Choconat has a Probiotic chocolate. It's GMO free. No one, I think, has mentioned that area of health in chocolate. I think it's 70% cacao.
Dave Lambert
David's Delicious chocolates
Hi Larry, thanks so much for the response and PDF, it is very helpful. Cheers Belinda
Belinda,
It sounds like the chocolate is cooling too slowly - the chocolate is losing temper as it starts to crystalize and gives off heat. Try adding some air movement.
When we bought our little dipper (used) I contacted Hilliard's for a manual and they sent me a PDF manual. It has been invaluable because it has a troubleshooting table. Check out page 9 of the PDF that should be uploaded.
Hi there, I have been working with chocolate for quite some time now and am just starting to encounter a problem lately. I am making large sheets of chocolate and topping with nuts/freeze dried ingredients etc, or mixing some of the ingredients into the chocolate then spreading. My chocolate is coming out looking fine and is testing properly on parchment paper, but after about 2 hours it starts to go whitish grey, with swirls and marks on the surface. It definitely seems to happen more with more inclusions. Can anyone let me know what I am doing wrong and if there is a way to prevent it.
Thank you Belinda
Thanks Gap, i will get the book.
That's a pretty involved question and depends on a lot of variables. This book gives the best explanations I know of about extending shelf life for artisanal chocolates
http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Chocolates-Great-Experience-Extending/dp...
hi, my name is Akua and i make handmade chocolates in Ghana. I would be grateful if anyone could help me with a question. I want to extend the shelf life of my handmade chocolates so i am looking for the right preservative. I usually use ganache, caramel and nougat as my filling. I have have heard of sorbitol and potassium sorbate. Please which one is the best? Is the any other preservative apart from the above? Any what quantity do i have to use?
Thank you.
Dr Kate Loveman of the University's School of English has published a new paper, The Introduction of Chocolate into England: Retailers, Researchers, and Consumers, 16401730, in the Journal of Social History exploring the early history of chocolate in England.
She has found the first English recipes for iced chocolate treats, collected by the Earl of Sandwich in 1668 some hundred years before his great, great grandson allegedly invented the sandwich.
The Earl's own recipe reads: "Prepare the chocolatti [to make a drink] and Then Putt the vessell that hath the Chocolatti in it, into a Jaraffa [i.e. a carafe] of snow stirred together with some salt, & shaike the snow together sometyme & it will putt the Chocolatti into tender Curdled Ice & soe eate it with spoons."
Dr Loveman said: "It's not chocolate ice-cream, but more like a very solid and very dark version of the iced chocolate drinks you get in coffee shops today. Freezing food required cutting-edge technology in seventeenth-century England, so these ices were seen as great luxuries."
The entire article can be found here . [ Opens a new window. At phys.org ]
The article concludes:
Dr Loveman's research provides an illustration of the social and commercial mechanisms by which an exotic import won English consumers and began the journey to becoming an established part of our culture.
It also reveals some of the continuities in chocolate advertising across the centuries, as well as sharp differences. Dr Loveman added: "Today's chocolate promoters, like some in the seventeenth century, often find cause to highlight women, pleasure, and sexuality.
"In the seventeenth century, however, the fact that frequent chocolate consumption might make you 'Fat and Corpulent' was an attraction, something advertisers now prefer to keep quiet about."
I have been asked to make the dreaded "Oscar" mold. I know all about the copyright and the Wolfgang Puck thing, but does anyone out there know of a similar statue mold that I can legally make?
But it's ok for someone to call me unprofessional when I provided some valid and candid insight as to whya forum member wasn'tgetting results they wanted?
I didn't belittle anybody. I didn't yell at anybody. In fact as I recall, you even AGREED with what I wrote.
I don't give a flying pinch of pigeon poop WHO'S place of business it is, or who's house I'm in, or who's neighbor they are. If I'm publicly attacked, or publiclycalled names, such as unprofessional, a public reprisal will be forthcoming in vehment fashion.
For Diane to call me unprofessional for what I wrote was rude. Period.
You yelling at me as you just did for defending myself was rude. Period.
Now it's time for YOU tostop yelling at people who don't agree with you.
Brad
Brad -
Actually, Diane is a neighbor of mine. I have known her for over 15 years. And yes, she is a professional according to the dictionary definition you cite. In fact, one of the things I have been doing over the past few months is helping her to open her first retail location here in Westchester. But Diane has been an active professional for as long as I can remember.
Here's the point. It always comes back to this. We've had this conversation in private more times than I care to remember. So here it is in public:
You can be spot on, as you say (though I don't agree that you were spot on). It's not about polished verbiage. It's about coming across as a bully. The attitude that you project is that you simply don't care what people think. You come across as thinking that your opinion is the only opinion that matters and that anyone who begs to differ even one iota is not just plain wrong but incredibly stupid not to see the brilliance of your wisdom. Any insinuation that you might not be right (or professional, in this case) sends you into a tirade where you attack attack attack.
If you want to have that attitude in your place of business, then that's your prerogative. This is my place of business and I am asking, once again, for you to contain yourself.
This whole thing about bringing up the dictionary definition of the word professional is, to put it bluntly, not professional. One can be a professional (according to the dictionary definition you quote) without acting professionally. Your reply to Diane is not professional in the lattersense.
You may be technically correct. You often are. Sometimes you aren't. But that's not the point.
It's not about polishing your verbiage: STOP SHOUTING AT, AND BELITTLING, PEOPLE WHO DON'T AGREE WITH YOU.
Diane;
For small businesses, Confidentiality / Non Disclosure agreements (NDA's)are generally only for those who are naieve enough to think that they actually hold merit.
I worked in the IT industry for many years (actually took an ecommerce dot com company public on NASD in 2001), so I know more than I ever want to know about NDA's. Even IF your lawyer is good enough to write one that sticks, can you, or anyone else afford the $250,000 + in legal fees it's going to take to defend one?
Maybe I don't polish my verbiage like some on this forum (such as Clay's eloquent response below which paraphrases and builds upon what I wrote above), but I'm still accurate, and my post above is still spot on.
Again, I say and Clay reiterates, prepare to travel if you want to intern.
Oh... and Diane, assuming you are suggesting that I don't have professional experience, seeing as I have numerous chocolate stores,MAKE MY OWN CHOCOLATE from scratch and have been doing it commercially now for several years, and will be opening at least two more retail stores next year for a total 5 in as many years, maybe you can enlighten me as to your definition of "professional experience"? After all, the definition of "professional" as outlined in dictionary dot com ( http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/professional?s=t ) means deriving one's income from the activity. Are YOU a professional? How professional are you compared to me? Given the anonymity of the internet, maybe I should be suggesting that you aren't professional and therefore not qualified by your own standards to offer an opinion......
Attacking people in forums isn't nice, and certainly if you attack me be certain to get a well architected response.
Sincerely,
Unprofessional Brad.
Lynn:
The answer to finding an internship is ... you need to do your homework.
You need to decide how far you can travel and how long you can be away, if at all.
The Internet is a good place to start locating places within range. As are directories of chocolate shops and the directories of professional associations such as RCI.
Once you have the list of potential places you should do some homework on each prospect. What kinds of work do they do? What kinds of things can you learn? What sort of value can you bring?
From this work you will create a short list of companies you want to approach. You need to contact them, introduce yourself, and find out if they are even remotely interested in the idea of having interns. They may not be and you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that no one on your short list is interested in having an intern - unpaid or no.
Some of the reasons they will say no are ones that Brad brings up, but it can go either way. Right now companies are just entering the busy season. They may say they don't want to take people on because it is too much work and trouble to try to train someone at this time if year. However, others might say that having an extra hand around the kitchen at the busiest time of year is a good thing.
Keep in mind that it may have nothing to do with you personally. However, there are some things you can do:
1) If you do your homework on the company you can include in your pitch that you have some specific experience similar to work they make. Showing that you took the time to learn something about them cannot hurt.
2) Make the contact in person and bring samples of your work. They can see the level of fit and finish you are capable of.
3) Don't oversell yourself. The quickest way to be asked to leave is to say you know how to do something and you can't. They will find out immediately when you get into production.
4) Be eager, but not overeager. You have to fit into an existing production team.
5) Make yourself more hirable by getting a food safety certification that your local health department recognizes and probably requires. NYC's food handler's course is online, as is ServSafe.
Now I do have to say that the more you are willing/capable of traveling, the better your options and chances are. I have been lucky to take part in several World Pastry Forums and I can personally attest that many of the top practitioners in the world are completely open to interns and that the practice of interning is alive and well. Many top practitioners consider that part of their legacy is the people they've trained and they're not worried so much about people "stealing" or copying their techniques or recipes because they're interested in what to do next, not what they did last year.
But - some people are just not interested in bringing untrained or semi-trained people into their kitchens. It does introduce management challenges and there may be other issues to consider - such as insurance.
And some may worry that you'll take what you learned and copy them and compete with them, but that's the least common reason for not wanting interns that I have personally encountered. The most common reasons, in my experience, are ones related to management. Some people just don't like to manage people.
Whatever the response, you actually only want to work with people who want you in their kitchen in the first place.
Lynn;
Here are some infinite words of wisdom (my Mother's): "Beggars can't be choosers."
It's unlikely that you will find a place for two very good reasons:
1. What even modestly intelligent chocolatier within proximity of your home is going to train you so you can compete with them??? Think about it for a second, and you'll understand why chocolatiers from far away are offering, but nobody close is.
2. Assuming you are offering to work for free and sponge information from your "Mentor" in exchange for the extra hands, you fail to realize that your presence in their business is costing them money while they explain things to you, and show you how they want things done. You don't actually start making your employer money until after you've been there for at least 3 months - whether your work for free or not.
If you truly want to learn the craft, prepare to travel.
Good Luck.
Brad
Hi Diane,
Thank you so much for the advice and guidance! As much as I would love to meet you regarding an internship, I am unable to accept; Westchester is just too far from my home. But thanks again for the generous offer; I appreciated it greatly!
Hi, thanks for the offer. Could you possibly send me some contact information so that we can discuss further?
Thank you for the offer. Unfortunately you're approximately five hours away from me; I can't travel that far.
You can intern with us in a month or so.
emvichocolate.com
Hi,
I am a recent graduate of Ecole Chocolats Professional Chocolatier Program, and I am wanting to intern with a chocolatier. I currently live on Long Island, NY, but am unsure about how to find an internship here. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Lynn
If you visit the link I gave, you'll see all of their flavors, over 45 flavors in all!
It was interesting using 16 of their flavors in different batches of truffles. My blend of strawberry and guava was a big hit, while I didn't add enough elderberry to my mix of Jasmine and Elderberry the first time and so will try again. It was also amazing that some people loved flavors (e.g. Mango) that I thought were a bit mild.
I like this entire article and appreciate your work done on this subject. These are really incredible flavors for chocolate but some people like different flavor in chocolate. Like to know more flavor for " churreria chocolateria ".
[ From the moderator: Jose - Keep your comments on topic - your comment is actually SPAM because it is not on topic and it's promoting a business. Please refrain from doing this in the future - and BTW, there is a "do not follow" on links embedded in comments so this does not help your SEO. -- Clay ]
Hank -
Thanks for this recommendation. Good to know.
Years ago, I ordered some "natural organic" flavors from Natures Flavors (or one of their doorway websites) and was very disappointed because I found out that the flavors were not true extracts, e.g. blueberry from blueberries, but instead constructed by mixing esters extracted from a variety of plant sources and then formulated to mimic the flavor of actual fruits. The fact that my order arrived weeks late didn't help either.
Recently, another chocolatier alerted me to a source of actual cold-extracted organic (and incredibly concentrated) fruit, herb, and nut extracts that are simply excellent. The website is called Medicine Flower, and the link to the flavorings is: http://www.medicineflower.com/flavorextracts.html
They also offer wholesale pricing for manufacturers.
I've made truffles with 16 of their flavorings so far, and am stunned by the superb quality and authenticity of their concentrated flavors. My favorites are (in descending order, but all wonderful): blueberry, banana, elderberry, jasmine, guava, strawberry, raspberry, fig, plum, and black currant.
These are a priceless resource for the chocolate chef.
My highest recommendations!
Hi Delcour!
This recipe worked for me a few months ago. It's kinda Nutella-ish:
home-made chocolate hazelnut spread
Hope you like it.
Hello everyone,
I am trying to make chocolate at home, and I would like to try make chocolate spread with my grinder. Is anyone tried or have a recipe?
Thank you in advance,
Thomas
Thanks Adam,
I have seen the mould in chocolat-chocolat but have not come across Tomric as yet - so thank you, I will drop them a mail to see if they have what I am looking for.
Karen
Hi Clay,
Sorry, yes I am looking for professional grade polycarbonate. I would need about 25 moulds to start with.
Karen -
It would also be helpful to know how many molds you are looking for - and I assume you are looking for professional-grade polycarbonate?
This has a textured pattern but it's very close to your size requirements: http://tomric.com/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=square&page=2&product_id=3557
Breakable square bar but again close in size: http://www.chocolat-chocolat.com/home/chocolate-molds/chocolate-molds-bars/p16876410.html
Hi,
Does anyone know where I can source plain, square chocolate bar moulds? Ideally about 85g & sized 85*85 without patterns or inserts, to create 'slab' bars of chocolate.
I have contacted suppliers all across Europe & have had no luck to date, I can get 100g bars but not 85g.
If anyone knows of a supplier, I would be over the moon!
Thanks
Karen
Bean and Goose Chocolate
It can help firm up/set a ganache but will still give a good mouthfeel for the ganache because cocoa butter melts near body temperature
Hi,
I wanted to know what does cocoa butter bring when you add it in a ganache?
Hi Connor, best of luck in your new endeavor 
. any ideas where you would you be buying your cacao beans from ?
Connor -
ChocolateWeek in London is coming up and is the perfect time to connect with the London chocolate community. Chocolate Unwrapped is now the London Salon du Chocolat - but check in with the organizers ( Nudge PR ) about volunteering and the like - a great way to make introductions and get caught up on the scene.
Hi Connor, it's doubtful I'll be getting to London anytime soon but would love to talk cacao sometime! I am just starting up as a chocolatier too - only seen your post this morning.
All best and good luck,
Jo 
