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
Alcohol-flavored centers (test batch)- my standard cream-based fondant, gently remelted, with 1 Tb of alcohol per 200g fondant added, plus quite a bit of invertase.
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.
Hatozaki - Small batch Japanese Whiskey
Greed - Liquid caramel centers (test batch)
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.
Something like a Rebecca Ruth - Knob Creek, topped with a pecan.
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.