Here are a few things that don’t go together: impossibly delicate chocolate molds, outdoor photography and July. Fortunately I made a lot of cups and garnishes. Edible “balloon” cups are nothing new, but still a great way to wow guests at a dinner party. You can make them ahead and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to fill and present them.
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This mousse is a little rough looking, but what it lacks in appearance it more than makes up for in taste and texture. It’s like peanut butter, but in satin pillow form. Start by placing your soft butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle.
READ ONNope, sorry reader Jean. It’s glossier than chocolate that’s simply been melted and allowed to firm, but really shiny chocolate is a consequence of two things: good tempering and contact with a smooth surface. If you think about a chocolate bar, the shiny side is the top, the part that’s been in contact with the mold. The bottom is dull side, the part that was exposed to air as the bar cooled.
READ ONInteresting question, reader Leeza. It depends on the manufacturer. A bar of Hershey’s milk chocolate (which I’ll confess is still my favorite milk chocolate to simply eat) is about 11% cocoa solids (their dark chocolate is 15% if you were wondering). More expensive milk chocolates can contain up to 38% cocoa solids.
READ ONMy numbers on this are three years old, reader Maria, but in 2008 you could buy unrefined chocolate liquor — on an industrial scale — for about $1.60 per pound. Separating the cocoa solids from the cocoa butter is a necessary first step in manufacturing chocolate. But separated out, the cocoa would sell for $0.60 […]
READ ONThat question from reader Dennis. The answer is yes, it is. Steel tempering involves manipulating temperature to produce crystal structures that are stronger and more stable that they’d otherwise be. It’s a more complex process, but the principle is the same.
READ ONI received lots of protests overnight from people saying, in effect: whaddya mean chocolate without milk in it is harsh? I eat dark chocolate all the time and I think it’s perfectly smooth and delicious!
I get that, for sure. But consider that back in Daniel Peter’s day chocolate was pretty rough stuff. To make a bar you pretty much just took some fermented and roasted cocoa nibs, ground them, pressed out the cocoa butter, ground them some more, added sugar, put back the cocoa butter and let the mixture set up in a mold. Bing, bang, boom, you’ve got your basic “eating” chocolate.
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…were well founded. My supplier sent it via ground by mistake. Which means it crossed the country by truck during one of the hottest weeks of the year. It shows.
READ ONReader Jacki wants to know:
If solid chocolate can be made with cocoa butter rather than milk solids, why would anyone use the milk? What is the advantage of adding dairy when the chocolate and the cocoa butter come from the same source?
Another question that I’d love to answer. Thanks Jacki! First I should point out that cocoa butter and milk solids are almost always employed together in a chocolate blend. One isn’t a substitute for the other, they’re complimentary ingredients.
READ ON…what makes one chocolate more expensive than another, the proportion of of cocoa butter is a big reason. Cocoa butter has more commercial applications than cocoa solids have, which means different industries compete for the same commodity. Cosmetics and pharmaceutical companies buy cocoa butter by the boat load, driving the price up for food makers. […]
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