Hi everyone.
Fiddle I hope everything is ok.
I'm exhausted from this weekend. Did a surprise 40th anniversary party for my mom and dad. I'm beat.

I dipped espresso chocolate ganache truffles the other day. Boy where they strong, but good.

sounds delicious!
I just did a cake with chocolate ganache fill, I made a large batch and was hoping to make truffles with the leftovers, but of course I was heavy-handed with the spatchula. That cake has like 2 lbs of chocolate inside!

mkolmar. Thanks for the thoughts!
All this choc sounds delicious!

after reading the "mini-chocolate 101" i finally attempted to temper chocolate. it was ok. i ran into a few issues that i'd like some advice on.
1- how to keep the chocolate at a good temp once it has been tempered? i don't have an electric heating pad, so i just kept putting it on and off the bottom pot from the double boiler. is there a more efficient method?
2- i was doing filled chocolates. when using the chocolate bark, i fill the entire cavity, tap it to release air bubbles, and then a few minutes later dump out the chocolate. after cleaning up the edges i let the shell harden. obviously doing this with tempered chocolate would mean having to re temper all that choc again!!! not something i'd relish. so instead i transferred some melted chocolate into a wilton bottle, and squeezed it just inside the upper rim. then i tapped the mold on the counter and it slid down. there were 2 issues with this. i ended up with a a lot on air bubbles on the more intricate molds. also the "shell" sides were very thin. for the second round i went over the edge again. are there quicker methods? how to avoid all the air bubbles?

thanks all for your help!
Leah

LeahK - Chocolate is a very difficult thing to work with, especially when tempering, but you are well on your way.
For your first question. I would seriously just go buy a heating pad. Just buy one with settings so you can put it on low. Then you put a towel in between it and the bowl as a buffer. Otherwise it's taking the chocolate on and off the double boiler, which is a PITA. I lost my heating pad and have to do it this way, it stinks, I keep forgetting to buy a new one until I'm working with the chocolate again. I have read some people who put an electric skillet on the warm setting and put a towel in between it and the bowl also. There are also those chocolate warmers that Wilton sells. I have one but to be honest I don't use it. I prefer having a large bowl of chocolate to work over. I've learned that a larger bowl gives me more room and less mess when working with chocolate.

question #2) Everyone has different ways of filling up the cavities of the molds. I think the bottle method may be incorporating too much air, but since I've never tried it this way I'm not sure. I would think the tempered choc. would cool off a lot faster this way though than leaving it in the bowl. (Once again not sure on this, I just know when I work with dessert sauces that the bottle always cools down faster than the bowl.)
What I learned when the cavities are far apart is to take a spoon of chocolate and put it into each cavity. Fill it too the top and shake the mold lightly. Then flip the mold and empty it out. Take a bench scraper or a flat edge spatula to the top of the mold and get off the excess chocolate so the choc. doesn't have any choc. strings attached when unmolded. Tap lightly on the counter to get out the air bubbles. Put aside until set. If it looks thin, refill and follow the above steps again.
Once the chocolate is set I then fill the molds but not completely to the top. Otherwise your filling will come through your choc. bottom.
Put chocolate over the filling to the top of the mold and use the flat edge once again to make a level bottom on the chocolate. Tap out lightly on the counter once again. Set aside until set. When it comes time to un-mold I put my choc. molds in the freezer for a few minutes (just a few) until they pop out of the molds with very little to no help.
*The other way I fill a mold is the same as above but if the mold cavities are closer together I use a ladle to put the chocolate in the mold instead. I learned this from a pastry chef from France. It saves a load of time if your making lots of choc. and there is less air bubbles for some reason. I prefer to get things done as quickly as possible so I use this method a lot unless my mold cavities are so far a part that it's better to spoon it in.
*If your lucky enough to have the professional molds you need to airbrush it first with cocoa butter which comes in clear or in colors. This really helps when it comes to un-molding the choc.

wow mkolmar what a great response!

i usually only deal with chocolate once or twice a year, i guess next time i'll invest in a heating pad.

i use the same method as you for creating shells to fill, but i'm confused as to how this works with tempered chocolate. the stuff that gets dumped out of the mold is too cold to just put back in the pot, which means it needs to be put aside to temper again. that's an awful lot of tempering! the chocolate in the bottle does cool pretty quickly, i just dunked it in the hot water from the bottom of the double boiler in between molds. this way it stayed within the proper temperature range.

leahk - if you dump that choc. from the molds back into the tempered pot, it shouldn't need to be re-tempered because it's already been tempered. It will slowly be brought back up to temp.

Thanks! I'll have to try that next time.
Can I wait until the chocolate hardens (so it's easier to just dump in) or should I do it immediately?

do it immediately

Thanks!

(sorry it took so long to respond- I stopped getting notices)

Hey choc buddies! Anyone make anything yummy lately??
I have made more caramels but nothing choc .I have been busy with cakes!

Nothing lately although I have some great easter ideas I'm hoping to do this year!

Hi everyone. I haven't made much chocolate lately, just been eating it.
I did make last Friday 300 cupcakes with chocolate piped music notes for decoration. Plus, 300 cookies and a few dozen truffles for my kids school. They had the school play so I did the refreshment table. The things I do for my children.

mkolmar.. Wow! sounds like you have been busy !!

Yeah, I was busy last week with all those cupcakes, cookies and some chocolates. This weekend I'm doing plated desserts for about 215 people for a charity event. It's the one I wrote about awhile ago with the trio of mini's. I still need to make the choc. transfer cut-outs. I've been trapped in my kitchen the last few days. My legs are shot from standing on my ceramic tile. I can't wait to kick my feet up. (yeah right, like that will happen)

What are you all making for Easter?

I just finished going through and reading everything on this post. VERY HELPFUL, so thanks.
I have a question about chocolate covered cherries, I have found a couple of recipes but some call for butter while others are calling for invertase. I have never used invertase, and I don't how I feel about leaving butter sitting out for two weeks while the cherries are "curing". So has anybody ever used invertase?

Thanks

Welcome to the thread jab2004!

I'm not much of a fruit-dipper so I can't help with your question I've never seen a "recipe" for chocolate covered cherries. I would assume that melted [almond bark/tempered chocolate] would work just fine, maybe thinned a bit with a dab of shortening, butter or this invertase stuff. Is invertase an edible wax, like paramount crystals?

Jab, Invertase is a yeast product used in fondants to "break down" sugar crystals. I makes fondant centers smoother and creamier. But this is a different product from invert sugar which is cane sugar in liquid form. Hope that helps!

Probably too late Jab on your ?, but when I make them all I do is take marachino cherries with and dry them off very well, then dip in chocolate and place on parchment paper to set. Cordial cherries I take a marachino cherry without the stem, wrap in a thin layer of fondant and let that dry. Once dry I then dip in chocolate of use a chocolate mould.

Going away on vacation for a week, leaving this Saturday, hope you all make and eat lots of Easter candy, since I won't be....You have to eat my share too.

Hey..Have a great vacation! Im sure you can use the time off!

I was at an affair last week with an interesting dessert- I'm trying to figure out how they did it!
The base was a thin chocolate sponge-type cake. Then was a bell shaped scoop of chocolate mousse that was covered in a layer of ganache. After the ganache had set there was drizzled chocolate on top.
Do you think that the ganache was poured over the preformed bells, or did they use a mold?

Leah, it's hard to tell having not seen it but my guess is this: if the bell looked "perfect" then it was likely made from a mold. If it was more whimisical or they were all close but not exactly identical they were hand made. But again that's just my guess.

It did look rather perfect. The catch that has me wondering is that the layer of ganache was even. Which method would achieve such an even layer? It could be that the mousse was molded and then ganache poured on top.

Will someone please remind me -- is there a google document to the recipes in this thread too? I don't remember seeing one (but then I've been known to overlook them too.)

Bob I dont believe there is one ! If there is then I have missed it to!

I'll be on a chocolate making kick tomorrow. I give baskets of chocolate for Christmas, birthdays, and teacher appreciation week. This weekend we are celebrating my birthday, my sister's birthday and my mom's birthday, since we are all two weeks apart in birthdays. (seeing each other all three days, would drive us crazy).

So on my list for tomorrow I have...

Oreo balls
Cookie dough balls (these are by far my favorite)
Chocolate dipped Graham crackers
Chocolate dipped Oreos
Chocolate dipped pretzel rods with crushed oreos
chocolate cake balls (bakerella cupcake ball style)
chocolate dipped brownie bites
cream cheese mints

I keep telling myself I'm going to try making peanut butter cups with sunflower seed butter, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I used to make peanut butter cups all the time, as well as turtles. But since my son was diagnosed with a peanut/tree nut/egg allergy, I don't allow any nuts in my house at all. I've had good luck with a few peanut butter desserts that I've switched with sunflower seed butter, but not sure if acutal pb cups would turn out as well.

PinkZiab.. That sounds like a different idea!
Whats the recipe for the soaking alcohol.. do you just add brandy to the cherry juice or what ? Please explain!

I'm with bob, snowflake, all that chocolate has me drooling.
I'm not doing much chocolate-wise for Easter this year Just spending the day with family, but not a big enough celebration to make chocolates for, apparently. Everyone, including myself, is dieting right now