Blogs

https://whydowelovechocolate.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/chocolade-onlinekopen-chocolate-2/

https://whydowelovechocolate.wordpress.com/2016/04/09/chocolade-onlinekopen-chocolate-4/

https://whydowelovechocolate.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/chocolade-onlinekopen-chocolate-5/

my new website URL is www.ctm-chocolate-tasting-meditation.com

I have been experimenting with marshmallows and naturally-flavoured ones lately (for dipping in chocolate, of course), and have discovered that my recipe for raspberry marshmallows pairs quite nicely with Madagascar-origin chocolate. The recipe can be found on my blog here , but is also pasted below:

Pink Raspberry Marshmallows - natural and 'homemade'

You need:

1/3 cup organic corn syrup (I used organic, vanilla-flavoured by Wholesome Sweeteners)

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used raw, organic cane sugar by Camino)

1/2 cup (split into 1/4 cup measurements) juice from thawed frozen raspberries, sifted to remove seeds

1/8 tsp salt

21 gram of unflavoured gelatin powder (3 7 gram packets)

1/4 cup organic icing sugar (I used Wholesome Sweeteners - it's the only organic icing sugar I could find)

1 tsp cornstarch

Instructions:

1. Prepare a 8-inch square brownie pan by greasing it with coconut oil or cooking spray. Then line it with plastic wrap, ensuring it comes up all sides about an inch. Grease the plastic wrap as well. Set aside.

2. Stir together 1/4 cup of raspberry juice, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and place on the stovetop. Heat on medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring the ingredients together.

3. While waiting for the syrup to boil, warm the other 1/4 cup of raspberry juice in the microwave for 20 seconds. Then place in the bottom of a stand mixer bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over top and give it a stir. Let rest for 2 minutes to soften.

4. Set your mixer on high, with the whisk attached, and pour in your hot syrup, letting it stream down the sides steadily. Use a spatula to scrape in the rest.  Beat on high for 4 minutes, until it is thick and light pink and peaks form.

5. Immediately pour into your pan and quickly spread around to even out the top.

6. Let set on the counter for about two hours.

7. Place the cornstarch and icing sugar in a bowl. Grease a long straight-edged knife. Remove the marshmallow from the pan and slice into 1-inch cubes. Roll in icing sugar mixture, coating all sides.

8. Dip in, or drizzle on, tempered Madagascar origin dark chocolate.

9. Seal in bags or airtight containers. These seem to keep for well over a month when sealed airtight (if you only use plastic wrap, they will harden from air exposure).

In April 2015, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Dr. Brian Irish, curator of the cacao collection for the USDA Tropical Agricultural Research Station (TARS) in Puerto Rico.  The TARS station is located in a beautiful old colonial mansion in the city of Mayaguez.  At the station they have a collection of over 230 varieties of cacao and collected a great deal of data about these varieties which is organized into an excellent database.  The online database is full of useful information about each variety, things like whether they are self compatible or not, susceptibiity to diseases etc.  While Dr. Irish is longer at the TARS station, this is an excellent place to visit for research purposes.  You can read more about the cacao germoplasm collection at TARS here:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=4371

Cheers

One of my readers asked last week for a recipe for chocolate ganache made from 100% dark chocolate; he had received several bars from a friend. So I worked out a recipe for him and put it on the blog ( http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2016/01/recipe-for-ganache-made-from-100-dark.html ).  It is quite smooth and delicious. There is an option to make it with agave or coconut sugar, instead of cane sugar, and suggestions for coating it. It is also pasted below:

Dark Chocolate Ganache made from 100% Dark Chocolate
With options for No Cane Sugar  Truffles

Makes: 20 truffles or ganache topping for one 8 " cake

Time: takes about 15 minutes to chop chocolate and make truffles, 4 to 8 hours resting/setting time before rolling, dusting or dipping your truffles in chocolate.

You need:

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) 100% dark chocolate
• 50 grams (1/4 cup) sugar, or agave or coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup whipping cream (any heavy cream will do)
• Optional ingredients (see below), but not necessary.
• 200 grams semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, if dipping in chocolate. Or 1/4 cup cocoa powder for dusting

Instructions:

1. Chop the chocolate into 1/2 inch cubes and place in a medium bowl (use microwavable safe just in case you need help getting the chocolate to melt).

2. Pour your cream into a small saucepan and place on an element on the stovetop. Heat on medium high. Add the sugar and stir, heating and stirring until it dissolves.  If using, add the vanilla, mint or coffee extract. 

3. Do not let the cream boil, just bring it to nearly a simmer then immediately pour half of the cream over the chocolate.  Stir until you get a smooth and dark chocolaty-looking mixture, but with large lumps of chocolate in it.

4. Then reheat your remaining cream and pour into the mixture. Stir until smooth.  If lumps still remain, microwave for five seconds ( not more! ) and stir again until the mixture is smooth.

For cakes:
Immediately pour over the cake and spread to the edges.  You can even let it drip over slightly, if you are not decorating the sides with icing.

For truffles:
Line a small box, container or half of a loaf pan with plastic wrap, letting it come up all the sides.  Pour your ganache into it and let sit 6 to 8 hours (or overnight) if dipping them in chocolate (you don't want to put ganache for dipping in the fridge at all or it will cause cracking in your chocolate shell).  If you simply want to roll them in cocoa powder, you can let your ganache set in the fridge for 4 hours.

Once set, remove the top plastic wrap from the ganache. Then flip the rectangle of ganache out onto a cutting board. Cut into 20 pieces. You can leave these in rectangular or square shapes, or you can roll them between the palms of your gloved hands to make truffle balls (without gloves you will melt the truffle, plus there's that sanitary thing).

Dip in 200 grams (6 oz) of melted, tempered , semi-sweet chocolate, or roll in cocoa powder.

Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days, or freeze for up to 6 months in a deep-freeze (only 2 months in the freezer attached to your fridge).

Flavour Options:

Butter Truffles:
Stir in 2 tbsp. of softened salted butter (warmed but not melted) to the ganache just when it becomes smooth.

Vanilla Truffles:
You can add a 1/2 tsp of real vanilla to the cream, but I did not like it when I did. If you are used to eating chocolate with a lot of vanilla flavour (i.e. Lindt, Godiva, Giradelli, etc.) then you might prefer a little vanilla. For a high vanilla flavour, add both extract and the scrapings from one vanilla bean.

Peppermint Truffles:
Add 1/2 tsp peppermint extract or just 2-3 drops of peppermint oil to the cream.

Coffee Ganache or Espresso Truffles:
Steep the cream with 1/4 cup lightly ground coffee or espresso beans for 15 minutes.  Simply heat the cream in your saucepan, then remove from the heat, add the ground beans to the cream, and place a lid on the pot. Let steep. Then reheat and run the cream through a sifter as you pour the cream over the chopped chocolate to remove bean pieces.  You can use a 1/2 tsp of instant coffee in the cream instead, but there will be that funny 'instant' taste from the coffee.

Last year I wrote: ‘Every year it’s getting better and better’. This year I should say: ‘It becomes more and more…but unfortunately not necessarily better’. Especially starting chocolate makers do not allow themselves enough time to practice and do sell their creations too quickly. Several times I paid about 8-10 Euros or Dollars (sometimes even more) for stuff that turned out to be not good (to say it nicely). In my opinion you should not sell poor “artisan” chocolate and certainly not at those prices. It is also wrong to force upon innocent people that this is good chocolate. So be careful what you are doing. Next year when I taste something inappropriate, I will ask my money back. So watch out!

I should stop complaining now. Life is too short to focus on the bad stuff, let’s go to the amazing, wonderful, delicious and gorgeous chocolates.

The best new bean-to-bar brands I have tasted this year:

1. Sirene (Madagascar 73%, Ecuador 73% and 100%)
2. Franceschi (Canoabo, Choroni and Ocumare)
3. Manufaktura Czekolady (Porcelana, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and an excellent Ghana!)

Other bars I liked very much (in a random order):

• Soma: Porcelana 75% and CBS Chama 70%
• Dick Taylor: Bolivia Alto Beni 70%
• Chocolate Tree: Peru Marañón 69%
• Luisa Abram: Wild Cocoa Brazilian Amazon 70%
• Lonohana: The Néné 71%
• Bar au Chocolat: Montserrat Hills Trinidad 80%
• Parliament: Guatemalan Q'Eqchi 70% and Dominican Republic Öko Caribe 70%
• Dandelion: San Francisco de Macoris DR 70%
• Catronovo Chocolate: Colombia Sierra Nevada 72%
• Fresco: Madagascar 89% and Five 70%
• A. Morin: Cuba, Panama and Toumi
• Cacao Hunters: Arhuaco 72%
• Rogue: Jamaica 75% and Porcelana 80%
• Georgia Ramon: Ghana 70% and 90%
• Oialla: Bolivia Beniano 78% and 100%
• Chocablog (now Damson): Madagascar Menakao 70% and Akesson 70%
• Middlebury: Dominican Republic Eden O 70%
• The new recipes of Hoja Verde

Have I forgotten to mention something?

Oh yes, a lot of good chocolate made of Belizean cocoa: TAZA, Choco del Sol, Belyzium, Videri, Charm School, Georgia Ramon…

Who creates more new bars in a year other than Tibor Szántó? His Santo Domingo Heima, Sao Tomé, Cuba 88%, Chuno, Nicaliso, Tumbes, Arriba Amazonas, are all great. And his chocolate covered Hispaniola beans are marvellous.

What a fantastic year! Thank you so much for pleasing my taste buds J

You make my life delicious! Happy new chocolate year!

PS 1: Looking forward to meet you at Chocoa, February 4-7th in Amsterdam.

PS 2: Original Beans just launched their web shop:

Original Beans will definitely introduce new products in 2016. Hopefully these will make your life delicious too J

Hello All. I am looking for 3D chocolate printers. What I found on the web have either no cooling system, so they can print only a few layers (not really 3D), or they use non-food certified technologies, so you print a nice gadget, but cannot sell them as food. Or they print chocopudding or consistencies like that, not real chocolate.

I wonder if anyone could suggest a machine supplier, selling certified 3D chocolate printer for confectioneries. I am living in Europe, but any supplier would fit.Thanks.

Hi all,

I have been panning for a while but have opened a shop in Sydney (Australia - not BC) and would like to dabble in making other products including using molds, making bark etc. Maybe even enrobing. I'd like to have a feature in my shop where Customers can come and watch and maybe even do some stuff with their own inclusions.

I have been looking at various options but it is all rather costly given that this is an idea only at this point. I looked at Chocovision but my respected consultant dismisses this as "toys". 

My question is, are these really serious units and is their tempering ability really good - in that it's simple and works 100% of the time?  I really have an open mind but not an open wallet to the degree some systems demand.

Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated please.

Thanks so much for your help!

Colin