Forum Activity for @Jonathan Walpole

ABV in chocolate confections

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

Hi Sebastian,

I wasn't sure if a simple calculation of percentage by weight would work. I am making these using a "water ganache" where the only liquid is the wine with only enough butter (about 10%) to hold it together. The result isa little over25% wine by weight, so in theory that would give me about 3%ABV, well within the limits of the Liquor commision.

Thanks for your help.

ABV in chocolate confections

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

I have been asked by a local winery to develop chocolates with some of their wines. I have developed some recipes I like using a ganache of chocolate, butter and wine (unreduced), however the Liquor Commision has told me the finished product has to have an alcohol by volume of less than 6%. Is there a way to determine what ABV is without sending the chocolates off for analytical testing?

Thanks

updated by @Jonathan Walpole: 04/10/15 01:59:19

What is a "Traditional Chocolate Truffle"?

Posted in: Opinion

I have always understood a truffle to be a ganache of chocolate, fat and flavor. If it has glucose syrup or other stabilizers is it still considered a truffle?

Nibs

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I've been playing with nibs a lot lately, trying them from several different sources, and have found that each one has very distinct flavor notes: Valrhona - quite bitter, sometimes almost burnt tasting; ScharffenBerger - sweeter with hints of sour fruit; Theo - a blend with some bitter and some slightly fruity; DeVries - quite sour, though his caramelized nibs are addictive.What I have been wondering is why all of these companies do "origin" chocolates with the idea that the origin will give you an idea of the flavors to expect, but no one seems to do "origin" nibs. Nibs are offered as nibs with no indication of varietal or origin, as though nibs only come in nib flavor.I am "fondeur" (sp?) and work with about 25 different chocolates to get the flavor notes I want for different things. I love doing tastings and watching the wonder grow in people as the start to understand that chocolate isn't just "chocolate" flavored. I know nothing about the "bean to bar" side of chocolate, and am in awe of the entire process, so I was hoping someone could help me understand what seems to be a gap in the market.Thanks!
updated by @Jonathan Walpole: 04/18/15 12:56:50

Mol d'Art

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

I ordered 3kg melting pots from Mol d'Art about a year ago and they arrive damaged (they shipped from Belgium packed loosely in a cardboard box with no additional padding or protection. I called as soon as I received them and sent pictures at their request and then heard nothing. I called again after 2 weeks and received a recording saying that they were closed for vacation for a month. Finally, after almost three months and several nasty emails, I finally received functioning machines. That said, they have worked fine since I received them, though I am not inclined to do business with them in the future.I do have a Prefemac 15kg compact moulding machine which I have used for 3-4 batches a week for the past year and a half with no glitches at all.

Describing chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I agree that the spider graphs are too obtuse and inacessable, but I like your idea about drawing on the language of music.I picture a bar of music with the different notes representing the development of flavors, the higher the note, the more intense, the longer the note the longer the flavor lasts.Music is something that is easily recognizable by almost everyone (even if they can't actually read music, which I can't) but still I would be able to hear the chocolate singing.