Lesson on Determining the Quality of Chocolate

If you have followed this blog, you will know that I absolutely love chocolate. Today is an exciting day for me at Rouxbe, as we released the first lesson on CHOCOLATE in the Cooking School.

Many people don't even know where chocolate comes from and the amount of careful work it takes to it get from bean to bar. What is really sad, is that a lot of people don't know what quality chocolate even is...they are used to mass-produced chocolate made from low-grade cocoa beans which is also loaded with artificial ingredients. Once you watch the lesson on the Basics of Quality Chocolate, you'll be able to pick up a package and understand what a label really means.  

If you aren't already a Rouxbe member, make sure to sign up for your 30-day free trial.

Happy Chocolate Eating!

Tagged as: [ chocolate rouxbe ]

Dove Chocolate

Recently, I was approached by Matchstick, a word-of-mouth marketing agency who is working on behalf of Dove chocolate to launch their all-new line of chocolate. I was sent a package of 4 varieties: 71% cocoa, Dark, Dusk and Milk and was encouraged to share the sample packs with my chocoholic family and friends. Not so hard to give out free chocolate.

When asked to participate, I wasn't sure what kind of package to expect. I had asked what percentage of cocoa was in the new line of chocolate and the person on the phone didn't seem to know. No problem, but when I received the package, I was a bit disappointed that out of all the samples, there was only one bar of 71%. It was hardly enough to conduct a proper survey with such a small sample. However, I had people sample them from the lightest to the darkest: milk, dusk, dark, and a tiny nibble of the 71%. I also did not tell them what it was for. Just that I wanted their honest feedback on the chocolate they were about to eat. 

I recorded people's comments as they sampled each one. Here is a compiled list of results:

Milk Chocolate (first in line to taste)
- didn't taste it until finished eating, then it had a bite in the back of the throat
- cheap milk chocolate bar, unnatural, trying to be fancy, thick
- too sweet, sugary
- isn't Dove a brand of soap? don't usually buy milk chocolate, it tastes like it's for kids
- tiring in back of throat
- smooth texture, I like milk/white chocolate though, wouldn't buy but would eat if given
- weird, doesn't melt, pasty and chewy, not natural, has a caramel flavor
- can taste chocolate, not very strong, tastes like caramel, soft, smooth, creamy
- ok texture, dry flavor, lower quality than used to
- ok flavor, good for smores

Dusk (second in line to taste)
- more flavor, chewier, creamier, very sweet on after taste - really sweet actually
- too sweet, too thick, liked this one better though
- better but still too sweet
- too sweet still, couldn't eat a whole chocolate bar of this
- less creamy, don't like the flavor
- just average
- liked it better than milk, layers of flavor, heavier texture, couldn't eat a whole lot
- pasty, same texture, seemed saltier, better flavor
- better than the milk chocolate
- stronger flavor, chewy
- ok flavor, good for a treat on its own
- sticks to my teeth

Dark (third in line to taste)
- less bitter, smoother, less after taste
- trying to be high end but not
- like this one better than dusk at first, but weird aftertaste, less waxy
- like better but weird aftertaste, less sweet up front, not as creamy, waxy coating in mouth
- liked the aftertaste, little bit bitter, better texture, not as thick aftertaste, bittersweet
- not as bitter
- bitter, not as much flavor as other dark chocolates
- let down, yucky aftertaste, makes me like dusk better
- sweeter caramel flavor, moister, would buy
- too strong, hits back of throat instead of taste buds, bitter
- had a squishy, oily texture that didn't do it for me
- this one is the most disturbing

71% (fourth in line to taste)
- bitter, chalky, longer after taste
- I'm used to flavor left behind from chocolate, this one was bitter and lingered, more cocoa taste but crumbly
- horrible, not much taste
- much waxier, bitter, not much flavor
- very different, bitter aftertaste, creamy but no flavor
- same flavor, slightly different consistency, doesn't feel as mushy, same bitterness, not very chocolaty
- seems synthetic
- tastes like lard (not like chocolate)
- is this the same one as before? bitter, not as sweet
- I prefer the texture of dark but found the flavor elusive, not as robust, I had to move it around and think about it to find the flavor

Overall Comments:
- wouldn't buy; usually buys Lindt, Denman Island Dark Chocolate, quality chocolate from Spain
- wouldn't buy, seems cheap/fake
- educated about cocoa content, so I wouldn't buy
- wouldn't buy as a gift and won't take extra samples to eat
- wouldn't buy based on no cocoa content - it's the first thing I look at on the list of ingredients
- why do I only get one small piece of 71%? (because there was only 1 bar in the whole lot)
- none of them melt in your mouth - wouldn't buy
- none really seem like the kind of thing we'd normally have in the house

What I found interesting, is that most people, even if they aren't foodies or pastry connoisseurs, know about cocoa content. The general public is more aware of what quality chocolate consists of and I think, unfortunately, Dove fell short on this one. Overall, people seemed to like Dusk the best, but weren't racing out to buy it.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of quality, dark chocolate, so I wouldn't purchase the milk, dusk or dark (especially because no cocoa content is listed). For me, there are many superior chocolates out there which contain 71% cocoa mass. I feel bad that the reviews aren't the greatest, but I was asked to provide honest feedback. Not-so-great chocolate makes me sad.

Tagged as: [ chocolate ]

How to Make Candied Almonds

For my last blog post of 2007, I want to share an interesting technique I learned back in Maryland. These candied almonds are completely addictive - you can't stop at just one. They slowly toast as the sugar caramelizes, and once hard, they clang together like tiny pieces of glass. Candied almonds are the extent of my contribution to the holiday goodies this year. And if I would have had the time, these go over the top when individually dipped in chocolate.

This technique is one of my favorites. After everything you learn about working with sugar and do everything to avoid its crystallization, you now go against the grain. Here you want to force crystallization, a technique called sablage (which literally translates to gritting from French).

10 ounces whole blanched almonds
4 ounces sugar
2 ounces water

Blanched almonds can be very expensive, so blanch your own. Simply place the skin-on, whole almonds into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for one minute, then drain and rinse with cold water. You'll be able to easily pop the nut out of its skin. Let the almonds dry completely overnight.

Preheat your oven to the lowest setting. Set up a silpat or sheet of parchment paper, along with a bit of vegetable oil and two forks. Place the nuts onto a baking sheet and into the oven - just enough to take any chill out of them. Do not toast. Place a large, stainless-steel fry pan over medium-high heat and cook the sugar and water to softball stage. Softball stage means cooking sugar to approximately 235°F to 240°F (118°C-120°C). You can use a candy thermometer to test the temperature. Be careful, as this sugar is extremely hot and can badly burn you.

Once the sugar has reached the proper temperature, add the almonds and stir. Turn the heat to medium-low. At first, they will look glossy.

As you continually stir, the sugar will turn milky and start to crystallize. This is called sablage and here you can see the almonds look sandy.

Continue to cook the almonds. Slowly, but surely, the sugar will start to melt again. The almonds will gradually toast from the heat of the pan, and the sugar will start to caramelize.

Be careful not to overtoast the nuts or burn the sugar.

As soon as all of the sugar has melted and caramelized, pour the nuts directly onto the silpat and immediately pull apart using oiled forks. They will be extremely hot. If you can't separate them quickly enough, you can also flatten them out and, once cool, just tap the ones that are glued together and they will fall apart.

Let cool completely before transferring to a serving bowl. I candied 4 kilos of almonds in the last 2 weeks, so make lots. These make a great snack at any party. They are even a nice addition to cheese trays. Click here for more pictures.

Finally, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and here's wishing you a spectacular new year!

 

Tagged as: [ almonds candied chocolate howto pastry ]

Chocolate Series | Piping Chocolate Decorations

Once you know how to fold a paper cone, piping decorations using chocolate can be a lot of fun. Half fill the paper cone with tempered chocolate and snip the tip off with scissors. Snip less of the tip off to achieve a finer thread/stream of chocolate, or more to obtain a thicker one. It is best to snip off a little at a time until you obtain the result you want.

Secure a large piece of clean parchment to a working surface by weighing the corners down so it doesn't slip around. Begin to pipe, keeping the top part of the paper cone folded at all times so that the chocolate doesn't ooze out of it. Apply even pressure, while bearing in mind that the heat from your hands could throw the chocolate out of the tempered range. This is one of the reasons that it is best to work with small amounts at a time, ensuring you only handle it for short periods.

Fine piping takes lots of practice. Here I am messing around to show that anything can be done. These aren't the fanciest decorations, but once set, these can be stood upon or stacked on any kind of dessert to give an added touch.

Here is a close-up to show that well-tempered chocolate does contract as it sets. The edges of the decoration actually lift off of the paper. If you want to prevent a decoration from curling, you will need to place something of a suitable and even weight on top of it. Don't do this until the chocolate has set though, or you will mush your design. Once set, cover it with a piece of parchment, and apply a light weight on top overnight. Chocolate can take up to 24 hours to fully set/contract, so don't be tempted to take the weight off early. This applies to all things chocolate that you want to keep flat.

Obviously, the finer the piping, the more fragile the decorations will be. Once the paper cone is empty of chocolate, dispose of it. It cannot be re-used.

Related posts:

• Chocolate Series | How To Dip Chocolates by Hand
  
• Chocolate Series | How To Temper Chocolate
• Where to Find Pastry and Chocolate-Making Supplies
• Chocolate Series | The Simplest Way to Finish the Simplest Truffles
• Chocolate Series | How to Make a Simple Ganache
• Cleaning Up Hardened Chocolate The Easy Way

Tagged as: [ basics chocolate decorations howto pastry piping techniques temper tips ]

Chocolate Series | How to Dip Chocolates by Hand

Once you get the hang of tempering chocolate, the world is your oyster, in terms of design and decoration. Shapes can be formed, decorations can be piped, and all sorts of confections can be dipped. In a previous post on simple ganache, truffles were rolled in cocoa powder to finish them. To finish truffles the professional way, they need to be coated with a thin layer of tempered chocolate. This protects the center, giving products a longer shelf life, and also makes them look pretty.

Equipment Needed:

• kitchen towel
• bowl of tempered chocolate
• appropriate dipping forks
• parchment paper
• a paper weight (to prevent the parchment from moving)
• desired topping(s)
  
• room temperature truffles or confections

Directions:

1. To begin, place your bowl of tempered chocolate onto a towel so it is resting at an angle, with the chocolate reaching the rim of the bowl, as shown below.

This angle makes it easier to dip, if you don't have a filled-to-the-brim bowl of chocolate.

2. Toss a truffle into the tempered chocolate and submerge with your dipping tool. For round truffles, use the circular dipping tool. Scoop up the truffle from underneath and begin to bounce up and down, using the viscosity of the tempered chocolate, to pull off the excess from truffle. It will help to just touch the surface of the chocolate on the downward motion. Click on the picture to see more detailed notes.

3. Before moving over to the parchment paper, catch a bit of the drip on the edge of the bowl that may remain underneath the truffle (this avoids dripping everywhere). Move over to the parchment, hold your hand still, and turn directly over in a quick and steady motion. The truffle should easily release from the dipping tool. If you take too long, the truffle may stick to the tool. Quickly re-dip before the chocolate sets.

4. Once you have placed the truffle on the parchment paper, be careful to not move it. Sprinkle on a topping, if desired, while the surface is still wet. This will make the topping adhere to the truffle. Alternatively, you can line a sheet with a smooth layer of your chosen topping and rest the dipped truffle directly onto the layer of topping. Let set and then remove the truffles. This is a faster method and will give you an even coating of topping on the top of your truffles.

Here I have sprinkled the surface with raw cacao nibs. To obtain a shiny surface on raw cacao nibs, place them on a tray, in a very low oven for 30 seconds at a time. You do not want to heat them or burn them. Just stir them around and take them out as soon as they have a nice, dark sheen.

5. If you discover any bubbles, you can gently poke them before the chocolate sets. Bubbles occur when the tempered chocolate is too cold/thick, or you may have incorporated too much air during the tempering process. Warm the chocolate to the proper range and continue. While dipping, remember to keep the chocolate at the proper working temperature, by occasionally placing it over the bain marie. Stir often and scrape down the sides of the bowl, to keep the temperature of the entire mass consistent throughout. Click on the picture to see more detailed notes.

6. The goal is to have a very thin and even layer of chocolate on the truffle, with a minimal "foot". A foot is the base/underside of the truffle. You don't want globs of chocolate on the bottom, as it doesn't look as refined. If you wind up with a mess, pick the chocolate up quickly and re-dip it before it sets. Click on the picture to see more detailed notes.

Happy dipping! More chocolate work to come...

Related posts:

• Chocolate Series | How To Temper Chocolate
• Where to Find Pastry and Chocolate-Making Supplies
• DontMessWithOurChocolate.com - Maintaining Chocolate Standards
• Chocolate Series | The Simplest Way to Finish the Simplest Truffles
• Chocolate Series | How to Make a Simple Ganache
• Cleaning Up Hardened Chocolate The Easy Way

Tagged as: [ chocolate howto pastry temper tips ]

Chocolate Series | How to Temper Chocolate

I previously posted on how to make chocolate truffles from simple ganache and the easiest way to coat them. The professional way of finishing a truffle is to cover it with a thin layer of couverture chocolate. Aside from it looking prettier, there are many reasons for wanting to do this. To successfully coat items with a thin layer of chocolate, one must know how to temper it. Tempering is the process of heating, cooling, and re-heating chocolate to achieve a desired state, which allow us to be able to work with it properly.

Why do we Temper Couverture Chocolate?

The goal is to take manufacturer’s blocks or chips of quality couverture chocolate and turn them into your own personalized delicacies. By using tempered chocolate, it allows you to coat candies or pastries, make molded and filled chocolates, or create any imaginable shape, showpiece, or decoration. Chocolate’s structure is quite complex, and if you simply melt it and allow it to harden, you will not wind up with a glossy end product. By going through the tempering process, the finished result will be aromatic, aesthetically pleasing, hard, and although it will have a good snap when you break it or bite into it, it will luxuriously melt in your mouth. Proper tempering encourages chocolate to shrink as it sets, so molded chocolates will release easily from their slots. Tempered chocolate also helps to extend the shelf life of products.

Improperly tempered chocolate results in many disasters. Chocolates can become stuck in molds because it cannot contract. It can turn streaky gray, develop fat bloom quickly, be gritty, or melt quickly when you handle it. It is a headache and waste to spend all that time creating a tasty center and not get the finished product out of its mold. For all of these reasons, it is important to know how to temper.

Chocolate's unique structure has six different fat crystals. Two of those are stable and are responsible for producing glossy, hard chocolate. The remaining four crystals are unstable. If chocolate is not tempered properly, those four crystals dominate the entire mass and make it impossible to work with.

I have been avoiding this post for a while because I knew it would difficult and lengthy to explain, which you will understand if you make it to the end of this post. No matter what you read, there is no magic formula that will make it work for you every time. I will try my best to explain the process, but nobody would expect someone to pull off perfectly tempered chocolate on the very first try. It is not solely about having temperature guidelines and away you go. A big part of tempering chocolate has to do with the environment of the kitchen you are in, and since that easily fluctuates, you just have to practice going through the tempering curves to know what to look for during each stage.

There are three steps to tempering chocolate: melting, cooling, and reheating. It seems easy, right? Chocolate, however, is very temperamental and you can either love or hate working with it. Some days, I hate it. It’s funny how I was never really stressed out years ago while working with chocolate…this is because I wasn’t aware of all the reasons one should temper!

When I look back, I can thankfully say that my chocolate eating and my chocolate making skills have evolved. Years ago, when I ran a small chocolate-making business out of my home, I will admit, I didn’t really know what I was doing, in terms of “technical” chocolate making. I picked up books, gathered recipes, tweaked them, and away I went. I didn’t push myself to develop a more advanced line of chocolates, because I was happy with the end results. I’m not tooting my own horn, but I think one of the reasons I didn’t bother to research more technical ways of doing things was because I always got excellent feedback from my customers. My chocolates tasted great, looked pretty, and were beautifully packaged. I think a lot of it had to do with the care I put into it. All the truffles I made were based on simple ganaches, which were rolled in different toppings. They did not have a protective layer of couverture chocolate around them.

When I think back to those chocolate making days, I giggle. I never really understood why my chocolates came out glossy, and at other times they had a matte finish. I didn’t investigate the reason why - all I knew was that they tasted yummy. Knowing what I know now (and there is so much more to learn), I get a kick out of looking back and understanding why things worked and why they didn’t. When I broke up large sheets of nut bark, sometimes they would have a clean, hard, snap, and sometimes they didn’t.

The importance of tempering obviously wasn’t something that I was aware of back then. Even though I took an amateur chocolate course at the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, I was a bit lost in translation. I had a semi-decent translator for the most part, because I was the only English-speaking person there. I remember the Chef demonstrating the temperature curve of the tempering process, but the focus in that course was more on putting the pieces we built together. If I would have caught on a bit more, it might have made my life a little easier when I was back in my own kitchen, twisting and slamming flexible plastic molds to get the morsels of chocolate out of them. I drove my brother crazy during those years with all of the noise of banging molds.

 

Recently, I made a bunch of chocolates to give to our family. I put the task off until crunch time, because I wanted the centers to be as fresh as possible. Unfortunately, the days that I was forced to make them turned out to be the hottest days so far this year in Vancouver. I couldn't get good air circulation through my kitchen to keep things cool, so, in turn, it was a chore to keep my own cool! Frustratingly, I managed to temper the chocolate, although, I had to go through the motions a few times. I had lost the tempering range because my kitchen was so hot. It made me think of the pastry chefs out there who encounter the challenge of dealing with the heat from culinary kitchens, baking ovens, and steam. Quite often pastry chefs have little space in which to work and need to be able to adapt to the environment. When the ideal room temperature for working with chocolate is between 68-72ºF (20-22ºC), and my kitchen was hovering around 84ºF (29ºC), things got tricky.

In the end, I managed to make the chocolates, but it wasn’t the least stressful round ever. To not drive myself completely crazy, I wound up scaling back from 10 flavors to 5. My end products were acceptable, and although I could tell it wasn’t my best work, nobody else noticed because, once again, they tasted delicious. Marcelo actually thought the "bloom" on a few was an intentionally cool design…what they continue to not know won’t hurt them; right? Lesson learned: if you don’t have a cool kitchen or air-conditioning, and especially if you are a novice at tempering, don’t bother trying this on a hot day.

Methods for Tempering Chocolate

Assuming your kitchen is dry and cool, you are calm and relaxed, your biceps are rearing to go, and perhaps you have a nice glass of red wine tucked off to the side, you can begin…

There are many ways to temper chocolate, however, the three most common and basic methods are: 1) using a marble; 2) seeding; or, 3) using a cold-water bath. Each method has their pros and cons. On a marble, extra beneficial conching (agitating the chocolate) is performed, but this method can be messy, as you are required to pour a portion of melted chocolate on to a marble and work it around using tools, such as offset spatulas, to cool it down. If you aren't coordinated, the chocolate could wind up all over the place.

If you are using large amounts of chocolate, the seeding method is useful. Here, bits of chocolate are slowly added to the melted chocolate to bring the temperature down. However, you can wind up with lumps in the chocolate if you don’t know when to stop adding. What is funny is that in those old chocolate-making days, I unintentionally used the seeding method of tempering without knowing it. It worked beautifully!

I think the easiest method for home use is the cold-water bath method. It is the fastest, but it involves working with chocolate's number one enemy - water. The utmost of care must be taken with this procedure, as just one tiny droplet of water or steam will cause your entire bowl of chocolate to seize and render it completely useless. So, be careful, and most of all, be patient. This task can be very trying!

Equipment Required:

• Bain marie
• Medium-sized stainless-steel bowl
• Cold-water bath that your medium-sized bowl fits into
• Two clean, dry towels
• Large spatula

Step 1. Melting the Chocolate

To successfully temper chocolate, you must start off with a healthy amount, a minimum of 2 to 3 pounds. The more chocolate you use, the greater control you will have over fluctuating temperatures. Place the bowl of evenly chopped chocolate (or the manufacturer’s chips) over a bain marie that has barely simmering water. Make sure to adjust the water level so that the bowl does not touch the water underneath, and keep an eye on it to replenish so it doesn’t completely evaporate. Evenly chopped chocolate will melt evenly over a shorter period of time. Stir often. Low temperatures must be used when melting and reheating chocolate, as all types of chocolate scorch easily; milk and white chocolate have a higher milk solid content than dark, and will scorch at lower temperatures. Stir often, as chocolate loves to be stirred.

With practice, you will recognize the chocolate’s appearance to determine what stage it is at. Each of the 6 fat crystals melt at different temperatures, so you need to heat it well enough to ensure everything is broken down. To avoid scorching, do not exceed these temperatures.

Dark chocolate: Melt to 115-120ºF (46-49ºC)

Milk or white chocolate: Melt to 110-115ºF (43-46ºC)

Step 2. Cooling Chocolate and Promoting Crystallization

Be careful when you take the bowl of chocolate off of the bain marie, as there will be water droplets attached to the bottom of the bowl. I always set the bowl on a towel and wipe it dry. Carefully place it into the cold-water bath and continually stir, scraping down the sides and the bottom of the bowl. You will need to keep moving the bowl in and out of the cold-water bath to slowly and evenly bring down the temperature. Again, wipe any water away from the exterior of the bowl. If you don’t scrape the sides of the bowl, hard chunks of chocolate will form and it will be harder to work with and melt out evenly during the next phase. Keep stirring, be patient, and keep your hands dry. You should see the chocolate getting thicker.

Dark chocolate: Cool to 80-82ºF (26-28ºC)

Milk or white chocolate: Cool to 78-80ºF (25-26ºC)

Step 3. Reheating to the Working Range

Moving on and off the bain maire, while constantly stirring and being careful of water droplets, gently increase the heat of the chocolate as follows.

Dark chocolate: 87-90ºF (30-32ºC)

Milk chocolate: 86ºF (30ºC)

White chocolate: 82ºF (28ºC)

At this point, you will need to test the chocolate to see if you have successfully tempered it. There are many ways to do this. You can dip an offset spatula into the chocolate and set it aside. You can use a small piece of parchment, or a metal pastry tip , and dip either in the chocolate and set aside, or you can simply drizzle some onto a granite counter top or marble. The chocolate should firm up and be glossy within a minute or two. If it sets really fast, your chocolate may be a bit too cold. No worries there. Momentarily put it back on the bain marie and stir…but be careful. You don’t want to exceed the temperatures mentioned above and fall out of the temper range. If the chocolate doesn’t set at all, you haven’t been successful in going through the stages, and will have to start all over again – yes, all over again. The chocolate will have to be brought back to the melting temperature, cooled down, and reheated. That is the only way to properly form the crystal structure, and this is where frustration can set in.

These temperatures are guidelines, and your environment plays a huge roll in the success of tempering. It is best to not get accustomed to using a thermometer, as they are not always accurate and different brands of chocolate have different tempering ranges. By continuing to go through the process, you will start to recognize what the chocolate should look like, how it feels when you are stirring it, and the viscosity of how it drapes over what you are covering. It all takes time, practice, and most of all, patience. Did I mention patience?

Dipping Chocolates and Ganache

The viscosity of tempered chocolate is crucial when coating chocolates. If the chocolate is too cold, it will not drape and conform to the shape of whatever you are trying to cover. You will wind up with a thick and goopy mess. As you are dipping items, you will have to shift from dipping to placing your bowl of tempered chocolate on and off the bain marie, to keep it at a consistent working temperature. Once you have reached that tempered stage, you also have to work to keep it there!

Keep in mind, if you are dipping ganache that has a high butter content, or if you are dipping a butter cream center, and your chocolate is too hot, part of the center will melt, ruining both the shape of the candy and the supply of tempered chocolate.

Dipping cold items can also throw tempered chocolate out of whack and the coating can cool too quickly, creating a fat bloom on your chocolate. The drastic change in temperature can alter the finished appearance. When starting out, try to dip items that are at room temperature.

Fat Bloom Versus Sugar Bloom

There are two kinds of bloom: fat and sugar, both of which are unappealing. Fat bloom creates unattractive gray streaks on the surface of chocolate. This can be caused by improperly heating and cooling chocolate during processing, or the chocolate has been stored at too warm a temperature. The emulsion breaks down and the fat begins to melt and separate from the mixture. Think of a chocolate bar that has been left in a hot car. When it solidifies, it most likely will have streaks of gray on it, and the chocolate will not snap because it is out of temper. While fat bloom doesn't affect the taste of chocolate, it doesn’t look as pretty. Here are some truffle shells that have developed fat bloom while in storage. You can still use them because they will eventually be covered with couverture anyway.

 

 

Sugar bloom occurs when the chocolate has been exposed to too much moisture in storage. This is one of the reasons you should not store chocolate in the refrigerator. Sugar bloom can appear like fat bloom but the chocolate can feel gritty. You can still use sugar-bloomed chocolate in recipes, but it is much harder to temper for couverture use.

Some chocolate info:

• If a droplet of water splashes into your bowl do not stir it. You can try to save the bowl of chocolate by scooping out a large area around the water droplet to try and salvage what remains.
• Don't keep the chocolate on the cold-water bath for long periods of time. Put it on and take it off to bring the temperature down slowly.
  
• When stirring chocolate, avoid incorporating excess air into the mass, which makes the chocolate thick and unmanageable.
• When working with all types of chocolate, the ideal room temperature is between 68-72ºF (20-22ºC) with low humidity.
• Never heat over 49ºC (120ºF) since it may cause the cocoa butter to break down and make proper tempering extremely difficult.
• A serrated knife works well to chop chocolate blocks into small, even pieces.
• Every type and variety of chocolate tempers slightly differently. High quality chocolate will display the recommended temperature curve on its packaging.
• High quality chocolate uses quality cocoa beans and quality processing techniques. The longer chocolate is conched (stirred and agitated), the more luxurious and expensive it is.
• What does 60/40 mean? Manufacturers of high quality chocolate will display the grade on the package. 60/40 means that there is 60 percent cocoa solids and 40 percent sugar in the mixture. If the mixture contains less than 60 percent cocoa components, the couverture is considered semisweet. If it is higher, it will be classified as extra bitter (i.e., 70/30). Milk chocolate has approximately 36 percent cocoa solids.
• The total fat content affects the viscosity of the couverture. For chocolate to be classified as couverture, it must have a minimum of 31 percent cocoa butter. The higher the total fat content, the greater the viscosity. Protect the chocolate that you love by supporting the current standard. 
• Dark chocolate contains cocoa butter, cocoa mass, and sugar. Milk chocolate contains cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk solids, and sugar.
• White chocolate is really not “chocolate”. It contains cocoa butter, milk solids, emulsifiers, sugar, and vanilla. There are no cocoa solids in white chocolate.

Want more blog entries?

Here are a few relevant posts on chocolate:

• Where to Find Pastry and Chocolate-Making Supplies
• DontMessWithOurChocolate.com - Maintaining Chocolate Standards
• Chocolate Series | The Simplest Way to Finish the Simplest Truffles
• Chocolate Series | How to Make a Simple Ganache
• Cleaning Up Hardened Chocolate The Easy Way

Enjoy and feel free to comment and share your experiences, add more tips, and info to this list!

Tagged as: [ chocolate howto pastry temper tips ]

EAT! Vancouver

EAT! Vancouver was a great way to spend the afternoon today. The entry fee was very reasonable, at only $12.00 per person, if you brought with you a non-perishable item for donation to the food bank; otherwise, admission was $14.00. There were an impressive number of exhibitors who were eager to share their products, free samples, and information. If that wasn't enough to satiate the appetite, you could purchase additional tickets to sample food and drinks from participating restaurant booths and liquor vendors.

The participants from the culinary competition created and displayed some incredibly beautiful dishes, which were so detailed, colorful, and elegant. They were absolutely gorgeous to look at. I thought this particular dish was so pretty:


Over at the Chocolate Stage, I witnessed a chocolate-eating competition, where one young fellow ate 30 gourmet chocolates in 2 minutes! Why didn't I put my hand up when they asked for a volunteer contestant from the audience?


Today the Professional competitors in the Belcolade Chocolate Competition certainly showed off their stuff. These chocolate skates were a fantastic showpiece, representing the 2010 Winter Olympics.


I'm also happy to report that Pekka Tavela, a recent graduate from our Professional Pastry Class at NWCAV, and currently the Pastry Chef at A Kettle of Fish here in Vancouver, took home Bronze for his three dessert creations. The first dessert shown is a chocolate taster, which Pekka created for the restaurant. It is currently on the dessert menu at A Kettle of Fish.


Congratulations, Pekka! Job well done!

Click here to see more pictures from EAT! Vancouver. Tomorrow is the last day of the festival.

Tagged as: [ chocolate competition culinary showpiece vancouver ]

Where to Find Pastry and Chocolate-Making Supplies

Aside from actually making mouth-watering masterpieces, shopping for the required pastry and chocolate equipment is half the fun. I have compiled a list of interesting shops where you can purchase handy tools and specialty ingredients/items. Most places deliver to Canada; in fact, some are located right here in greater Vancouver. Many companies offer online shopping but that can be dangerous for two reasons (well, there are probably more reasons than that). Hours can be wasted away browsing at must-have products, and you will probably wind up spending far too much money. Proceed with caution!

Pastry and Chocolate-Making Supplies / Kitchenware

Chef Rubber Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)
Chefs Catalog Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA)
Chocolat Chocolat Inc. Montréal, Quebec (Canada)
Cutlery and More Elk Grove Village, Illinois (USA)
Design & Realisation Inc. Montréal, Quebec (Canada)
Dominique Jarry Sugar Art Steveston, British Columbia (Canada)
Golda's Kitchen Mississauga, Ontario (Canada)
Mol d'Art (Belgium)
Pastry Chef Central Boca Raton, Florida (USA)
Pastry Items Bel Air, Maryland (USA)
P.C.B. Creation Benfeld (France)

Specialty Food Supplies

Lentia Enterprises Ltd. Surrey, British Columbia (Canada)
Snow Cap Enterprises Ltd. Burnaby, British Columbia (Canada)

Packaging

Mayers Packaging Ltd. Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)

If you have a favorite place you like to shop, please let us know by leaving a comment.

Update: I found it! I knew I had another list somewhere! Here are some more shops that I learned about when I took classes at L'Academie de Cuisine in Maryland.

Albert Uster Imports Gaithersburg, Maryland (USA)
Beryl's Cake Decorating and Pastry Supplies North Springfield, Virginia (USA)
Bridge Kitchenware New York, New York (USA)
E. Dehillerin Paris (France)
JB Prince New York, New York (USA)
Tomric Systems Buffalo, New York (USA)

Tagged as: [ chocolate equipment pastry ]

DontMessWithOurChocolate.com - Maintaining Chocolate Standards

For years there has been a "gold" standard for chocolate manufacturers in the chocolate industry. This standard helps to identify high quality chocolate from poorer versions, based largely on the content of cocoa butter. Large manufacturers have made a proposal to the Food and Drug Administration to change this definition of how much pure cocoa butter (the expensive stuff) is required in their recipes to enable them to categorize it as high quality/couverture chocolate. The motivating force behind the change is money because ingredients such as vegetable oil are a lot cheaper to add than cocoa butter is. If the FDA allows this change, it will drastically affect the quality of all our chocolate.

The chocolatier, Guittard, has established a website to save chocolate. To prevent large manufacturers from changing the high quality standards, Guittard has set up a link with instructions on how to voice your comment to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Protect the chocolate that you love. The deadline for submissions has been extended to June 25, 2007.

Tagged as: [ chocolate fda standards ]

Chocolate Series | The Simplest Way to Finish the Simplest Truffles

If you choose to use your simple ganache to make truffles, this is the easiest and least technical way to finish them. Scoop out equal amounts of ganache and roll them by hand into balls. Place a small amount of sifted cocoa (or any other topping that will adhere to the ganache) into a tray and shake the tray, rolling the balls of ganache around to completely coat. As you pick each truffle up, tap it gently a couple of times to shake off the excess. Consume within one week.

A professional truffle is normally surrounded by a thin coating of chocolate before being decorated with items such as: flavored sugars and powders, chopped nuts, chocolate shavings, cacao nibs, toasted coconut, and cocoa, etc., but precrystallized chocolate (a.k.a. tempered chocolate) is needed. Precrystallizing chocolate is a whole other technical process and one that I will eventually cover. There are also many different types of recipes and methods for making ganache that result in different flavors and textures.

In the mean time, if you need a quick, easy, and satisfying chocolate fix, this method is always an option.

Tagged as: [ basics chocolate ganache recipes truffles ]

Chocolate Series | How to Make a Simple Ganache

The simplest ganache recipe is a combination of chocolate and cream. Depending on the application, and there are many, various degrees of firmness can be created by altering the ratio of cream to chocolate. To achieve a firm, classic ganache, the ratio is 1 part cream to 2 parts chocolate. For a softer ganache, equal parts cream and chocolate are combined. Make sure you use high quality chocolate and cream and the result will be superb.

Here are two ways to create ganache:

Method 1
Place the chocolate in a bowl. In a suitable pot, bring the cream just to the boiling point and pour it over the chocolate. Stir gently and well enough to ensure there are no lumps. However, don't stir too vigorously because you do not want to create any air bubbles in the mixture.
Method 2
Over very low heat, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Once melted, remove from the heat. In a suitable pot, bring the cream to the boiling point and stir in gently to form the same emulsion as described above. This method definitely ensures no lumps and less stirring.


Leave the ganache in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap by placing the plastic directly on the surface of the ganache. This will prevent a crusty skin from forming. To make truffles, allow the ganache to firm up at room temperature. By bringing the cream to a boil and due to the sugar content in chocolate, leaving the ganache at room temperature is considered food safe.

Some Chocolate Tips:

• If a large block of chocolate is used for either method, it is important to chop it up into small pieces. Chopping guarantees a lump-free ganache. The chocolate will melt evenly in the bain-marie or it will blend easily when the hot cream is poured on top of it.
  
• Cream is sterilized when it is brought to the boiling point and creates a longer shelf life for the ganache. Don't boil for long though - if the amount of cream is reduced, the formula will alter and a firmer ganache will result.
  
• Air bubbles in ganache give bacteria an opportunity to grow, which decreases the shelf life. You can use a whisk to gently blend the cream and chocolate together but be careful of incorporating air.
  
• Chocolate requires patience. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie over very low heat. Chocolate easily scorches – don't be tempted to increase the heat in order to speed things up.
• Ganache can be used for truffles, filling in pastry and cakes, or it can be eaten with a spoon when it's still warm. Yes, I'm guilty of that. 
  

Coming soon: the simplest way to finish truffles.

Tagged as: [ basics chocolate ganache recipes ]

Cleaning Up Hardened Chocolate The Easy Way

Cleaning up is the worst part about working with chocolate. Hardened bits and smears of chocolate can be everywhere, glued on to every tool, strainer, and bowl. Who would have thought a hair blower has a place in the kitchen? Instead of chipping away or making a muddy mess in water, take a hair blower and heat the chocolate enough to melt it. This will allow you to lift it easily from any surface with a bowl scraper or spatula. For tiny specks, melt them and simply wipe up. Save larger chunks from clean surfaces, bowls, and tools for use in brownies and cakes at a later date. Collect it all and let the mass harden on some parchment. Seal and store for future use. There is no need to waste any, especially when working with expensive, high quality chocolate.

Tagged as: [ basics chocolate cleaning tips ]

The Belcolade Chocolate Competition | May 25-27, 2007 - Vancouver, BC

Conducted by the BC Chefs' Association, the annual EAT! Vancouver Festival will be hosting a new and exciting event this year. Belcolade, North Leaf, and Rubens will be sponsoring the first Chocolate Competition where pastry professionals and students can enter to show off their skills and creativity. Three wonderful categories are open for entry:

• Chocolate Showpiece (Theme - Thrive for Gold, 2010 Winter Olympics)
• Plated Desserts
• Bonbon and Praline

North Leaf will provide each competitor with 1kg of dark and 1kg of light Belcolade chocolate at no extra charge. The application deadline is May 11, 2007. Good luck to all of the contestants!

Tagged as: [ belcolade bonbon canada chocolate competition dessert pastry praline showpiece vancouver ]

The Official Weigh Out

Since last August, I couldn't even begin to count the number of calories I have consumed. For the most part, I haven't been a complete hog, but I certainly didn't hold back from tasting all of the wonderful products that we made during the full-time Pastry Program at NWCAV. In addition, the course didn't end at a time where one could then watch what they ate, as Christmas was just around the corner. After the holiday season, I enrolled in the Advanced Chocolate Class. When I visited the school during the second week of January, Chef Marco couldn't believe that Marcelo and I had polished off all of the chocolates from that class in such a short period of time. I believe his exact words were, "That's impossible". Actually, all you need to do is come to our house and you will witness that it is not! After doing a short stint at a local chocolate company and throwing a few dinner parties in between, I was a little hesitant to get back on that scale this morning at the doctor's office after making such strong attempts to find one.

To my huge surprise, I have actually dropped more than 2 pounds since last August when I officially weighed in. Yes, folks, I did confirm with the doctor the scale was still accurate. I can't quite explain it. My guess is that eating things that are homemade and which are made with care does really good things for the body!

What will I be doing tonight? Why, gaining those 2 pounds back, of course! ;)  The decadent Valentine's Day cake from Ganache is sadly gone...

Tagged as: [ chocolate dessert ganache nwcav pastry weight ]

Kimberley and the Chocolate Factory

Last week I did a stage (a practicum) at a local artisan hand-made chocolate company. I can honestly say that I haven't worked that physically hard since renovating our condo from top to bottom a few years ago. Laying tile, spreading grout, sawing and installing laminate flooring and baseboards, replacing the kitchen and bathroom, and painting was just as tiring. In the industry, long hours are spent on your feet and your hands become your most cherished asset. Every knuckle feels as if it couldn't possibly bend again by the end of the day. No, these aren't my hands but they felt like it!
 
I remember making chocolates out of my home years ago but obviously that was on a completely different scale. In a production kitchen, there is always something to do even if you are a newcomer and feel clumsy and out of place. I lost count at how many tools I had dropped and people I had bumped into. My head was trying to keep track of so many details: where things are located, where to put and not put items, what is ready when 1 of 5 different timers go off, etc. I did enjoy it, even though I yearned for that cushiony office chair under my butt! What did I get myself into?

In that short week I was happily covered in chocolate, helping to mold chocolates, mix ganache recipes, create transfer sheets, pipe truffles and dip lots and lots of chocolates. One of the things I really enjoyed was lustering chocolates with different edible shiny powders, which give them a gorgeous color and sheen. Perhaps I enjoyed that task the most because my little hands got a bit of a rest.

Compared to working in the industry, culinary school felt like a vacation and there were days in school that I felt wiped out from studying! I probably sound like a big baby but I assume (and desperately hope) that one's body gets used to it, bending down, and leaning over tables to study what you are doing while keeping a steady hand.

I am most impressed with the amount of organization that has to happen to get a day of work completed. I guess it is like anything else. Everyone needs to be on the ball and it certainly helps that the head chef has a complete grip on the order of the tasks and what has the most priority. It is also intriguing to see how a small business is run and the amount of equipment and staff that is needed to make it successful. A strong team is key.

Even with all of my education thus far, I still get surprised at the amount of work and skill that is put into a product that is truly artisan – it isn't easy. If people that go into the industry are astounded, I can only assume that the general public has little awareness or appreciation for the way our food comes together. When you pay $1.75+ for one handmade truffle that looks beautiful and tastes delicious, it is well worth it.

I received an e-mail a short while ago from a student that has just started culinary school. His first few days were incredibly exciting and by the end of the week, he felt completely humbled. I told him that we have all been there. I think I can speak for most students when I say that they may go into the program thinking, how hard can it really be? But you soon come to realize that this job is not a simple one. Sure, anyone can learn how to make something really beautiful in his or her own kitchen but try to pump that same item out in probably a tenth of the time in the industry, with the same standards, and you will appreciate it even more.

Tagged as: [ career chocolate food industry practicum professional ]