Confections! (2006-2012)

[minas6907]

Looks nice, I like the idea of using goat cheese. What's the shelf life like on could something like that? I guess it would have to be better then I'm thinking, because just mixing chocolate with cream makes something that's stable. Nice picture.

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[stuartlikesstrudel]

I'm just some guy so I have no idea about shelf stability, but i wouldn't be surprised if it's smaller... in the book that it's from, the author, Paul A. Young talks about using fresh ingredients and not adding things for shelf life. That may just be a "simplify it for the home cook" thing or it could actually be his attitude.

[Kerry Beal]

What was the ingredients in the center? You got a picture of a chocolate cut open? That's pretty much how every batch of tempered chocolate turns out for me, I've gotton better, but still seem to have some streaks. Yours do look nice though.

Late reply, and not a particularly interesting picture, but since you asked I thought I shouldn't be rude

The filling was goats cheese, lemon zest and juice, a little cream and white chocolate. Can't remember the ratios, but I ended up having to add quite a bit more chocolate to get it firm enough to dip (and it was still softer than is convenient).

People really liked the flavour, I thought it was *pretty* good, the goats cheese creeps up after the initial sweetness, which is nice.

Stuart - did you dip those centers cold?

[Kerry Beal]

A batch of mint meltaways for work today.

[minas6907]

Ooooo yummy! I've wanted to try those, they look so easy to make! As far as labeling is concerned, coconut fat is the same as coconut oil, right?

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[Kerry Beal]

Yup - it is.

[keychris]

That's pretty much how every batch of tempered chocolate turns out for me, I've gotton better, but still seem to have some streaks.

Streaks usually indicate not enough of the right crystals when you left the chocolate to set - easiest way to get more? Stir that chocolate more as it cools to working temp, or once it reaches a degree above working temperature, just reseed with one or two callets whilst stirring to encourage the correct crystals to form.

Bloom is usually caused by the chocolate being too warm or cool as it sets.

[stuartlikesstrudel]

Stuart - did you dip those centers cold?

No, i've read a few times on here that cold fillings will end up cracking or oozing, so while that would have made it a bit more workable, I resisted. The house is quite cold (middle of winter here) so was probably only 13 or 14C...

Wasn't too bad in the end because I did foot them - just if I didn't get it right first time and lost track of where the foot was it got a bit messy

That's pretty much how every batch of tempered chocolate turns out for me, I've gotton better, but still seem to have some streaks.

Streaks usually indicate not enough of the right crystals when you left the chocolate to set - easiest way to get more? Stir that chocolate more as it cools to working temp, or once it reaches a degree above working temperature, just reseed with one or two callets whilst stirring to encourage the correct crystals to form.

Bloom is usually caused by the chocolate being too warm or cool as it sets.

What is an "appropriate" amount of stirring? I don't really feel like I could do a lot more, unless I was stirring non-stop for the 10 or 15 minutes it takes for the chocolate to cool... I have been stirring for about 20 seconds, leaving for a minute or so, and repeating that (it does take a LONG time for the chocolate to cool, so I guess I don't do that the whole time, but it's much more than a cursory stir-and-leave at the end).

Someone mentioned once that when you reheat the chocolate (hairdryer or microwave for a few seconds) you need to stir and leave it to settle again for a bit, right? Maybe it was too cold in my house, because I found I only get a few minutes before the chocolate was too thick... I probably rewarmed 10 times or so while dipping 80 pieces. Does that sound right?

[Kerry Beal]

I certainly don't stir constantly - I come back to it every few minutes and give it a little stir as it cools.

What temperatures were you using to temper? Did you do a test on the chocolate before you started dipping?

[stuartlikesstrudel]

Can't remember the temperatures exactly - I used the ones listed on the packaging (Callebaut 70%). I did a test, it definitely set up quickly and it *appeared* to be fine (not streaky) but maybe I didn't look closely enough...

When I was first tempering and got to rewarming to working temp, I slightly overshot it, I think 32.5 or maybe 33, whatever it was was 1 or 1.5 degrees above what is listed... I let it cool back into the zone (and stirred some more) but might this have slightly shaken the temper?

(and are we being naughty talking about technique in the showcase thread again?!)

[curls]

muscovado caramels (based on the recipe in Curley's Couture Chocolates book)

caramel goodness exposed

and some solid chocolate (had to get the mould, thanks TikiDoc for bringing it to the chocolate workshop!)

Edited July 13, 2012 by curls (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Can't remember the temperatures exactly - I used the ones listed on the packaging (Callebaut 70%). I did a test, it definitely set up quickly and it *appeared* to be fine (not streaky) but maybe I didn't look closely enough...

When I was first tempering and got to rewarming to working temp, I slightly overshot it, I think 32.5 or maybe 33, whatever it was was 1 or 1.5 degrees above what is listed... I let it cool back into the zone (and stirred some more) but might this have slightly shaken the temper?

(and are we being naughty talking about technique in the showcase thread again?!)

Oh dear - I think we might get away with it! Dark chocolate you should be able to over shoot to 33 and get away with it. I usually wait a bit after I'm convinced I have good temper to let crystals grow - but the fact that it cooled so much and you had to reheat so many times makes me wonder if perhaps you had over crystallized chocolate.

Did you put the dipped chocolates in the fridge to carry off the latent heat while they were cooling?

[stuartlikesstrudel]

Oh dear - I think we might get away with it! Dark chocolate you should be able to over shoot to 33 and get away with it. I usually wait a bit after I'm convinced I have good temper to let crystals grow - but the fact that it cooled so much and you had to reheat so many times makes me wonder if perhaps you had over crystallized chocolate.

Did you put the dipped chocolates in the fridge to carry off the latent heat while they were cooling?

I'd assumed that overcrystallizing wouldn't happen for a few hours or something, that it was mainly just a problem for professionals working all day in a kitchen. I assumed it was just because it's cold and I wasn't using a huge amount of chocolate (about 1kg total) that it was cooling a bit quick.

I didn't put the chocolates in the fridge; it was pretty cold at room temp, and they were setting well before I finished the tray (so only the last row of 6 or 8 would have needed the fridge, I think).

[stuartlikesstrudel]

caramel goodness exposed

Well that's an incredibly mouth-watering photo!! Perfect gooeyness!

[keychris]

What is an "appropriate" amount of stirring? I don't really feel like I could do a lot more, unless I was stirring non-stop for the 10 or 15 minutes it takes for the chocolate to cool... I have been stirring for about 20 seconds, leaving for a minute or so, and repeating that (it does take a LONG time for the chocolate to cool, so I guess I don't do that the whole time, but it's much more than a cursory stir-and-leave at the end).?

One last post from me on technique... might need to slip into a new thread otherwise I personally heat callebaut to 45C (felchlin I was told to heat to 48C), add 25% of the melted chocolate weight in callets and stir until it reaches working temperature. This is the seed method I was taught in school, and it works every time I'd table it, but I don't have beautiful marble benchtops in my house Total time to temper 1kg (my usual batch size) is about 10 minutes or less.

[Kerry Beal]

I too like the seed method - if I'm starting with chocolate that is clearly in temper I simply half melt it and let the residual heat bring it down to the working temperature as the seed melts. If it's in poor temper (and I have some seed that is in good temper) then I'll heat to somewhere between 45 and 50, add the seed a bit at a time until I get down to the working temperature.

[lebowits]

Monumental FAIL!

These were the liquor centres, not the cordials, so they do need to be turned to even out the shell. I left some unturned and this morning they are leaking just as badly as the others.

Experiments will continue.

I only vaguely remember doing these with Chef Greweling. I do remember when I did them with Chef Wybauw that we let them setup overnight. We still had to treat them delicately the next morning when we started dipping them.

I suspect that pouring the syrup into molded shells and letting that setup overnight would also produce a nice result.

[Kerry Beal]

Strawberry Rhubarb PDF. I realized when I went digging through my stuff that I had brought a big bag of the evil apple pectin - the kind that is for jam, not PDF - so this caused a big of a crisis. I did however have some Pectin NH and some Pectin X58. A little research led me to believe they might work - so I used a 50/50 mix of the two of them in an amount equal to the apple pectin called for in the recipe. I wasn't sure that it was going well (cause one of the recipes called for stopping at 102ºC and I was heading for 107ºC) the entire cooking time. But they turned out perfectly - and they are pretty darn yummy!

[Chocolot]

Kerry, you are the only person I know that would take three different types of pectin along with them:-)

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, you are the only person I know that would take three different types of pectin along with them:-)

Four actually!!!!

[Kerry Beal]

Picked a couple of kilos of raspberries at one of the nurses homes the other night - decorated a nice pavlova with some (along with some wild blueberries) and made some puree to make some PDF. The strange pectin combination didn't work quite as well as it had with the Strawberry Rhubarb batch - they are a little more tender than would be expected but still satisfactory.

[Darienne]

Picked a couple of kilos of raspberries at one of the nurses homes the other night - decorated a nice pavlova with some (along with some wild blueberries) and made some puree to make some PDF. The strange pectin combination didn't work quite as well as it had with the Strawberry Rhubarb batch - they are a little more tender than would be expected but still satisfactory.

They look incredibly delicious!!!

[minas6907]

Heres a few things I just got done with. I made some pastillage yesterday for some wafer candies for my friends wedding, the pink is raspberry, green is pear, and yellow is lemon. Also, for the same friend, to accompany their gift, I made some heart shaped lollipops, and while I was at it made a licorice stick and some drops for the roommate.

[Kerry Beal]

Love it - what did you use to cut those wafers?

[minas6907]

Thank you. I just used a small metal round cutter, the kind you get in a set from ateco with a very thin edge.