Confections! (2006-2012)

[Desiderio]

Yes thank you Kerry , that is soo very cool and funny , the silicon molds idea is great I want to experiment with that soon.

Thank you for sharing and showing us all these neat things

[David J.]

There are many resources to help you create your first mold.

One place to start is:

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

Note the keyways molded in to the torch and door molds to ensure the two halves are lined up perfectly when put back together.

Here is a short video showing how to pour a simple silicon mold of a flat clay flower:

http://www.hobbycast.net/video.htm

It gives you a few tips such as not mixing in too much air, using a second cup to ensure all the rubber is mixed, securing the mold box with clay, and pouring the rubber in a thin stream. I would also use the same vibrating table you use for chocolate to get the air out of the mold rubber.

There are many other resources including books if you want to start molding intricate objects with numerous undercuts. Take a look at your local library.

With a little information mold making really is easy. With no formal training and only a copy of "The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook" I created a silicon mold of a whisky bottle that was then reinforced in a plaster mold for casting breakaway glass bottles for a play I was in.

[apronstrings]

Kerry-- I want to make your nougat, and have 2 questions. For how long will they keep, and what is the best way to store them? I am having trouble finding some of the ingredients here in South Florida, but know I will find everything when I go back to New York in 2 weeks. Thanks!!!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry-- I want to make your nougat, and have 2 questions. For how long will they keep, and what is the best way to store them? I am having trouble finding some of the ingredients here in South Florida, but know I will find everything when I go back to New York in 2 weeks. Thanks!!!

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Keep in an airtight container, vacuum sealed canister would be perfect if you have a foodsaver. They are basically good until the nuts go soft, I just tasted the ones I show at the beginning of this thread, so they were make June 22 and they are still fine. They are in a rubbermaid container,

Kerry

[apronstrings]

Kerry-- I want to make your nougat, and have 2 questions. For how long will they keep, and what is the best way to store them? I am having trouble finding some of the ingredients here in South Florida, but know I will find everything when I go back to New York in 2 weeks. Thanks!!!

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Keep in an airtight container, vacuum sealed canister would be perfect if you have a foodsaver. They are basically good until the nuts go soft, I just tasted the ones I show at the beginning of this thread, so they were make June 22 and they are still fine. They are in a rubbermaid container,

Kerry

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Thanks! I just happen to be getting a Food Saver when I return to New York, so this will be perfect!

[Kerry Beal]

I've been meaning to try the pates de fruit made with tomatoes from The Notebook of Michael Bras that nightscotsman posted here.

Yesterday I happened upon a can of crushed tomatoes at the supermarket and brought them home to try it. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't prepared to use 90 grams of apple pectin, because the 1 lb container I have cost around $65, so using a quarter of it for one batch was out. I went back to the standard recipes for pates de fruit that Boiron publishes and did some adjusting. So the upshot of it was, I took a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, put it through the food mill with the finest plate to remove the seeds, added 30 grams of pectin, mixed with about 90 grams of sugar initially, boiled for 3 minutes added the remainder of 750 grams of sugar, plus 200 grams of glucose. I boiled it to 107 C, checked the brix to see if it was around 75 (which it was at 107), added 10 grams of lemon vodka and 15 grams of tartaric acid solution (equal parts tartaric acid and water by weight), along with 3 drops of a 10% dilution of anise oil (since I couldn't find any anise seed in the spice rack).

They taste very interesting, you don't really recognize the tomato as tomato, the licorice comes through nicely. Would I made them again? I don't know, I like to try things to prove I can do it, but I'm more thrilled by an intensely fruit flavoured jelly.

[alanamoana]

Kerry, it sounds interesting and they look really good.

If you check out the Manresa thread in the California forum, you'll see that they do parallel pate de fruit for amuse bouche and mignardise at the end of the meal: the meal starts with black olive madeleines and a roasted red pepper pate de fruit and the meal ends with chocolate medeleines and a red fruit pate de fruit (raspberry or strawberry). i liked the roasted red pepper flavor because it was a bit smokey and even a tiny bit of heat (that was probably added as bells don't have much heat). but i do think that they ended up being a bit too sweet for my taste as it is meant to be savory.

Anyway, good job experimenting. Do you have Paco Torreblanca's pastry book? He has a different method for making pate de fruit to get different results from the standard.

Thanks for keeping the thread alive!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, it sounds interesting and they look really good.

If you check out the Manresa thread in the California forum, you'll see that they do parallel pate de fruit for amuse bouche and mignardise at the end of the meal:  the meal starts with black olive madeleines and a roasted red pepper pate de fruit and the meal ends with chocolate medeleines and  a red fruit pate de fruit (raspberry or strawberry).  i liked the roasted red pepper flavor because it was a bit smokey and even a tiny bit of heat (that was probably added as bells don't have much heat).  but i do think that they ended up being a bit too sweet for my taste as it is meant to be savory.

Anyway, good job experimenting.  Do you have Paco Torreblanca's pastry book?  He has a different method for making pate de fruit to get different results from the standard.

Thanks for keeping the thread alive!

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I do not have that book. What does he do differently?

[Kerry Beal]

I have an upcoming wedding for my friend Rob and his partner Winston. The boys want individual chocolate bars for the guests rather than truffles or chocolates. I got started yesterday with a couple in white chocolate for the folks who won't eat milk chocolate. Of course you can't temper up chocolate and do just one thing. Now I've only got about 125 more milk chocolate bars to make.

White chocolate bars with butterscotch truffle filling

Mango mice

Freeze dried strawberry bark

[gfron1]

Those look great - especially the mice. I'm curious about the freeze dried bark - what are you going to do with that...and what does the freeze drying do to it?

[Kerry Beal]

Those look great - especially the mice.  I'm curious about the freeze dried bark - what are you going to do with that...and what does the freeze drying do to it?

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I should have said bark with freeze dried strawberries. It is simply the leftover tempered chocolate with some sliced freeze dried strawberries mixed in. They provide a nice crunchy strawberry hit. Unfortunately they soften fairly quickly, particularly in white chocolate which has more moisture in it than dark.

What am I going to do with it? Probably just give it away. I don't eat a lot of chocolate myself.

[John DePaula]

I have an upcoming wedding for my friend Rob and his partner Winston.  The boys want individual chocolate bars for the guests rather than truffles or chocolates.  I got started yesterday with a couple in white chocolate for the folks who won't eat milk chocolate.  Of course you can't temper up chocolate and do just one thing.  Now I've only got about 125 more milk chocolate bars to make. 

 

White chocolate bars with butterscotch truffle filling

                       

Mango mice

Freeze dried strawberry bark

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Wow, Kerry, I LOVE that! Those mice are great and the bars look very elegant.

[Kerry Beal]

Wow, Kerry, I LOVE that!  Those mice are great and the bars look very elegant.

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Thanks John. Liking the new look of your website BTW. I really love that mold you use in your avatar.

If I never have to make the bar mold again it will be too soon before these wedding chocolate bars get done. I spent 3 hours at it this morning, whining child does slow you down. I got 21 perfect bars, 3 slightly scuffed and 3 FUBAR. Since I had the mice molds out anyway, I made some coconut mice and finished off with some almond bark, hubbies favorite.

[John DePaula]

Wow, Kerry, I LOVE that!  Those mice are great and the bars look very elegant.

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Thanks John. Liking the new look of your website BTW. I really love that mold you use in your avatar.

Thanks!

If I never have to make the bar mold again it will be too soon before these wedding chocolate bars get done.  I spent 3 hours at it this morning, whining child does slow you down.  I got 21 perfect bars, 3 slightly scuffed and 3 FUBAR.  Since I had the mice molds out anyway, I made some coconut mice and finished off with some almond bark, hubbies favorite.

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Kerry, are the bars difficult to use? Anyway, they came out lookin' great!

BTW, I'm a fan of the (almond) barks, too. Sometimes the simpler things are just what the doctor ordered!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, are the bars difficult to use?  Anyway, they came out lookin' great!

BTW, I'm a fan of the (almond) barks, too.  Sometimes the simpler things are just what the doctor ordered!

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No more difficult than a praline mold. They use a hell of a lot of chocolate though. This particular mold with it's 9 cavities requires piping a small amount of the filling into each cavity, so it slows you down a bit. If you like the mold it is from JKV in Holland. I think in the US you have a distributor, in Canada I have to order them direct from Holland.

One of my favorite barks is crushed up humbugs in milk or dark. Poprocks are great too.

[alanamoana]

Kerry, I was reminded by this thread being bumped that I never explained Paco T.'s pate de fruit method...

First, he calls them "fruit creams" rather than pate de fruit. I'll just quote the passage in the book:

The difference between preparing these creams compared to the classic fruit pastes, is to be found in the process used for making them, which consists of mixing the pectin with the puree and part of the sugar at a cold temperature.  I then heat this mixture, allowing it, at the very most, to just briefly reach boiling state, and add the lemon juice which will fix the coagulation of the pectin, at the end of the cooking process.  In this way, I obtain a consistent cream, which is very transparent, has a stong flavor and which is not excessively sweet, in contrast to the traditional fruit pastes that tend to be very sweet, which has the effect of masking the flavor of the main ingredient and which does not have a pleasant effect on the taste-buds.

So, rather than cooking to specific temperatures and adding the pectin/sugar mix later in the process, he brings the whole thing up to a boil and then stops cooking. The pictures show very clear and bright fruit creams, which is the desired effect.

p.s. great mice, and...

Have you worked with chocolate bar molds without filling them? Just curious because of the larger volume of chocolate if you'd have to refrigerate the mold, etc. in order to keep in temper.

[Trishiad]

Kerry, I love those square bars. Chocolat Moderne does bars that shape too. I have always loved square. I wonder if it would be fun to do more than one filling in the same bar?

How are they being packaged for the wedding?

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, I was reminded by this thread being bumped that I never explained Paco T.'s pate de fruit method...

First, he calls them "fruit creams" rather than pate de fruit.  I'll just quote the passage in the book:

The difference between preparing these creams compared to the classic fruit pastes, is to be found in the process used for making them, which consists of mixing the pectin with the puree and part of the sugar at a cold temperature.  I then heat this mixture, allowing it, at the very most, to just briefly reach boiling state, and add the lemon juice which will fix the coagulation of the pectin, at the end of the cooking process.  In this way, I obtain a consistent cream, which is very transparent, has a stong flavor and which is not excessively sweet, in contrast to the traditional fruit pastes that tend to be very sweet, which has the effect of masking the flavor of the main ingredient and which does not have a pleasant effect on the taste-buds.

So, rather than cooking to specific temperatures and adding the pectin/sugar mix later in the process, he brings the whole thing up to a boil and then stops cooking. The pictures show very clear and bright fruit creams, which is the desired effect.

p.s. great mice, and...

Have you worked with chocolate bar molds without filling them? Just curious because of the larger volume of chocolate if you'd have to refrigerate the mold, etc. in order to keep in temper.

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Alana,

That sounds great. I'd love to see the actual recipe. I do find the pates de fruit way too sweet and it takes a second or two before the flavour comes through. I'll have to check out abebooks and see if I can pick it up inexpensively.

I have made solid bars as well as filled. I haven't had too much trouble with the temper. I have a variety of bar molds, both metal and polycarbonate. The larger metal molds sometimes get a mark in the middle which may relate to slow cooling, but the 500 g polycarbonate mold works perfectly almost every time.

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, I love those square bars.  Chocolat Moderne does bars that shape too.  I have always loved square.  I wonder if it would be fun to do more than one filling in the same bar?

How are they being packaged for the wedding?

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This mold would allow you to do more than one filling. That was the original intent, but thank god they decided to stick with one filling.

They are going to do their own packaging. It's a fall wedding, so they are going to wrap in a copper foil then in two colours of paper, one that is orange, the other brown. I think it is going to look quite interesting.

[John DePaula]

Kerry, I was reminded by this thread being bumped that I never explained Paco T.'s pate de fruit method...

First, he calls them "fruit creams" rather than pate de fruit.  I'll just quote the passage in the book:

The difference between preparing these creams compared to the classic fruit pastes, is to be found in the process used for making them, which consists of mixing the pectin with the puree and part of the sugar at a cold temperature.  I then heat this mixture, allowing it, at the very most, to just briefly reach boiling state, and add the lemon juice which will fix the coagulation of the pectin, at the end of the cooking process.  In this way, I obtain a consistent cream, which is very transparent, has a stong flavor and which is not excessively sweet, in contrast to the traditional fruit pastes that tend to be very sweet, which has the effect of masking the flavor of the main ingredient and which does not have a pleasant effect on the taste-buds.

So, rather than cooking to specific temperatures and adding the pectin/sugar mix later in the process, he brings the whole thing up to a boil and then stops cooking. The pictures show very clear and bright fruit creams, which is the desired effect.

p.s. great mice, and...

Have you worked with chocolate bar molds without filling them? Just curious because of the larger volume of chocolate if you'd have to refrigerate the mold, etc. in order to keep in temper.

←

Alana,

That sounds great. I'd love to see the actual recipe. I do find the pates de fruit way too sweet and it takes a second or two before the flavour comes through. I'll have to check out abebooks and see if I can pick it up inexpensively.

I have made solid bars as well as filled. I haven't had too much trouble with the temper. I have a variety of bar molds, both metal and polycarbonate. The larger metal molds sometimes get a mark in the middle which may relate to slow cooling, but the 500 g polycarbonate mold works perfectly almost every time.

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I'd like to 2nd what Kerry said, Alana: I'd love to see the recipe. I checked to see if I could find the Paco T. book and if I found the right one, it's VERY expensive and difficult to find.

[Kerry Beal]

I needed some chocolates because a photographer from the newspaper was coming over to take pictures for an article. I didn't have anything much in the house because it's summer and who makes chocolate in the summer. So these are just solid milk chocolate, but I really love the effect.

[gfron1]

Translation...just something you whipped up! You're amazing Kerry

[Desiderio]

Ohh yummmmm!!!!!Simple and delicious!

[John DePaula]

I needed some chocolates because a photographer from the newspaper was coming over to take pictures for an article.  I didn't have anything much in the house because it's summer and who makes chocolate in the summer.  So these are just solid milk chocolate, but I really love the effect.

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Gorgeous, Kerry. Nice and glossy!

P.S. I'm making LOTS of chocolate this summer, crazy as that is...

[RuthWells]

I made nougat for this first time this weekend. It is not photo-worthy, but it is tasty! I used a Jacques Torres recipe and subbed hazelnuts for pistachios. The recipe yield was huge -- I assume it will keep well for a while if I wrap it airtight?