Chocolates I've made

Leveled Up (2022)

New things!

  • Callebaut Gold! It's their own take on carmelized white chocolate, but unlike my homemade version, it actually tempers well and has a great snap.

  • New sticker / logo for the box

  • Whenever I say "fondant" people think that pasty stuff you roll over cakes on cake shows. I'm going back to the more classic name of "cremes"

  • Finally made the chocolate coins I promised Ray in return for the loan of his Pathfinder coin. These came out fine, but the other coins likely need a new mold that's a little deeper to get some heft to them. And now I have a use for that extra little bit at the bottom of the tempering bowl.


Flavors (new in bold)

  • Cherry - liquid center stem-in chocolate cherry cordial, paired with Callebaut 70-30.

  • Raspberry Jellies - add extra gelatin for texture, up the citric acid, coated in Callebaut 57% dark.

  • Envy - tangerine creme, upping the citric acid, coated in Ghirardelli Milk.

  • Turkish Coffee - Coffee creme center, plus cardamom.

  • Wrath 3.0 - creme with dry spices; 1 part ginger, 2 parts each of ancho and cayenne, 4 parts cinnamon, coated in the Callebaut Gold (carmelized white chocolate)

  • Toffee - A basic toffee, coated in the dark Callebaut

  • Vanilla Malt+ - vanilla cremes plus 3x the malt powder from last year.


Not pictured


Thinking smarter (2021)

New things!

  • Learned I can stir fondant with the kitchen aid

  • Finally broke down and got a chocolate tempering machine

  • Found that the "milk chocolate" setting runs a little hot, but overall works

  • Ordered boxes in bulk to last a few years

  • Used molds for all the fondant centers except the cherries, much cleaner look

Flavors (new in bold)

  • Cherry - liquid center stem-in chocolate cherry cordial, paired with Callebaut 70-30.

  • Raspberry Jellies - add extra gelatin for texture, up the citric acid, coated in Callebaut 57% dark.

  • Envy - orange & tangerine fondant, upping the citric acid, coated in Callebaut 57% dark or Ghirardelli Milk.

  • Wrath (original) - cream fondant with dry spices; 1 part ginger, 2 parts each of ancho and cayenne, 4 parts cinnamon.

  • Vanilla Malt - vanilla cream fondant, LOTS of malt powder.

  • Strawberry & Black Pepper - the Summer Strawberry extract, plus a generous amount of fine-ground black pepper, coated in Callebaut 70-30, but marked with a leaf in Ruby.

  • Alcohol-flavored centers - my standard cream-based fondant, gently remelted, with 1 Tb of alcohol per 200g fondant added.

  • Greed - Liquid caramel centers (test batch)

Hiatus (2020) - Production temporarily halted for safety and health reasons.

new chocolate II - Fruit edition (2019)

New things!

  • Callebaut RB1 (Ruby Chocolate; fruity, sour, and really tasty!)

  • Callebaut 811

  • Learned how to temper chocolate with the microwave and seeding; big time-saver!

  • Learned how to re-melt fondant, mould it, then dip regular shapes

Flavors

  • Cherry - liquid center stem-in chocolate cherry cordial, paired with Callebaut 70-30.

  • Raspberry Jellies - add extra gelatin for texture, up the citric acid, coated in Callebaut 57% dark.

  • Envy - orange fondant, upping the citric acid, coated in Callebaut 57% dark

  • Coffee centers (Coffee is a fruit, right?), paired with Callebaut 70% dark

  • Wrath II - pineapple cream fondant with dry spices; 1 part ginger, 2 parts each of ancho and cayenne, 4 parts cinnamon. Coated in Ruby chocolate.

  • Alcohol-flavored centers (not yet pictured) - my standard cream-based fondant, gently remelted, with 1 Tb of alcohol per 200g fondant added.

New chocolate (2018)

The usual 10kg bag of 70-30 Callebaut, but also a 5lb bag of the Callebaut 2815 (better at coating, made for much more refined chocolate-covered cherries, and some good molding)

  • Chocolate-covered stem-in cherry cordials, maraschino. The new 2815 was a dream here, as i also thinned out the fondant, and they cured in a few days rather than weeks. (and lost a bunch due to the filling leaking out)

  • Envy - orange fondant, lighter on the citric acid. More of a creamsicle flavor.

  • Wrath - cream fondant with dry spices; 1 part ginger, 2 parts each of ancho and cayenne, 4 parts cinnamon.

  • Vanilla & Brown-butter Fondant

  • Peppermint, Black Peppercorn, Sichuan Peppercorn

  • Molded in various shapes (chests, abstract, turtles)

    • Filled with marshmallow fluff

    • Filled with caramelized white chocolate. Kinda hard, probably should make a ganache next time.

Tech upgrade (2017)

Applied sous-vide for tempering chocolate and holding it at temperature. Win. 68% Guittard.

  • Candied grapefruit peel

  • Chocolate-covered stem-in cherry cordials, maraschino & amarena

  • Coffee centers

  • Tangerine centers

  • Wrath ( a little heavier on the spice this year)

The Year of Non-Chocolates (2016)

  • Honey hard candy

  • Coffee fudge

  • Candied grapefruit peel

  • Caramelized white chocolate

  • Fudge

  • Autumn caramels with pine sea-salt

7 Deadly Sins (2009)

  • Envy - tangerine fondant.

  • Lust - liquid center stem-in chocolate cherry cordial

  • Wrath - cream fondant with dry spices; 1 part ginger, 2 parts each of ancho and cayenne, 4 parts cinnamon.

  • Sloth - chewy caramel

  • Pride - marshmallow topped with someone else's jam, pyramid mould.

  • Greed - liquid rum caramel shaped, treasure chest mould.

  • Gluttony - 14 different flavorings (all i had, minus the peppermint), 3 times the size of the others, and covered in sprinkles.