

Edited April 22, 2007 by Desiderio (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Interesting  I was thinking to try liquirice soon here.I found a web site with some confections recipes ( mostrly that uses modified starches thought ) ,I think the recipes are either british or australians , they use weird words and treacle , that took me some reserch to figured out what was   

I am wondering how hard is to find liquirce extract.

http://www.penford.com.au/main.php?ID=7

This one

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Vanessa,

That's a great reference. The extract is a bit of a challenge, I've gotten samples from suppliers in the past. But you can get away with anise oil for an adequate flavour, not as complex or bitter for sure, but also lacks the chemical that raises blood pressure.

[Desiderio]

Ok I will give it a try then , probably my health store carries the anise oil.

[mrose]

In one of these threads there was an other source for shape cutters like those sold by Tomric. I can't seem to be able to find the link. I think Tammy originally ask about them. Does anyone remember the site?

Thanks

Mark

Edited April 22, 2007 by mrose (log)

[Kerry Beal]

In one of these threads there was an other source for shape cutters like those sold by Tomric. I can't seem to be able to find the link. I think Tammy originally ask about them. Does anyone remember the site?

Thanks

Mark

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Mark,

You can order them directly from Chocolate World in Belgium. Shipping is a little prohibitive.

[lapin d'or]

The health food shops in the UK often sell whole dried liquorice roots which could be used to make your own extract and it is fairly easy to get powdered root from mail order health suppliers here too.

I had always assumed it was very hard to make your own liquourice sweets as none of my books have recipes. I am really keen to try it now as I love it.

I am not sure if it is exactly the same species but it appears in chinese medicine a lot so I just tell myself it is doing me good and eat lots.

Jill

[Desiderio]

I am a liquirice lovere as well, but as Kerry mentioned , unfortunatelly has the bad side effect to raise blood pressure,I can only think that if you already have problem with blood pressure will be an issue , but if not that might not be too relevant ,maybe :-P.In italy the sell liquirice roots as well in health stores ,I might have to ask my parents to send me some

[lapin d'or]

I have noticed on a commercial bag of liquorice that they use glycerin as a moisture retainer and no gelatin. I am still confused about the difference between black treacle and molasses - they taste very similar to me but you see them both being put into liquorice sweets.

Thanks Kerry/Vanessa for the blood pressure warnings - moderation called for. I tend not to eat salty liquorice so that must help a bit.

Jill

[priich]

Yeah liquorice should not be eaten if you have liver disorder, high blood pressure or if you're pregnant. It's not that good for potency either. Other than that, it's great

I buy liquorice extract, liquorice aroma, anise aroma and ammonium-chloride (salmiak is where it's at) at the local arts, crafts and hobbies store.

Edited April 24, 2007 by priich (log)

[khilde]

Some days you just gotta have fun!

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Anna N, I absolutely LOVE the way you colored your chocolates -- especially the frogs and the hedgehogs. Very first-class!!!

khilde

[GTO]

Anna, that second one looks like an Army of chocolate brains. (In an entirely good way.)

Lovely Hedgehogs too, they look like Porcelain.

[tammylc]

My Mother's Day collection:

The orange splattered domes have a dark chocolate ganache with orange zest and Grand Marnier. The blue pyramids are dark chocolate with ginger juice. The fancy gold ones are dark chocolate flavored with Patron XO Cafe, a coffee infused tequila. And the ones in the front are a lavender caramel.

I'm really pleased with this collection, both in terms of looks and taste!

[gfron1]

Wow! The luster on the pyramids is fantastic. Is the ginger juice still liquid? What a great surprise for a ginger lover.

[Rhubarb]

I like the orange splatters! Very sharp.

[tammylc]

Wow!  The luster on the pyramids is fantastic.  Is the ginger juice still liquid?  What a great surprise for a ginger lover.

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Thanks. The ginger juice is incorporated into the ganache, so no, it's not still liquid. But it does give the piece really nice ginger flavor, including that fresh ginger heat.

[tammylc]

I like the orange splatters!  Very sharp.

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Thanks! It was a new thing I tried (drawing inspiration from Desiderio's Easter pictures upthread), and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Next time I'll use a narrower brush to splatter with to try to get some narrower splatters (the ones in the picture are pretty good, but on some of the others, they're more blobby).

[Kerry Beal]

Tammy, the entire collection looks awesome!!!

[tammylc]

Tammy, the entire collection looks awesome!!!

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Thanks Kerry!

It's kind of amazing to realize that this whole chocolate making business thing started for me just a year ago. It was Mother's Day in 2006 that I held my first truffle sale. I sure feel like I've come a long way since then!

[khilde]

Tammy, I too am blown away by how gorgeous your chocolates are! In particular, I love the gold chocolate -- did you first paint the mold with luster dust and then proceed with molding the chocolates? Did you mix the luster dust with cocoa butter and then apply?

Fantastic job!

Khilde

[tammylc]

Tammy,  I too am blown away by how gorgeous your chocolates are!  In particular, I love the gold chocolate -- did you first paint the mold with luster dust and then proceed with molding the chocolates?  Did you mix the luster dust with cocoa butter and then apply?

Fantastic job!

Khilde

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Thanks khilde - you are too sweet!

For the gold ones, I airbrushed the mold with some yellow cocoa butter, then brushed on just a bit of gold luster dust on it dry after it was out of the mold.

[Desiderio]

Beautifull collections Tammy , complimenti

[alanamoana]

tammy, everyone's already said what i would! what a great collection and how beautiful your chocolates are. you should take a look back at the small truffle collection you did last year and compare! there's just no comparison. congratulations on your progress and starting your business!

[tammylc]

Thanks Alana and Vanessa!

I couldn't have done it without eGullet - thanks to everyone for being such a great source of inspiration, knowledge and support!