Confections! (2006-2012)

[Anna N]

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These are not nearly as beautiful as those made by our experienced chocolatiers but believe me, they impress the heck of family and friends!

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Oh, Anna, you're so wrong about that! I think that your chocolates look just gorgeous! Brava!

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John, thank you - that means more than you can know!

[Anna N]

. . .

Wow, didn't know that you could put hot fruit in those floppy molds!  Might try that myself, sometime.

About getting a flat edge with them... I don't use the floppy ones myself, however you might try putting them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for stability.  Then grab one end of the mold and drag the palette knife across the top letting the excess chocolate spill onto the parchment paper.  Messy but it might work.

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I just might try that - though with the molds that Kerry brought, floppiness is not a problem. Still there are a couple of rather nice looking floppy molds so I will give it a shot the next time I do some chocolates. Thank you for the suggestion.

[NYC Mike]

WOW Anna! Absolutly gorgeous!

[lapin d'or]

Anna those moulded chocolates look so good.

I had my first go with a mould this week but the chocolate did not drain out evenly so some of them have far too thick shells and no room for filling. More practice needed.

Choosing your first mould shapes is so difficult. I went for 2 very plain ones in the end thinking I could vary the finish with different piping but my wish list was (and still is) very long.

[Anna N]

WOW Anna!  Absolutly gorgeous!

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Thanks!

[Anna N]

Anna those moulded chocolates look so good.

I had my first go with a mould this week but the chocolate did not drain out evenly so some of them have far too thick shells and no room for filling. More practice needed.

Choosing your first mould shapes is so difficult. I went for 2 very plain ones in the end thinking I could vary the finish with different piping but my wish list was (and still is) very long.

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I had a similiar problem originally and Kerry showed me how to keep the mold upside down and give it some serious taps with the spatula to encourage draining. Worked much better! Try that.

Yeah - I am scared of becoming addicted and wanting more and more molds and other stuff! The bank account will soon put a stop to my wish list!

Edited to fix typos.

Edited November 5, 2006 by Anna N (log)

[Kerry Beal]

I neglected to take a picture of the good stuff I made today before packing it away, but with a couple of new molds to play with there were a few rejects left out for a picture.

Along with the frog molds, I have a new (well actually used, but new to me) double chef mold and a squirell.

[Anna N]

. . .

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Now that frog is just TOO MUCH! Love him!

[Kerry Beal]

He has a rather narrow base, I'm going to have to mold him with a lot of chocolate on the bottom so he'll stand upright.

[gfron1]

I haven't been to this thread in over a month (been very busy moving my store), and I just have two things to add...

Anna - I'm not buying this 'its my first time' stuff! Both of your chocolate attempts are fantastic.

And Kerry, you know you'll have to pitch those broken frogs, so I'll help you out and take them off your hands

[Anna N]

. . .

Wow, didn't know that you could put hot fruit in those floppy molds!  Might try that myself, sometime.

About getting a flat edge with them... I don't use the floppy ones myself, however you might try putting them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for stability.  Then grab one end of the mold and drag the palette knife across the top letting the excess chocolate spill onto the parchment paper.  Messy but it might work.

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I just might try that - though with the molds that Kerry brought, floppiness is not a problem. Still there are a couple of rather nice looking floppy molds so I will give it a shot the next time I do some chocolates. Thank you for the suggestion.

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I did try this trick and it worked somewhat better but I have to say that the floppy molds are just more trouble than they are worth. Even attempting to get the bubbles out is a pain. So, regrettably, I will stick with the rigid molds. The one thing the floppy molds had going for them was the variety of shapes in a single mold. For someone only making chocolate to share with family and friends this is ideal as I figured I could make a variety of chocolate and remember what filling was in each shape! At my advanced age, such memory aids become vital.

[Kerry Beal]

I did try this trick and it worked somewhat better but I have to say that the floppy molds are just more trouble than they are worth.  Even attempting to get the bubbles out is a pain.  So, regrettably, I will stick with the rigid molds.    The one thing the floppy molds had going for them was the variety of shapes in a single mold.  For someone only making chocolate to share with family and friends this is ideal as I figured I could make a variety of chocolate and remember what filling was in each shape!  At my advanced age, such memory aids become vital.   

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Anna,

I've got some molds they call 'student molds' they have 3 different patterns on each mold. That way you can put a different filling in each shape, less to remember.

I'll bring you one.

Not that you are interested in doing chocolate however!

[alanamoana]

i also have a mold from jb prince that has assorted shapes (i think four or five different shapes in one mold). it's great if you're making small amounts, as you are, for family and friends. i'm sure you can find the same one at chocolat-chocolat (a canadian company that has good prices on molds).

edited to add links:

jb prince multi mold

chocolat-chocolat website

Edited November 7, 2006 by alanamoana (log)

[John DePaula]

I did try this trick and it worked somewhat better but I have to say that the floppy molds are just more trouble than they are worth.  Even attempting to get the bubbles out is a pain.  So, regrettably, I will stick with the rigid molds.    The one thing the floppy molds had going for them was the variety of shapes in a single mold.  For someone only making chocolate to share with family and friends this is ideal as I figured I could make a variety of chocolate and remember what filling was in each shape!  At my advanced age, such memory aids become vital.   

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Anna,

I've got some molds they call 'student molds' they have 3 different patterns on each mold. That way you can put a different filling in each shape, less to remember.

I'll bring you one.

Not that you are interested in doing chocolate however!

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Sounds like Kerry has got you covered! However, I noticed that JBPrince has some polycarbonates with multiple shapes on a single tray:

K526 - 4 Assorted Shapes Mold.

Chocolat-chocolat probably has something like this as well...

Good luck and have fun!

[John DePaula]

i also have a mold from jb prince that has assorted shapes (i think four or five different shapes in one mold).  it's great if you're making small amounts, as you are, for family and friends.  i'm sure you can find the same one at chocolat-chocolat (a canadian company that has good prices on molds).

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Great minds yada yada, Alana.

[alanamoana]

i also have a mold from jb prince that has assorted shapes (i think four or five different shapes in one mold).  it's great if you're making small amounts, as you are, for family and friends.  i'm sure you can find the same one at chocolat-chocolat (a canadian company that has good prices on molds).

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Great minds yada yada, Alana.

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as i was editing to add links even

[Anna N]

. . .

Not that you are interested in doing chocolate however!

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You are so right... so why am I excitedly explaining tempering and beta crystals over wings and beer in our local pub?

[Anna N]

Thanks, John and alanamoana. I guess my list to Santa is about to be revised.

[cocoa-lulu]

He has a rather narrow base, I'm going to have to mold him with a lot of chocolate on the bottom so he'll stand upright.

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Kerry, we have a frog mold that we stand up onto a flat 4 leaf clover (the closest I could find that looked like a lilypad) and finish off with a gumpaste waterlily. We sell them as "taking the leap" wedding shower favors. I think I've seen "feet" for those frogs as well, but don't recall where.

[Kerry Beal]

He has a rather narrow base, I'm going to have to mold him with a lot of chocolate on the bottom so he'll stand upright.

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Kerry, we have a frog mold that we stand up onto a flat 4 leaf clover (the closest I could find that looked like a lilypad) and finish off with a gumpaste waterlily. We sell them as "taking the leap" wedding shower favors. I think I've seen "feet" for those frogs as well, but don't recall where.

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The mold is an old JVK, I should check their site for a lillypad or feet. Thanks for the idea.

[Mette]

When I was in London, I had some outstanding chocolates from l'Artisan du Chocolat, one of which was a sesame praline ganache. I thought I'd try and mimic it and here's the result

The flavour is quite subtle and nutty, and if there were no sesame seeds on top, it would be hard to guess the flavour although you'd definitely know it was flavoured - an 'I can't put my finger on it'-vibe. But they are very nice, if I may say so myself.

p.s. Very nice frog, Kerry

Edited November 8, 2006 by Mette (log)

[Anna N]

. . .

The flavour is quite subtle and nutty, and if there were no sesame seeds on top, it would be hard to guess the flavour although you'd definitely know it was flavoured - an 'I can't put my finger on it'-vibe. But they are very nice, if I may say so myself.

. . .

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They certainly look yummy!

[Kerry Beal]

A friend returned recently from Belgium where she had ordered a couple of molds from JVK. Much to her surprise one of the molds that arrived was huge, about 18 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches. She lent it to me to play with. I've been putting off molding it, too much work, too much chocolate, though I had painted the contrast over the past 3 weeks or so.

So yesterday I finally got around to finishing it. It molded rather well. It was too big for the fridge but I put it outside to cool for 20 minutes or so. There is a rather large crack through the body, likely due to the temperature outside while cooling.

There was a small defect on the bottom edge so I tempered some white chocolate and added enough water to thicken it sufficiently to pipe it around the bottom of the sleigh to hide the defect. Thanks to Elaine (chocartist), who's fabulous 'Chocolate Artistry' explains that process. It's the first time I've tried it and I can see that it will prove very useful in the future.

I took it with me today to a demo I was doing at Indigo (a local bookstore that has been kind enough to carry my DVDs) and it certainly was the center of attention.

[Anna N]

A friend returned recently from Belgium where she had ordered a couple of molds from JVK.  Much to her surprise one of the molds that arrived was huge, about 18 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches.  She lent it to me to play with.  I've been putting off molding it, too much work, too much chocolate, though I had painted the contrast over the past 3 weeks or so. 

So yesterday I finally got around to finishing it.  It molded rather well.  It was too big for the fridge but  I put it outside to cool for 20 minutes or so.  There is a rather large crack through the body, likely due to the temperature outside while cooling. 

There was a small defect on the bottom edge so I tempered some white chocolate and added enough water to thicken it sufficiently to pipe it around the bottom of the sleigh to hide the defect.  Thanks to Elaine (chocartist), who's fabulous 'Chocolate Artistry' explains that process.  It's the first time I've tried it and I can see that it will prove very useful in the future.

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Kerry, I salute you for even attempting a mold that big! And with milk chocolate at that.

I made my first attempt at using milk chocolate for pralines yesterday and it was a much different experience than using dark chocolate. When I first unmolded my chocolates I was impressed but a photograph soon showed up the defects! The camera doesn't lie! So here's my chocolates warts and all.

I see streaks suggesting that my tempering was imperfect and lots of tiny holes suggesting that I didn't get all the air bubbles out. The chocoholics in the family managed to overlook these defects and gobbled them up anyway! The centres were milk chocolate ganache with espresso powder and Kahlua which could explain the speed at which they disappeared.

Edited to add photograph.

Edited November 20, 2006 by Anna N (log)

[tammylc]

They look great to me, Anna! Reading about your exploits is making me want to try my hand at molded chocolates - up until now I've just been doing handdipped truffles. Is there an eGullet demo thread anywhere that is a good beginners guide to molded and filled chocolates? Or a book I should pick up?