Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)

[choux]

How does it taste?

[mrose]

How does it taste?

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It had a very subtle taste, you might not even know it was pear if not told. I would probably add more puree next time.

[Rhubarb]

My experience is that a tempered chocolate sets up much faster than an untemepered chocolate in the same recipe--I've sometimes heated a batch too much and had to wait 2-3 days before the consistency settled to the firmness I'd expected.

[Kerry Beal]

I'm making the Dark and Stormies. I made the ganache this morning with tempered white chocolate at 30 degrees and it seems to be quite firm already. I'll let you know if it is firm enough to be sliced tomorrow.

I'm not sure if I care for the taste, however, I suspect that the flavour will be entirely different once it is dipped in dark chocolate. It is interesting that with ginger and dark rum in it, it tastes kind of minty.

[Desiderio]

I have made those for Mother's day , I really love the flavor .The ganache stayed soft but could be cut with no problem.

I have followed his tecnique for slabbed and piped ganache even with my own recipes and I have been very pleased with the results.My slabbed ganache is always soft and firm so easy to cut , but the texture is perfect.I think following his directions is crucial for the result.

[Kerry Beal]

Dark and Stormies are a success. Excellent flavour, texture is wonderful.

[sote23]

Dark and Stormies are a success.  Excellent flavour, texture is wonderful. 

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kerry,

glad to hear it. I was looking at that recipe as well. Did you use the Bermudan rum or something else?

Luis

[Kerry Beal]

Dark and Stormies are a success.  Excellent flavour, texture is wonderful. 

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kerry,

glad to hear it. I was looking at that recipe as well. Did you use the Bermudan rum or something else?

Luis

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I used my favorite rum in the world Barbados Cockspur VSOR.

That's got me thinking that the next center I try should be to imitate the drink I love in Barbados which is any combination of fruit juices, grenadine and the Cockspur rum.

[sote23]

Dark and Stormies are a success.  Excellent flavour, texture is wonderful. 

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kerry,

glad to hear it. I was looking at that recipe as well. Did you use the Bermudan rum or something else?

Luis

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I used my favorite rum in the world Barbados Cockspur VSOR.

That's got me thinking that the next center I try should be to imitate the drink I love in Barbados which is any combination of fruit juices, grenadine and the Cockspur rum.

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That would be intersting. keep us posted.

Luis

[gnuf]

Does this book discuss making chocolate decorations? I just saw the Wybauw book on the subject, but it's expensive and not readily available.

[Kerry Beal]

Does this book discuss making chocolate decorations? I just saw the Wybauw book on the subject, but it's expensive and not readily available.

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No, this book doesn't cover decoration. The Wybauw book is definately the best I've seen for that. They carry it at Chocolat-Chocolat. I know Qzina has it too, they are always trying to get me to pick up the copy they got for me, but I found it months earlier elsewhere.

$59.85 on Amazon!!!

Edited June 23, 2007 by Kerry Beal (log)

[prairiegirl]

I made the dulce de leche truffles. Instead of a truffle shell, I used the new Italian mould that is round with the Mayan design. I also used the airbrush and sprayed with red PCB. The dulce du leche I bought at an Italian grocery store. It really is quite a nice flavour. I will try to get a picture and post it.

[prairiegirl]

Here are the pictures. I don't think the true colours showed up as I took the pictures and not my hubby!

[Desiderio]

Very nice and ymmy looking

[prairiegirl]

Thanks Vanessa. Tammy had the mould displayed in some of her photos from another posting and I fell in love with the mould!! The true colour did not come thru very well. The recipe is out of Greweling's book and it is delicious.

[gap]

Hi Everyone,

a callout to those of you who have made the Meltaways in this book. I am having trouble finding the coconut fat. I found what I thought may have been correct at a Vietnamese supermarket this weekend (called Creamed Coconut and was a solid and 70% fat) but the result was a pleasant tasting coconut chocolate rather than a meltaway.

For those of you who have succesfully made this product, what brandname of coconut fat did you use? Does it have an ingredient list? What % of fat was on the nutritional information? Any help would be appreciated

Edited June 25, 2007 by gap (log)

[gfron1]

Indian markets often have coconut fat.

[mrose]

Indian markets often have coconut fat.

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I found some at my local grocery (organic) & at Walmart non-organic but 1/3 the price. Both were sold as coconut oil.

Edited June 25, 2007 by mrose (log)

[gap]

Thanks gfron, I'll give that a try.

mrose - was the coconut oil solid at room temperature? Also, can you remember what % fat was on the nutritional information panel (the coconut cream I was using was only 70% fat)

[mrose]

Thanks gfron, I'll give that a try.

mrose - was the coconut oil solid at room temperature? Also, can you remember what % fat was on the nutritional information panel (the coconut cream I was using was only 70% fat)

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It was organic & solid at room temp, not sure which is # you want. 100% coconut oil, 60% Sat fat.

[gap]

Thanks for the info - anything which helps get me closer. I have looked for coconut oil at a few places but didn't realise it was solid at room temp, so that may be why I missed it.

[Trishiad]

From Whole Foods I bought:

Spectrum brand Organic Coconut Oil

it is solid and white and in a glass jar with a golden lid.

While the meltaways were nice, I thought they weren't creamy enough. I have a feeling many of the meltaways I've eaten in my life contained shortening.

[gap]

Thanks Trishiad. I notice a few people have mentioned organic food stores. We have one near us at a local market so I might give that a try this weekend.

[lapin d'or]

My coconut oil came from an asian store, it is actually in a bottle so you have to warm the whole bottle to get any out. This product is sometimes kept with the hair care products - you just need to be sure it is pure.

I use half milk half plain chocolate for my meltaways and that gives quite a nice texture. I've tried them with lime oil and mint oil and like both, but the mint was more distinctive.

[gap]

Thanks all for the advice. I stopped by an organic foodstore on the way home last night and they knew exactly what I was after when I asked for coconut oil (which I had just always assumed was a liquid which is why I couldn't find it previously). Hopefully I'll get a chance to try these on the weekend.