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Now Try This #3Bee SqueezinsThis will be a dark chocolate spirits filled ganache using in a light milk chocolate shell. My light milk is about 40%-45% cocoa, dark milk is around 55% in my workshop.A friend of mine who owns a caf/nightclub locally is also known for the mead that he makes . This is wine from honey. It sounds as if this wine might be sweet but to make it he uses a strong champagne type yeast and then ferments the wine until dry; no residual sugar. Big Al tries to get near 14% alcohol in his mead which is about all the yeast can tolerate before going to drunken yeast heaven.Once finished fermenting, Big Al racks the mead off the yeast sediment and lets it settle for several months to clarify. After this he freezes it ! Yeah, the mead is reasonably good tasting out of the glass jug after clearing but Al likes a stronger hooch so he freezes a bowl of mead and pours off the concentrated liquor which remains after freezing. This he calls Bee Squeezins.OK, so were going to take this and make chocolates out of it, naturally. Mr. WineCandy will try anything.Before deciding what type of chocolate to use for the ganache and shell we have to think about the flavors in the liquor (infusion). I suppose this is true for any filled chocolate confection. Youve got to think about flavor pairing so as to avoid clashes and disagreements on the palate.Example 1:For some liquor infused ganaches Ive tried to emphasize the caramel flavor notes by using evaporated milk instead of heavy whipping cream as the ganache base. The theory being, evaporated milk has a more caramel type flavor and boosts the oaky/caramel flavors of, for example, Jim Beam whiskey. They blend and compliment and reinforce each other. Once deciding to focus on the rich caramel notes of the filling, then you can think about the shell flavors desired and I have often chosen a dark spicy chocolate like a 66% Madagascar dark for the shell around a whiskey ganache. Now, being a bean head and roasting my own in the workshop; Im all about single bean chocolates. Since, in the example above I chose Madagascar dark for the shell, Ive got to go with Madagascar of some type for the ganache. This is where the experimenting starts. Ill try a whiskey in dark, dark milk (like 55- 60% cocoa) and light milk (like 45%) to make the ganache. All with evaporated milk to enhance the oakyness of the whiskey. Whichever of these ganaches seems to work best with the Madagascar dark gets the prize. Usually I go with contrasting flavor pairing : ganache to shell. That would suggest the light milk chocolate for the whiskey ganache. But you could argue against this in favor of complimentary notes just as well I suppose; ie dark shell and dark ganache.Back to the Bee Squeezins.Big Al doesnt ferment or age his mead on oak chips. I guess he could but Ive never heard of that being done with mead. So therell be no oaky flavor in the spirits infusion. For that reason Im going to use heavy whipping cream to make the ganache, not evaporated milk. The cream ganache is lighter, it doesnt contribute much flavor to the filling. Most of what well get in flavor will be Bee Squeezins and chocolate. The mead doesnt have a strong flavor and so the Squeezins dont either except for the heat of the alcohol. I would compare this spirits flavor to something like Vodka or Tequila as opposed to Scotch or rum. For this reason, Im going to try to compliment the spirits flavor with a milder chocolate, Mexican Tabasco, rather than the spicy Madagascar. Having made the decision that mead liquor will go best with Mexican Tabasco Im going to need to stay with the same for the shell.Just for the purposes of experimentation, Ill use a Mexican Tabasco light milk chocolate(40%)for the shell , a cream ganache using heavy cream and the dark Mexican (66%). Im going to try to use as much liquor as possible in the ganache without breaking it. You could use any combination of milk chocolate and/or dark in the shell and ganache but I came to the above combination due to the light flavors of the Bee Squeezins.Heres the recipe for Big Als Bee Squeezins in Chocolate(this is for quite a small experimental batch, youll have to scale it up for larger batches) :Warm 1.5 oz (45ml) heavy whipping cream in a sauce pan to boiling and add 2 Tbs (30ml) Bee Squeezins. Pour this warmed liquid over 2 oz. (57gm) chopped Mexican Tabasco Dark (66%) chocolate and stir until well melted and blended. Let this ganache cool in the refrigerator until well set; it can then be scooped into the milk chocolate shells and covered with a layer of chocolate for the shell bottom. Another method, after youre sure you have a ganache formula that will set solid, is to pipe it warm into the chocolate shell and seal.For a mild flavored spirits like this, its important to get the most liquor possible into the ganache so you can actually taste it in the chocolate. But you dont want to add too much spirits to the ganache blend.My way of infusing the ganache with spirits in the correct proportion is to make a ganache without spirits first, just cream and chocolate ; measure and record the proportions of each. Then subtract a quantity of cream in the formula and replace it with an equal volume of liquor to make a test spirits batch. Now make more test batches adding slightly more liquor each time until the ganache breaks (some of the liquor remains liquid after the ganache has set; or the ganache just wont set at all). The highest un-broken ratio is the one to use. This will give the most spirits flavor in the finished filled chocolate piece.Al tried these chocolate pieces and thought they were just the bees knees.PS I gave a bowl of the Mexican Tabasco light milk chocolate ganache with mead in it to Big Al for his Valentines Day dinner crowd. This was honey mead wine to replace some quantity of cream in the ganache (not Bee Squeezins) . His customers loved it ! They were dipping strawberries in it and pouring it over cake and raving about it. Problem was, I didnt make enough of it. Al needs to buy more honey and yeast.That's all this time from Mr. WineCandy

I'd heard about Food Emporium's vast Chocolate Shop and yet couldn't bring myself to believe it would be anything extraordinary. Since I'm the first to admit when I'm wrong, I must admit: I was wrong. Very, very wrong. This place is chocolate heaven. Of course the two bars I was looking for weren't there (Vosges Enchanted Mushroom and Zotter Horse's Milk and Berries - don't ask). But seemingly everything else is. Fauchon, Michel Cluizel, Dolfin, Vere, Galler, Chuao, Chocolove, Scharffen Berger, Cote d'Or, El Rey, Valrhona, Michael Recchiuti, Dagoba, Amedei chocolate heaven, for sure.(Hi, Adrienne!)1175 Third Avenue between 68th and 69th

Rachel and Gil are ready! The city was kind enough to finally hand over those permits so us chocoholics can get our fix at the lovely new Bespoke Chocolates . All I have to say is: get ready, people.These truffles are some of the best I have ever eaten (though Mr. B's birthday bonbons were pretty crazy, and I still put Kee's on a pedestal, and then there was Paris ). But. But, but, but. The strawberry balsamic truffle is made with strawberry puree, eight-year-old La Vecchia Dispensa Italian balsamic vinegar and 66% dark chocolate. Then it's dusted with freeze-dried strawberry powder. Heaven. A simple 70% Columbian dark chocolate truffle (pictured here) is impossibly creamy a real melt-in-your-mouth gem.And Rachel's signature pretzel-covered sea salted caramel is crazy, with crackly, salty pretzel bits coating the chocolate shell and caramel center. Insler suggests popping the whole thing in your mouth since its really liquidy caramel inside. As amazing as these truffles are, I can't wait until they unveil their homemade hazelnut spread (better than Nutella ?!) and chocolate bars.6 Extra Place off First Street, between Bowery and 2nd Ave212.260.7103

Don't know about anyone else but I am in post-Valentines recovery!! What a maddening holiday. I watched thousands of chocolates disappear in what seemed like a 3 day feeding frenzy.The reward is that I get to spend a few days At the Craters Edge in my tree fern forest/B&B in Volcano, Hawaii soaking in the hot tub and watching the first fiddleheads start to wake up from "winter" . Different groups of orchids are blooming now, I don't know the names of all of them but at least 6 varieties are in bloom, and the giant calla lilies are also emerging. Spring is a little earlier than usual at this 3800 ft volcano top.( Kilauea) Since we don't have groundhogs, not sure how that works.... Sitting in the hot tub in the forest gives me a chance to re-group and assess all that went right ( Lemoncello in Waialua Estate 70%!!) and all that went wrong ( Ran out of 2pc and heart boxes). Now my thoughts are turning towards Easter and the 2009 Kona Chocolate Festival. www.konachocolatefestival.comHope everyone else is enjoying a little post Valentines Recovery! Aloha!

Hi! My name is Michelle and I'm an American student living in Guatemala City while I teach at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and write my dissertation. Although my studies have nothing to do with chocolate, I'm very interested in collecting artifacts or replicas that deal with chocolate, chocolate making and enjoying. I've read quite a bit on the subject and have entertained the idea of writing a book on tasting chocolate; how to tell the good from the garbage. I can't write that book yet however because I'm still in the research phase. I've been in Guatemala for a month now and have yet to find any good chocolate, or factories, but I admit that I haven't looked that thoroughly. I will try to keep up my blog with my findings. All in the name of research!

I am probably going to get in trouble again for this but i could not resist...For those planning to enter the Academy of chocolate awards 2010, here's our guide to winning:1. Enter all your products, every single one of them, in all possible categories.2. Enter any product that has previously won award every year. Why quit when you are winning?3. Make special batch with the most expensive couverture and the shortest shelf life; you don't actually need to sell these exact products. No one will know.4. Use chocolate from a manufacturer sponsoring the organisers. Amedei would be a good choice5. Become a member of the Academy and make sure your PR helps organise the awards6. If this fails, a special award, mysteriously not based on any scores, can always be created for you7. If all fails, form your own chocolate critic group with your friends and suppliers and create your own awards to give to each other!This is of course a joke, isn't it?

85Photo.com was recently hired by Valrhona Inc. to photograph their Product Launch Party New York City.

I got a lovely e-mail earlier today from someone who expressed interest in TheChocolateLife a couple of months ago:> I am sorry that it took so long to respond!>> I love your website! I looked into becoming a member but I am not a> chocolatier. Do you need to be to become a member?Here's how I [edited slightly] responded back:[T]:You don't need to be a chocolate maker, chocolatier, chocolate writer or critic, sell chocolate, or anything like that to become a member of TheChocolateLife. You just:a) have to like chocolateb) want to learn more about chocolatec) want to share what you know about chocolated) did I mention that you have to like chocolate?If you can answer "Yes!" to any one of those questions please join us on TheChocolateLife.'Nuff said.:: ClayPS. I want to thank the author of the e-mail for the enthusiastic (unsolicited) testimonial.

The swirling snow through Chicagos bare trees seemed a long way from the humid breezes and thick leaf canopies of chocolates growing regions. Yet when I arrived at the new Barry-Callebauts Chocolate Academy in Chicago, I found the fragrant bags of chocolate from Costa Rica and Tanzania and Mexico ready for action. I had heard that this facility was the best of all chocolate work labs in the country, and maybe even the world. Could it be true? This was no ordinary candy kitchen - the kind with a greasy copper kettle and a few cracked marble slabs around. And it was not quaint in the way you imagine a storied kitchen of a European boutique. No, this was a long, well-lit room with a state-of-the-art granite workspace the size of a basketball court (OK, I exaggerate, but you chocolate people have spent plenty of time in the corner of a too-hot kitchen with nothing more than a bowl and a broken tempering machine. Youd love this! It was huge!). We had induction burners, ganache frames, guitars, temperature and humidity control, sunshades, convection ovens, Robot-Coupes, heat guns, pallette knives and a wall of chocolate from which to choose our flavors. We worked with automatic enrobers, continuous enrobers, chocolate warmers, molds, racks and pans all specified to the precise needs of chocolate practioners. If you could take your eyes off all this gleaming equipment, you could ponder the views of Chicagos snowy rooftops and river traffic below. My chef/instructor, Derek Pho, is also the technical director for Barry-Callebaut, and he chose most of the equipment in the place. Ask him anything about the Chicago facility, water activity in ganache, sugar density, the Canadian facility, beta crystalsyou name it, this guy knows it. Plus he can explain it to you in any of the 6 languages he speaks. My chocolate biz & tech skills got a work out, my pastry chef skills got a work out, my student skills got a big work out becuase we were given lectures, hand-outs and detailed chemistry information along with our confectionary recipes. But now I have a problem. My tabletop tempering machines look like old vacuum cleaners to me now. Im just not living right. I need one of those $25,000 enrobers and a basketball court full of granite in my workspace. My aspirations may have a big price tag, but the inspiration from the Chocolate Academy was priceless. http://www.barry-callebaut.com/chocolate_academy or 866-443-0437

Now Try This:A molded chocolate with wine jelly center covered by milk chocolate ganache in a milk chocolate shell.Id like to try to post something here once a week during the North American winter months but Im going to be on a driving vacation to Florida next week so thought Id get this posted on the blog before I leave this Saturday. (Ill be staying near Ft. Myers so hope to stop by Norman Loves store there.)Ive been getting some good feedback from friends on this molded chocolate piece because it is so rich but its kind of surprising too, it has an unexpected solid jelly mouth feel after you bite into it. Ive not seen or heard of a combination of spirits based jelly covered by wine ganache in a chocolate shell. Again, like the previous post: this may be strong to the taste of some people so they ought to be forewarned that its grown-up candy before they bite into it.The technique used here is basically the same as my previous post, except I used Madagascar Sambriano origin milk chocolate instead of New Guinea. It probably would have been better to use a milder bean for the milk chocolate because the wine involved has a hard time standing up to the strong red fruit(raspberry) flavor notes of the Madagascar. But that is what I had on hand at the time. And because of its strength, I chose a red wine rather than a white. Any quality milk chocolate could be used here and you could use a white wine if your chocolate is milder.This milk chocolate was about a 45 % cocoa with 10 % milk. That is what I call a dark milk chocolate.The wine jelly was a Merlot , nothing special. I used one half cup brought to a boil with one Tbsp pectin (Sure*Jell) but not gelatin (Knox) and one Tbsp cane sugar. Follow the directions on the Sure*Jell insert, exactly. Then chill and let it set overnight. That is 120ml wine, 15ml pectin and 15ml sugar. This should give you a wine jelly that is nice and firm. But it is difficult to prevent a part of it from being watery. What you dont want is a jelly that is so solid that you can cut it with a knife, then it just would not have much Merlot taste.This wine jelly is put in the shell (I prefer a thin shell as mentioned in the earlier post) and then is covered with a layer of the milk chocolate ganache made with the same technique and using Merlot wine and chocolate as described also in the earlier post. I think the thinner the ganache you can get the better. That means that Im going for the most jelly possible in the center. This ought to give you the maximum wine flavor possible. The ganache just doesnt carry very much wine flavor; the jelly much more. Then top it all off with a thin layer of milk chocolate shell.The ganache is going to make a nice seal over the jelly between it and the liquid chocolate shell when poured or piped. This will prevent any liquid jelly from floating through the chocolate and leaking. I know I said make the jelly near solid but even then there may be a slight liquid to it.What you get is a rich chocolate piece which has a creamy feel when you bite into it and then a nice fruity/jelly taste following. Try it. Youll like it!A friend of mine: April, and her husband Shane, over at Chocolat Branson:http://www.handcraftedchocolat.com/came up with a new one called Bee Sting using honey and cayenne . Really nice !So another friend, Al who owns a restaurant called Big Als Place and who makes mead (wine from honey) came up with a way to freeze his mead and drain off the high alcohol liquid which he calls Bee Squeezeins .My next Now Try This will be Bee Squeezeins in chocolate. Should be fun !! But this is no Kiddie Candy !!All the Best Tasting to You.Mr WineCandyBy the way: Have you seen these photos of the work done by James Gallo on this site? What a Master; check it out !!http://www.thechocolatelife.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=3a256r2yh0gj1