Confections! (2006-2012)

[tammylc]

Wow - 1,700 pieces is amazing! Congrats on getting it all done. I'm going to use the proceeds from Christmas to invest in some more molds, so I don't have to turn so frequently. That will help a lot next time I get a lot of orders.

Where are you going to be in Michigan? Maybe we can get together and arrange a chocolate swap.

[Desiderio]

We should be leaving from Colorado on thursday night ,we are going to grand rapids.I hope I will have some left over to bring to my in laws ( would be funny to show up after been dipped in chocolates for 3 weeks , with no chocolate gifts ) I made some nougat though , so I will have something sweet :-P

Definally investing all the profits for next season ,more molds Even though I got ready these season with at least the double of all the molds I use most , it pays off ) valentine's day boxes etc.

Edited December 16, 2007 by Desiderio (log)

[Desiderio]

By the way I love your idea of reinventing the hot chocolate one , with the peppermint twist, very very nice Is Grand Rapids far away from you?I am not too familiar with Michigan ( lol with Colorado either P)

[Lior]

We should be leaving from Colorado on thursday night ,we are going to grand rapids.I hope I will have some left over to bring to my in laws ( would be funny to show up after been dipped in chocolates for 3 weeks , with no chocolate gifts  ) I made some nougat though , so I will have something sweet :-P

Definally investing all the profits  for next season ,more molds Even though I got ready these season with at least the double of all the molds I use most , it pays off ) valentine's day boxes etc.

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Well after being dipped in chocolate for 3 weeks- you are a nice chocolate gift!! Happy holidays to all. Tammy your chocolates look lovely! Everyone here amazes me!! The creativity, perfection, detail...

Bye!

[Desiderio]

Happy Holidays to you too Lior, Thank you

[Kerry Beal]

It's a really snowy day here, not fit outside for man nor beast, but a great day to bake and make a few chocolate things.

I'm busy dipping some candied ginger and candied orange rind, and while I had the dark chocolate tempered I thought I'd have a second try at the creme brulee chocolates ala Kee's. So I used my biggest mold - this sucker is huge - molded a very thin shell and filled it with a really rich custard to which I had added a big squirt of my favorite vanilla. I baked the custard until it didn't jiggle this time so it was nice and firm for piping and it was easy to back them off with a thin layer of chocolate.

Much nicer this time, they really needed the vanilla to stand up to the dark chocolate.

Next time around I won't use my biggest mold, they are a little too large (OK a lot too large) to put in your mouth as a single bite. Mind you that doesn't stop hubby from trying.

[Desiderio]

I like the idea of the custard/creme brulee filling,something different, I make chocolate pudding as filling, just evaporated milk and milk chocolate, comes out into a nice rich pudding perfect for fillings.

A chocolate can never be too big though!!

[ibjack]

I just got layed off from my job and am hopefully starting my own chocolate business. So I decided to take orders for chocolate boxes for some of the people that I know. Anyhow I ended up making 130 boxes with 16pcs/box (2050pcs total). I'm on my second run making chocolates for my gifts this years. I never thought that unemployment would keep me this busy!

Edited December 20, 2007 by ibjack (log)

[tammylc]

Wow - that's a lot of chocolates, ibjack!

Good luck with your business.

[Lior]

ibjack! Perhaps getting laid off is your christmas present! Good luck and merry xmas!

[tammylc]

By the way I love your idea of reinventing the hot chocolate one , with the peppermint twist, very very nice  Is  Grand Rapids far away from you?I am not too familiar with Michigan ( lol with Colorado either P)

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I got hooked on making marshmallows from the marshmallow thread, and now I have a bunch of ideas for combinations. I think I'm going to do a "cappucino" one for Valentine's Day - milk chocolate coffee ganache with espresso marshmallow. And I have an idea for a raspberry pate de fruit/ raspberry marshmallow combo too.

Grand Rapids is about 2.5 hours away, unfortunately.

[tammylc]

Well after being dipped in chocolate for 3 weeks- you are a nice chocolate gift!! Happy holidays to all.  Tammy your chocolates look lovely! Everyone here amazes me!! The creativity, perfection, detail...

Bye!

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Thanks Lior! Re. everyone amazing you - the trick is only to show pictures of the pretty ones.

As of this morning, I'm completely sold out of the few extra chocolates I had from last week's production. And I'm pretty much completely out of chocolate (which reminds me, must call and place an order), so can't make anymore anyway! It will be nice to have the weekend off.

(Although I am planning on making up some milk chocolate raspberry truffles and peppermint marshmallows as gifts for friends, and I've promised my son we'll make cookies for Santa.)

Lastly, I'll chime in with a Happy Holidays to all my favorite confectioners! Thank you all for the support and inspiration! You are all amazing!

[Mette]

Everything does, as always, look absolutely fabulous - living in the Danish Chocolate Desert, this thread is like a mirage.....

I've finally managed to make some chocolates AND find the energi to post. So here's what I've made for christmas:

Top row is a dome with the coffee ganache from Greweling's dulce de leche coffee truffles, milk and dark enrobed gianduja and the lemongrass-coconut from Shott's book, slightly changed to make it more liquid. Middle row is Marzipan, whisky and star anise. The selection did also include a raspberry/balsamic thing, but all gone.

To entertain the kids, we made white chocolate covered, candied lemon peel and those flat things with nuts and bit in them, the word for which escapes me at the moment. Note the happy face

I haven't had much time recently, so I thought I'd cheat a bit and use the pre-fabricated rounds and squares from PCB (these) and enrobe my fillings instead of doing much moulding - ERROR - ERROR - ERROR. Enrobing is much more time consuming the moulding - the only short cut is less clearing up.

Jolly holiday to all - looking forward to seeing your creations in 2008

P.S. I wish I'd been dipped in chocolate for three weeks - I've just been dipped in work

[John DePaula]

Everything does, as always, look absolutely fabulous - living in the Danish Chocolate Desert, this thread is like a mirage.....

I've finally managed to make some chocolates AND find the energi to post. So here's what I've made for christmas:

Top row is a dome with the coffee ganache from Greweling's dulce de leche coffee truffles, milk and dark enrobed gianduja and the lemongrass-coconut from Shott's book, slightly changed to make it more liquid. Middle row is Marzipan, whisky and star anise. The selection did also include a raspberry/balsamic thing, but all gone.

To entertain the kids, we made white chocolate covered, candied lemon peel and those flat things with nuts and bit in them, the word for which escapes me at the moment. Note the happy face 

I haven't had much time recently, so I thought I'd cheat a bit and use the pre-fabricated rounds and squares from PCB (these) and enrobe my fillings instead of doing much moulding - ERROR - ERROR - ERROR. Enrobing is much more time consuming the moulding - the only short cut is less clearing up.

Jolly holiday to all - looking forward to seeing your creations in 2008

P.S. I wish I'd been dipped in chocolate for three weeks - I've just been dipped in work

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Beautiful, Mette! I love that satiny sheen on "those flat things with nuts," also known as "mendiants." Everything looks really pretty.

How do you like Greweling's dulce de leche coffee truffles?

[ejw50]

Very nice, Tammy, David, Kerry, and Vanessa!

Tammy, do you have more for sale? I am coming home for Christmas to Ann Arbor, I noticed you are around there?

These are the ones I did, the dark ones anyway (2/3 of total)

Edited December 21, 2007 by ejw50 (log)

[Irishgirl]

Although I am nowhere near as advanced as you guys are in the chocolate dept., I have been playing around a little lately, and discovered that I could still temper chocolate decently. (It has been a LONG time [12 years] since I have done it regularly.)

So first attempt in a long time produced these: Ancho chili truffles.

Some of them were not quite set enough before I started making the spikes, but all in all, I think they look good.

[Lior]

gorgeous! Everything! Irishgirl's. Mette's , hmm! I love mendiants! I always make some at the end of enrobing. Mendiants and bark. Yours look smaller than mine, which is a great idea. How do you all prefer your bark? Thick? Thin? with what? I like thick with lots of nuts and fruit.

It is astounding how after making so many chocolates for sale, some of you still amke for friends and family and Santa!!! That is passion, love of giving, joy in seeing people take delight in their goodies! It is just lovely.

[tammylc]

That spiky effect is lovely, irishgirl! I think I'll try that out this weekend with the batch of milk chocolate raspberry truffles I'm making for a friend. Any tips from anyone on getting that effect?

[Kerry Beal]

It is astounding how after making so many chocolates for sale, some of you still amke for friends and family and Santa!!! That is passion, love of giving, joy in seeing people take delight in their goodies! It is just lovely.

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I realize that friends and family are likely to get short changed this year. I had made a bunch of stuff to be sold at an open house that a friend was having - we got snowed out - I left the stuff with her until Thursday night, then sent out an e-mail to someone who was always asking if I had chocolate for sale. She passed the e-mail to the other preschool moms. About six preschool moms cleaned my out of the stuff I had in the house. Then I picked up the stuff left over at my friends place and took it to work with me for two shifts. Bottom line - I've got a couple of containers here with a dozen items or so left. And my next door neighbour is coming over this morning to pick through that.

The UPS guy showed up last night, well past regular delivery hours - said I was the last delivery on his run - fortunately I still had one bag of almond buttercrunch - I'm convinced he left my delivery for last to make sure I was home - I always have some goodies for him.

I went down this morning to check out my finished chocolates so I could put together some boxes for friends and neighbours and - the horror - there is nothing much down there. One box of something in white chocolate (black current I think), a couple of random pieces of dipped ginger, 3 or 4 chewy caramels and a couple of the curry ganache (can't put that in an assorted box). There are some of those square and oval molded bottoms from the Italian molds that I molded up the last time I was working with white and dark, so I guess I could make up some ganache and fill them - but that wasn't really in my plans. But I can't leave neighbours and family with nothing.

[David J.]

That spiky effect is lovely, irishgirl!  I think I'll try that out this weekend with the batch of milk chocolate raspberry truffles I'm making for a friend. Any tips from anyone on getting that effect?

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Tammy,

To get spikes you double coat the truffles and roll them on a truffle grid just as the second coat is setting up.

I've got a grid but haven't used it yet. Now I'll have to try it.

[Irishgirl]

In the photo above, the person holding the grid puzzles me.

I put mine on a tray with parchment underneath so the excess chocolate can be gathered and used again. Why would they let the excess drip onto the finishing tray? It makes a mess.

I also use two forks, one that is hooked, and a four prong to roll the truffles across the grid at 90° angles. Think zig zag across the grid.

To do large scale production I prefer to have two people working on it. One for dipping and one for spiking and transferring to the finished tray. If you are by yourself, it is nearly impossible to dip and roll more than 5-6 at a time. The last chocolate dipped sets before you can roll it, and then you are hooped!

Also, you don't need nearly as much chocolate on the truffles as above. It will mess up the screen so quickly that the effect will be muted. Dip and remove excess as per normal.

Good luck with your attempt!

[alanamoana]

also, rather than holding the grid with one hand, you can just prop the grid up over a tray (with a can or something) so you have your two hands free to work.

i can bet that the person in the photo is Jean-Pierre Wybauw (right David J.?), and he was probably doing a demo for a class. i know there were times in his class that he was rushing the demo to get in answers to questions so didn't show perfect technique. that's what i'm guessing is going on here.

[David J.]

also, rather than holding the grid with one hand, you can just prop the grid up over a tray (with a can or something) so you have your two hands free to work.

i can bet that the person in the photo is Jean-Pierre Wybauw (right David J.?), and he was probably doing a demo for a class.  i know there were times in his class that he was rushing the demo to get in answers to questions so didn't show perfect technique.  that's what i'm guessing is going on here.

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You are quite right. JPW was working in a tight space with the whole class crowded around and working by himself. I think the chocolate in the melter was getting a bit thick at that point as well. If I recall correctly this demo was at the end of the third day

[Chris Hennes]

Is there any reason you would need to use a truffle grid, as opposed to a standard wire-mesh cooling rack? Are the holes on the truffle grid smaller? I was hoping to try out this technique without having to buy any more stuff for my already-overflowing kitchen!

[alanamoana]

Is there any reason you would need to use a truffle grid, as opposed to a standard wire-mesh cooling rack? Are the holes on the truffle grid smaller? I was hoping to try out this technique without having to buy any more stuff for my already-overflowing kitchen! 

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you shouldn't have any problem using your cooling rack. save your money!

edited to add: the grid might be slightly smaller, but there's no reason you can't practice and get your technique down

Edited December 22, 2007 by alanamoana (log)