Confections! (2006-2012)

[mrose]

Here's my artsy "chocolates in sunshine" photo attempt.

I had an order for 5 dozen chocolates for a 80th birthday party for an Italian man.  His daughter asked me to create some chocolates based on Italian liqueurs.  I ended up using Amaretto (purple), Frangelico (gold flecks) and Sambuca (yellow/red/orange).  Production worked out really well, because I was able to piggyback a few other orders on that day.  The biggest of which included 8 boxes of 4, which meant I needed a fourth flavor.  In keeping with the liqueur theme, I made one of my favorite pieces, flavored with Patron XO Cafe, a coffee-infused tequila.  That's the gold brushed Mayan embossed piece.

I thought the Amaretto and Sambuca worked out really well, but I was a little disappointed with the Frangelico ones.  I wanted to mix the textures up a bit, so I put some ground hazelnuts in, and while they're tasty, you can't really taste the Frangelico.  You can feel the alcoholic heat on the finish, so I don't thing more is the answer.  Our current working theory is that subtle flavors of the Frangelico are being hidden by the more overt flavors of the toasted hazelnuts.  Live and learn!

←

Instead of using ground hazelnuts, you might try Gianduja (a chococlate with ground hazelnuts) for the hazelnut flavor. It has the taste you want but much more subtle.

Mark

[tammylc]

Thanks for the idea, Mark - I do want to play around with Gianduja - I love that stuff! In this case, I was aiming for some texture, but I'll definitely keep it in mind for future.

[alanamoana]

also tammy, there are praline products (barry/callebaut) that are great for texture and aren't as strong as pure toasted hazelnuts...basically granulated hazelnuts coated with caramelized sugar...tasty stuff!

clicky here for photo

[prairiegirl]

Tammylc, I can hardly wait to see your finished "museum pieces"!  They are going to be quite extraordinary.  I realize you're not making the molds yourself, but it is something I have wanted to try.  I noticed that the San Francisco Baking Institute (where I've taken several courses) was offering a class on making your own molds -- I think it was supposed to be sometime this month?

Anyway, I love your chocolates!

Khilde

←

Making your own mold is quite easy. You can get food grade silicone casting materials at:

http://www.culinart.net/silicone.html

They have a little in the way of instruction, but more comprehensive instructions for molding can be found at:

http://www.hirstarts.com/moldmake/moldmaking.html

They show various techniques for copying different types of objects. While they use non-food grade materials the techniques are the same.

David

←

What about sourcing the silicone thru a dental supply place?

[Kerry Beal]

Tammylc, I can hardly wait to see your finished "museum pieces"!  They are going to be quite extraordinary.  I realize you're not making the molds yourself, but it is something I have wanted to try.  I noticed that the San Francisco Baking Institute (where I've taken several courses) was offering a class on making your own molds -- I think it was supposed to be sometime this month?

Anyway, I love your chocolates!

Khilde

←

Making your own mold is quite easy. You can get food grade silicone casting materials at:

http://www.culinart.net/silicone.html

They have a little in the way of instruction, but more comprehensive instructions for molding can be found at:

http://www.hirstarts.com/moldmake/moldmaking.html

They show various techniques for copying different types of objects. While they use non-food grade materials the techniques are the same.

David

←

What about sourcing the silicone thru a dental supply place?

←

That's a great idea, should be food grade for sure. Wonder how it compares in price to the Smooth-On stuff?

[prairiegirl]

I will research the silicone dental stuff this week and post my findings.

[Desiderio]

Tammy , you might want to try a different chocolate to pair the Frangelico, something not too strong ,since Frangelico is very subtle.Maybe a good white ( I am going to get some El rey for my next order ).

Here some of Father's day chocolates, I thought I was done , but more orders cam in , so here they are.

Mint marshmallow towers,Imperial stout (gold bronze and blue, this is an omage to a local brewery Left Hand ),Irish coffe creams ( coffe cup )Pecan sea salt caramel ( dipped ones) and Maple 9 maple leaf :-P.

This were some of Mother's day boxes.

Edited June 10, 2007 by Desiderio (log)

[Kerry Beal]

←

I'm really loving the look of the round praline with the blue and pink stripes. Is the background white chocolate or another coloured cocoa butter?

[Desiderio]

Thank you Kerry

The background color is gold,is something that remainds me Native American colors ( since the Left Hand name was in Honor of Chief Niwot )http://www.lefthandbrewing.com/ ( under History)

Edited June 10, 2007 by Desiderio (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I have been making Dark and Stormies over on the Chocolates and Confections by Peter Greweling thread. I decided to make half a batch using the 1/2 inch bars. Since the full batch says to set up the bars 12" X 12", I was all set to adjust them to 6" X 6" for a half batch, when some vestige of the math I'd learned so long ago came back to me.

It did require input from hubby, who quickly figured out that 12" by 12" is 144 square inches and 6" by 6" is 36 square inches. From there I was able to figure out that I needed to set my bars 9" by 8" to get the 72 sqare inches I needed. I suppose if my brain had been working correctly in the first place I would have realized 6" by 12" was appropriate for half.

Thank god you don't need math for medical school.

[blackbox]

*snip*

I thought the Amaretto and Sambuca worked out really well, but I was a little disappointed with the Frangelico ones.  I wanted to mix the textures up a bit, so I put some ground hazelnuts in, and while they're tasty, you can't really taste the Frangelico.  You can feel the alcoholic heat on the finish, so I don't thing more is the answer.  Our current working theory is that subtle flavors of the Frangelico are being hidden by the more overt flavors of the toasted hazelnuts.  Live and learn!

←

Tammy,

Those pumas are gorgeous!

Have you tried reducing some Frangelico, or flashing off some of the alcohol as in a flambe? That might help get a stronger concentration of the flavor, but with less alcohol.

I'm just throwing ideas out, don't know how well they'd work. lol

[tammylc]

Thanks for all the great suggestions on the Frangelico ones, which I'll totally keep in mind for the future. This was a one-time special order that's done now.

[tammylc]

Vanessa, your chocolates are absolutely spectacular, as usual. I use those little purse boxes for Bayley's too - they are so cute!

[Kerry Beal]

Put together a couple of things this weekend.

Passion fruit pate de fruit.

Passion fruit/mango caramels.

Dark and Stormie centers, look like they have set up very firmly, we'll see how they cut tomorrow.

[Desiderio]

Kerry , Yummy!

How the passion fruit /mango caramels turned out?

Tammy , yes the purses are very cute ,I ordered few boxes from them ( since they are very close to me ) to check them out.I was little disappointed cause , you have to assemble them and some of them arent functional and quite pricey.I ended up using the other purses from speciality box , I really love those ones.

[Stuckey]

I made white chocolate-coated milk chocolate truffles today, and I'm quite happy with them, especially after having a number of recent misadventures in molding chocolates!

I made the ganache on Saturday, then scooped and formed them into balls yesterday, and left them out overnight to dry and crust. I tempered around 600g of Cacao Barry white chocolate using the seed method (melted the chocolate in a Pyrex bowl in the microwave, seeded with about 20% of total end weight of chocolate), and I was quite patient this time, adding the seed and giving it a good stir, then leaving the chocolate to take its time to get down to around 86F. I tested the temper by smearing a bit on some baking paper, and after checking it had firmed up several minutes later, it was dipping time! I used a spiral dipping fork, which I found to be a lot easier to use than a regular dinner fork!

If I had any criticisms, it would be that the chocolate was obviously a bit too thick. You can see this simply by looking at the truffles! Could this be because the chocolate was overseeded, or because my working temperature was too low? I didn't bother to check the temp again after I started dipping, but I did chuck the bowl in the microwave for a very short burst just to get the temp up slightly.

Thanks for any tips!

[Desiderio]

Those look great!

I found the spiral form much easier to use when I first started ( with round centers).Yours came out great no foot , so good job.Umm I havent touch a chocolate in probably 3 weeks

[aguynamedrobert]

Ummmmm Kerry those Pate de Fruit look good...I'm a big fan of those...More people should really try those...

[Kerry Beal]

I made white chocolate-coated milk chocolate truffles today, and I'm quite happy with them, especially after having a number of recent misadventures in molding chocolates!

I made the ganache on Saturday, then scooped and formed them into balls yesterday, and left them out overnight to dry and crust. I tempered around 600g of Cacao Barry white chocolate using the seed method (melted the chocolate in a Pyrex bowl in the microwave, seeded with about 20% of total end weight of chocolate), and I was quite patient this time, adding the seed and giving it a good stir, then leaving the chocolate to take its time to get down to around 86F. I tested the temper by smearing a bit on some baking paper, and after checking it had firmed up several minutes later, it was dipping time! I used a spiral dipping fork, which I found to be a lot easier to use than a regular dinner fork!

If I had any criticisms, it would be that the chocolate was obviously a bit too thick. You can see this simply by looking at the truffles! Could this be because the chocolate was overseeded, or because my working temperature was too low? I didn't bother to check the temp again after I started dipping, but I did chuck the bowl in the microwave for a very short burst just to get the temp up slightly.

Thanks for any tips! 

←

I can see the chocolate was thick, but those still look fabulous. I think they look better for the thick layer than they would with a thin layer.

[prairiegirl]

Kerry,

What recipe did you use for the passion fruit pates? They look fabulous. I did another batch of passion fruit marshmallows and I must admit, they are delicious.

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry , Yummy!

How the passion fruit /mango caramels turned out?

Tammy , yes the purses are very cute ,I ordered few boxes from them ( since they are very close to me ) to check them out.I was little disappointed cause , you have to assemble them and some of them arent functional and quite pricey.I ended up using the other purses from speciality box , I really love those ones.

←

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry,

What recipe did you use for the passion fruit pates? They look fabulous.  I did another batch of passion fruit marshmallows and I must admit, they are delicious.

←

[prairiegirl]

Yes, please PM it to me. thanks!!

[Desiderio]

You can check L'epicerie web site as well

http://www.lepicerie.com/customer/boiron_purees.php#8

[Kerry Beal]

Ok, so finished off my Dark and Stormies tonight. The texture was perfect for cutting WITH MY NEW GUITAR.

Applied my 'thin' foot layer, not very even as you can see.

Cut one way, then lifted the ganache with the thin metal lifter and turned it 90 degrees.

Changed the frame and cut the other way.

Finished dipping in dark chocolate. As you can see my dipping is getting better, but I am a long way from Alana's perfect technique.

Texture is amazing, smooth and creamy. The flavour with the dark chocolate enrobing is also excellent.