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"Making Artisan Chocolates" by Andrew Shotts


choux

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Anna

What flavor is white Sambuca?

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Tasting note from the LCBO:

"Clear water white; big black licorice aroma; smooth anice & herbs in flavour, sweetness balanced by alcohol to finish."

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

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Thanks so much for the welcomes, Pam and John! Work, school, remodeling and selling a house, moving, and something like a divorce have kept me really busy this past 18 months. My temperer and I have been spending a lot of time together now that things have quieted down. I now live not even a block away from Christopher Elbow's shop, so he's a constant inspiration every time I drive by on my way home. I have chocolate fever again, so I'll be hanging around here a lot more often now. :biggrin:

Back on topic, sort of, did anyone else notice that the recipes in Andrew's book all call for glucose or corn syrup (I forget which, exactly) instead of invert sugar? Perhaps this was just an effort to help the home cook, but now that I keep Nulomoline on-hand, I would prefer to use it. Can I substitute Nulomoline ounce for ounce, or is it not that simple?

Josh Usovsky

"Will Work For Sugar"

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Glucose is not as sweet as sucrose, whereas invert sugar is sweeter than sucrose. So if you were to substitute you would need to take that into account. I'll do a bit more research this evening and post what I find.

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I have successfully substituted corn syrup and glucose 1:1, but I think you’ll find trimoline or nulomoline has more sweetening power. You might want to experiment a bit to get the right balance. You may also note a difference in mouth feel.

Hope this helps at least a little.

John DePaula
formerly of DePaula Confections
Hand-crafted artisanal chocolates & gourmet confections - …Because Pleasure Matters…
--------------------
When asked “What are the secrets of good cooking? Escoffier replied, “There are three: butter, butter and butter.”

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If you think of normal white sugar from the supermarket as having a "sweetness" of 100% then glucose is roughly 70% sweetness and trimoline is roughly 130% sweetness. Those are the ratios I use when substituting those two ingredients. I'm not sure about the exact sweetness of Nulomoline but it would give you a good place to start.

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I have successfully substituted corn syrup and glucose 1:1 ...

I have a jar from an online supplier that has "Glucose" on the big label and a smaller label with "Corn Syrup" on the back. Would this just be corn syrup with the water taken out? Since it's labeled both ways it's a touch confusing.

I used it the marshmallow recipie which called for corn syrup and now I'm wondering if I should have used a little less due to water being an expected component of normal corn syrup.

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Corn syrup is glucose. The corn syrup you buy in the grocery store has more water and a bit of vanilla flavouring. You can use them pretty much interchangably in candy, you will just have to boil the grocery store corn syrup a bit longer to get the water out and get it up to temperature.

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Hi to everybody,

I'm a newbie in homemade chocolate and trying to learn the basic techniques with the "Making Artisan Chocolates."

I would like to ask an question: In general, I don't want to use corn syrup or invert sugar or ... , any other such things and want to make my ganache only with cream and chocolate. Without corn syrup, how can we modify the recipe "classic dark 72 percent", on page 86. I tried without changing the other parts of the recipe but my ganache was too sticky even after one day setting, so couldn't roll them properly.

Thank you.

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My kidlette, Teacher-girl, made the Peanut Butter Sizzle, page 102 for her husband for Valentines. They were fabulous! Awesome, just really a sophisticated flavor. He loves peanut butter and chocolate. We thought that the toffee and the cayenne put them over the top.

gallery_19538_4232_435589.jpg

gallery_19538_4232_831324.jpg

gallery_19538_4232_1297716.jpg

Making truffles was a first for her and since it was to be a surprise and her goal was to make something sweet for a gift she did use a few shortcuts.

She wound up using two and a half pinches of cayenne and it was just right.

And BonBonMan, something I really appreciate about the book is how easy it is to flop open and use. I really like the soft-ish/hard-ish cover.

I know they were a big hit! Thanks, Drew.

late edit for spelling

Edited by K8memphis (log)
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Hi to everybody,

I'm a newbie in homemade chocolate and trying to learn the basic techniques with the "Making Artisan Chocolates."

I would like to ask an question: In general, I don't want to use corn syrup or invert sugar or ... , any other such things and want to make my ganache only with cream and chocolate. Without corn syrup, how can we modify the recipe "classic dark 72 percent", on page 86. I tried without changing the other parts of the recipe but my ganache was too sticky even after one day setting, so couldn't roll them properly.

Thank you.

Welcome, Ceviz! Mine were pretty soft when I made the caribbean cocktail truffles so I popped them in the freezer for just a few minutes and rolled them gently after I took them out.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

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Thank you duckduck.

I'm always rolling refrigerated ganache after some cooling in the room temperature and after rolling, one more time, I refrigerate for a very short time before dipping. After taking them out, I'm waiting for cooling for a short period of time and without any problem I'm managing to finish my truffles.

But, in the book, page 83, there are some photos showing how to pipe and roll and the appearance of the ganache in these stages. When rolling, very small parts of the ganache are always sticking to my hands and my ganache is more watery. So, there is no similarity with the photos. I think that there is no emulsion problem, because the appearance is good before rolling.

Today, I tried it with adding more chocolate, but the result was the same but a little bit positive. But, I couln't reach the ganache like in the photo in the rolling period.

I have used %38 cream so far, also will try the same recipe with %35 cream. Maybe, I also have used unsalted butter, I have to decrease the fat ratio for more firm ganache.

Other than fat ratio, I think that maybe the absence of the corn syrup may cause this result, I don't know, I have no experience with these substances before.

This weekend, I'll try it with corn syrup, original recipe, and want to see which effects corn syrup has on the overall texture and appearance.

Edited by Ceviz (log)
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ChristopherMichael, on your thread on whipping cream, I had the same question come to mind last night. It's my understanding that different creams have different fat contents and I would think that would have an effect on the ganache. I'm finding differences in buying different brands from one store to the next and some are thicker than others. I've been told that the stuff sold to restaurants does have a higher fat content.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

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ChristopherMichael, on your thread on whipping cream, I had the same question come to mind last night. It's my understanding that different creams have different fat contents and I would think that would have an effect on the ganache. I'm finding differences in buying different brands from one store to the next and some are thicker than others. I've been told that the stuff sold to restaurants does have a higher fat content.

I actually did it with both the manufacturers cream and heavy whipping cream, but same result. It appears that I only get the very firm ganache when I pipe them into balls and try to roll them, but if I put the ganache in a frame I get a softer ganache when set. I don't know why I get different results when I pipe them or frame them. When piped, they seem to set really fast and get hard. When I put the ganache in a frame, it takes over noight to set and it's much softer. Any ideas?

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HOLA!...ok to answer a few questions really fast...as kerry said about sugar they are different and no you can not swap out invert for glucose/cor syrup...sugar is at 100 invert is 125% power and glucose/corn syrup is 75% power...with that said ...nulomoline is a "brand" of invert sugar that has a lot of water added...i use nevuline which is produced by erstien thay also make trimoline which is also a brand...as for not using it in the book...the "home pastry chef" would not be able to find it in a small quantity, look at the cocoa butter issues you guys have had! as for the truffles being too stiff i am at a loss..but corn syrup is used a texture agent in ganache and a lot of other pastries and invert has a lot of water...so that would make a difference..i was on a radio show in the metropolis of woonsocket(woon~sock~it), yes it is a place, rhode island and the radio host suprised me by making the 72% truffles and they were excellent and soft as pudding inside....if you separate the ganache by accident it will be hard as in any emulsion that had fat on one side and non-fat on the other...i hope this helps..any other questions i will get to when i can....drew

also the lower the fat in the cream means higher water content which means harder ganache.. i use 40% for all ganache....same with the invert..more water harder ganache...water bad fat good....

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was wondering about the pectin g and if it would be suitable for regular work that require pectin.

I mean if it works for jelly fruit that need to be molded or for anyother work for confection etc.

Thank you

Vanessa

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My understanding is that G pectin was formulated to make a very soft pate de fruit, one that in my opinion makes a smooth transition when biting though it and into a ganache. I wouldn't think it would work well for molded pate de fruits but I don't know that for sure.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

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Hola, no it will not work with other recipes that call for pectin...it cooks and sets really fast and that is why i developed it...you will see how soft it is when cooked for the three minutes and that is due to quick cooking times that do not allow moisture evaporation that keeps it soft..if you try and roll it in sugar it will become wet...hope this helps....drew

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if you try and roll it in sugar it will become wet...hope this helps....drew

darn..if only I had this info a week ago!

I can attest to it being very wet after trying to roll in sugar!

thanks for the info though, makes me feel a little better.

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Drew,

I'm wondering how to use the g pectin for other fruits. Is it the same ratios of pectin, sugar and puree for all friuts, or are there some adjustments to be made? Also, I'll be using Boiron purees, straining by hand takes way too long! Do you have any tips for using those types of puree?

Edited by choux (log)
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I had asked him about using other fruits and he said to use the same measurements and they should all be in the same neighborhood as the strawberry and raspberry. My concern was using something like apple that has it's own natural pectin and he said it should be fine and should still turn out fairly soft. I was worried about making rubber but apparently it shouldn't happen with this pectin.

Pamela Wilkinson

www.portlandfood.org

Life is a rush into the unknown. You can duck down and hope nothing hits you, or you can stand tall, show it your teeth and say "Dish it up, Baby, and don't skimp on the jalapeños."

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry to not get back to you. I twill work the same with apple and other naturally high pectin fruits. There is an acid in it that keeps the p.d.f. soft . Also you are not cooking the bejesus(sp?) out of it so the water retention will also keep it soft.

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