Forum Activity for @Daniela Vasquez

Truffle ganache recipe- can someone tell me if this is right?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Haha I'm not sure actually, they never last that long, but I've opened them within 2 weeks and they're still perfect. I've read that using glucose, boiling the cream and using tempered chocolate makes your chocolates last very long (about a month). But it also depends on your recipe.

You can also freeze your ganaches, and finished truffles as well so you can work the heavy seasons in advance

Truffle ganache recipe- can someone tell me if this is right?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Thanks Daniela, how long do your truffles last? Do you add the extra preservatives to your recipe? Thanks x

Truffle ganache recipe- can someone tell me if this is right?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

You can extend shelf life by adding glucose, corn syrup, invert sugar or alcohol to the recipe. also be careful about not leaving any air bubbles inside the truffle, or it'll be a certain spot for mold. I boil my cream and let it rest until it reaches 30C, then I mix it with the tempered chocolate.

Truffle ganache recipe- can someone tell me if this is right?

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, Techniques

Hi,I fairly new at making chocolate truffles but they are getting very popular. Basically at the minute the shelf life of my truffles are 5-7 days as I use fresh cream (which has not been boiled first)Someone has told me that if I follow the below recipe then I can extend the truffles to have a shelf life of 3 months at room temperature, is this right?Recipe400g chocolate150ml fresh creamMelt chocolate. Boil the cream then cool to 115 degrees. Add cream to chocolate to create an emulsion. When set, roll into balls and dip into chocolate/coverings.From what i understand by boiling the cream i would be sterilising it.Any help & advice is very much appreciated!Thanks x
updated by @Sarah Mander: 04/11/25 09:27:36

Unwanted fragrances in potential new shop

Posted in: Opinion

Good Call. The place should be odor free BEFORE you lease it and spend all the money on reno's. The fact that he doesn't value your time or money tells me the landlord'sdefinitely not a professional when it comes to commercial real estate. Don't waste your time with him.

There is something to be said for commercial leasing companies, that's for sure.

Cheers and Best Wishes.

Unwanted fragrances in potential new shop

Posted in: Opinion

I brought this up with the landlord. He agreed to include a termination clause in the lease if the problem was not fixed to my satisfaction. When he sent me a copy of the lease agreementhowever, there was a time limit of 9 days on that. Yikes! I told him I could not agree to that. Not only do I think that is not nearly enough time todetermine if I can remedy the situation,I also would not begin investing a bunch of money updating the place until I knewthat I could. So I guess I'll keep on looking for now.

Unwanted fragrances in potential new shop

Posted in: Opinion

Have your landlord take care of the issues as part of the lease negotiation, and ensure that the issues are dealt with "subject to your approval". Chocolate is very hygroscopic, meaning it readily absorbs odor and moisture from its environment. Once the odor is absorbed, there's no going back.

Unwanted fragrances in potential new shop

Posted in: Opinion

Yup.

New ceiling tiles won't break the bank, nor are they particularily hard or time consuming to install, but the price can add up.

Shellac has a very nice property in that it blocks odours, it's also organic. Again, applying this to the walls won't break the bank, but the cost will add up, and then you'll need a few more coats of paint on the walls.

Same goes for the floors, Sand them down and reseal with varnish (or linoleum in the kitchen) will block the odours.

On one hand you have to deal with "perfumy" odours. I dealt with 30 yr old "ethnic restaurant " odours..........

Unwanted fragrances in potential new shop

Posted in: Opinion

Hi Giovanna,

I had a drain-cleaning company move in next door to my industrial unit. Nice guys and I'd recommend them as drain cleaners but not as neighbours. They moved out after a month when I complained about the smell but I was still throwing chocolate away 6 months after that despite throwing all the doors open, having fans blowing and giving the place several thorough cleans. I'm not sure what the risk is exactly but unless you can get rid of the smell by cleaning the place and thoroughly ventilating I'd be wary.

Duffy

Unwanted fragrances in potential new shop

Posted in: Opinion

After finding what I had hoped would be a good location for my new shop, I haveserious reservations. The space was previously a hair salon formany years (they recently moved tothe larger space next door). My concern is the smell. There is a distinctsoapy/perfumy fragrance of hair care products that has not dissipated over the last month or two that it has been vacant. The cabinet mounted on the wall where the hair wash station wasseems to be the main culprit, however,I am concerned that even when the cabinet is removed, the smellhas alsopermeatedthe wood flooring, drywall, and hung ceiling tiles. The last thing I want to do is commit to a lease, only to find out that the ambiant odors render my product unsellable (I don't thinkextra-body shampoo infused ganache would be a big hit). Has anyonedealt with this kind ofstinky situationin their work space?

updated by @Giovanna: 04/10/15 09:54:21

New to chocolates, ganache advice

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I've heard wonderful things about this book http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Chocolates-Great-Experience-Extending/dp/9020990209/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352238527&sr=8-1&keywords=fine+chocolates+3

I'm still not able to get it, but want to

New to chocolates, ganache advice

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I would also be interested in finding an answer to this question. Sorry to jump on this post but I currently make truffles to sell but they only have a shelf life of 7 days because of the cream content but I am having many customers ask for a longer shelf life & I am yet to find an answer. Would be extremely interested if anyone has any help?

New to chocolates, ganache advice

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Thanks Melanie. I do realize that it will take some time and experimentation to get it right for me. I am hoping to just start making small batches of truffles in different ways (butter ganache, cream heated up to different temps etc) and see what happens. I do want to make sure that I know what I am doing before I sell the truffles and I have considered the courses at Ecole Chocolat. What I am hoping for is some guidance on what to look for when trying -- what happens when a truffle goes bad? Does the cream curdle? Does the liquid breakdown the chocolate?

New to chocolates, ganache advice

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Time and experience are the best teachers and they cannot be had overnight.

There is no "Magic pill" to create 1 month shelf life. How you choose & formulate your recipes, have the skill and equipment investment to make them, control your working environment and store your product, will ultimately bear on the shelf life.

Most of us test our recipes which can take weeks. Ecole Chocolat offers a great course on this subject if you need more theory.

New to chocolates, ganache advice

Posted in: Tasting Notes

Hi,

I have stumbled into a chocolate business and now I am madly researching trying to learn as much as I can. I need a lot of advice lol but I will to only ask one at a time :)

My first question is about ganache. I want to make truffles that will last a minimum of one month at room temperature. My understanding is that a standard cream ganache will only last 3 weeks which is not quite long enough for me. I have heard (and read on here) a few different ways to extend this so I want to experiment. So dumb question... but how do I know if it worked (short of eating the chocolates and seeing if I get sick?) Will it separate or something once it is bad?

I will be selling the chocolates and I want to be sure that I am giving people something that is safe for them.

Thanks :)
Heather

updated by @Heather Panchyshyn: 04/14/15 12:47:56

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Well said, Keith.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Kind of recalls that adage, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should..."

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

yikes....

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Okay my friends, here is a look at the $260 To'ak bar. So glad I didn't buy one. Just look at it. It's NOT raw chocolate. No shine. It looks old, crumbly and wasn't tempered correctly.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Ha! I love it. True though. If they had a track record and worked on an exceptional blend for a few years and did something like this, maybe.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Well, you could have a career as a copywriter. I agree with you. This is probably a case of the emperor having ordinary clothes. Singing poetry to the cacao trees probably won't change the taste of the resulting chocolate from them.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

yep. I mean we know clay cant say it, and others may be too nice. This, of course, is not my MO. These guys have zero track record for making quality chocolate. ...or ANY chocolate for that matter. I suppose I am just jealous on some level because I am honest to the point of recklessness and feel that what they are doing is dishonest. Its NOKA all over again. I might as well do my own....

"Announcing the world's most expensive chocolate bar! These one of a kind cacao beans were spoon fed to sloths in the costa rican rainforest and extracted from their feces in a loving and kindly manner after fermenting in their slow moving guts for 3 whole days. Each individual bean was hand roasted, one at a time, in a used smack heads spoon from the lower east side with a bic lighter. They are then cracked with a ball peen hammer and then winnowed with the breath of nubile virgins. The sugar was processed in a toaster oven heavily modified by our crack equipment crew having been salvaged from a burned out tenement in the Bronx. After 462 hours of grinding in a mortar and pestle by coca fueled aliens in a Tuscon shitbox the finished chocolate is aged in an old gold mine in a pool of fulminated mercury for 6 months. Each individual 100 gram bar is wrapped in the dried skin of an alapaca that died of natural causes no later than 1749 and was skinned by a shaman under the influence of ayahuasca and mummified at high elevation in the Bolivian Andes. Each one of these shaman blessed bars is certified gluten free, certified organic, certified vegan, certified GMO free and only $1000.00 per bar."

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

That's how I feel. Marketing ploy. The problem is all of the the people that know really good chocolate and the entire process won't pay that much for BS. I has also said their website needs some work in ease of navigation and consistency. I'm glad someone agrees with me. I also want to know how these 100 year old rare trees came into existence all of a sudden with 14 farmers. So odd. Being in both chocolate and marketing, I say bullshit as well. I don't think anyone in the chocolate world has called them on it yet. They're getting press for the price.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

annmarie? There is no way on the face of this earth that the toak chocolate is what they say it is. Their website is inconsistent(we have 14 farmers--but only a few 100 year old trees?))...to the packaging and hype around it. So this ex wall street guy goes on a surfing safari, falls in love with chocolate and voila...he makes the worlds most expensive chocolate bar? I will call bullshit on it everyday from now to eternity. What they claim is just not possible. nor do these guys have any experience making chocolate. It takes years of practice and experimentation to get a quality product, even from really good beans. This bar is marketed to the 1% and they will buy it...but you can well bet it is not any better than Pacari or even a Guittard Ecuador for that matter....

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

So interested in this. I just can't fathom spending that much on a bar. Mind you I've been doing this for awhile and I have about 200 bars on my shelves right now. Just seems like a marketing ploy to me.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Couldn't agree more. What Woodblock is doing is a different animal than what they're doing at To'ak Chocolate. Clay, curious to how you feel about this. I can't wrap my mind around spending that much on a chocolate bar. It doesn't get better with age. You'd have to enjoy it within a year. The Maranon Fortunato No 4 isn't more than $10 anywhere I've seen. Do you think this is all hype? I can't help but think so. I mean, come on, a $260 chocolate bar.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Scott -

I saw this last night and posted it to Twitter (@DiscoverChoc) and Facebook (as you mention) and got several responses there.

I have to agree with the point that this appears to be more of a fundraising program than a serious attempt at creating the "$100 bar of chocolate." But it's also important to recognize that Woodblock is being straight up and open about what they are doing. They're not promoting the project as something that it's not. What is on offer is the opportunity to support the important work the ICG is doing (now without direct government support) plus a rather unusual bar of chocolate made from beans from the trees that grow in the germplasm bank. While there's no way to know how good the chocolate will be, the bar (and the label) should have some value as a collector's item. Hopefully Charley will recognize that and batch/number the bars. If the project is successful I can see Woodblock doing this on an annual basis as it's (the ICG) is a project worth supporting. That said, it might make more sense as a tax-deductible contribution to the ICG where the perk is a bar. Of the $100 donation $X would be attributed to the bar and not be tax deductible. This might get more people to support the ICG.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

I ran into someone at a great shop in SF called "Chocolate Covered" that'sabout the best overall variety of high-end chocolate bars anywhere. She said she'd been to a tasting of Toak the night before and liked it, "but I've also had ones that I liked better." We both agreed that we were "not there yet" with respect to valuing that particular bar at the current asking price.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Via Clay on Twitter, here's a $100 bar from Woodblock Chocolate . Since "all proceeds will contribute to the [International Cacao Genebank's] 'living library' of cacao," this is really more of a hundred dollar donation than a hundred dollar chocolate bar.

Scott

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

I used to have an online shop, so I have inventory left.

Good for them if they can achieve a sold out "vintage". I need more info. I can't even bring myself to find 3 others to share that. I have learned expensive doesn't mean good.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

100 bars? I feel better now. Most I've had is about 20-25, max, and I get heat about that. Part of me would like to compare the To'ak bar to one of my favorite single origin varietals or something similar and see how each one shapes up. A cynical part of me is thinking these makers are sizing up the cash they'll pull in from 574 bars priced at $260 each --a cool $149,240. Not a bad haul for about 63 pounds of finished productso for me, I have to balance wanting totaste this chocolateagainst feeling like I'm being ripped off. For now, I say the maker is getting the better end of the deal, IMHO, but to each his/her own.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

I hear you! I live and breathe chocolate, however, $260 for a 50 g bar seems ridiculous to me. I have a few Nacionl bars right beside me that I spent about $12 each for - same beans - different country which of course will make them different in taste. I need to know why it's worth that. They aren't doing a good job on doing that. Plus, as I said in my comment, chocolate gets worse with age, not better. You can't "collect" it for the long run. I do, however, have about 100 bars around to enjoy.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Good for them. There mightcome a day when I buy one but today isn't it. There is a certain niche population that will love being part ofan elite group of purchasers (or maybe they're just curious). I'm sure the chocolate is terrific (or word will spread really quickly to the contrary!) and they would have no regrets about the purchase. As for me, I was never one to line up days early to buy the latest iPhone either. Great marketing however and sure to sell out.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

It's already happened. To'ak Chocolate has a $260 bar.

https://toakchocolate.com/

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

A 50g bar for $260 (=$520/100g) has arrived. To'ak Chocolate . Their wording on the website makes it sound like this is their first batch to be sold. At this writing 56 of the 574 bars in this harvest have been sold.

updated by @ChocoFiles: 09/07/15 15:46:50

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

I have a 0-10 Rating/Grading system. See the ChocoFiles website for details. I would be glad for my rating system to be the new standard.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

We have a 10 pound bar that is over $100 so price shouldn't be the goal. Supply and demand determines price but marketing affects demand. The industry needs to be able to use a grading system like Robert Parker has done for wine.

Diamonds, gold all have ratings. The average consumer needs a guide to help rate the many nuances of cocoa, it is the only way to compete with the chocolate giants that influence demand. Perhaps using a flavor wheel to identify the strengths of each chocolate would help educate consumers.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

This is really a fascinating conversation, and the idea of a $100 chocolate bar intrigues me. It seems like a bucket-list item - something an average consumer mighthope to one day afford for the thrill of it. Or another kind of status symbol for the diamond-studded Rolex wearer.

Speaking as someone largely oblivious to the deep inner workings of the chocolate industry (I don't make it or sell it, I just appreciate theheck out of it), I'm desperate for more information on what distinguishes one chocolate bar from another. This is what motivated me to start researching chocolate production in the first place - clear and compelling information about origins is just not that available to the average consumer.

I'mhoping to change that very soon.

So maybe a $100 chocolate bar would raise the awareness of the public on their chocolate options. It certainly gets your attention ;o)

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Brad:

This is not a competition. I don't feel the need to prove anything to you. I offer up my observations and advice freely - both actually and figuratively.

You may be right, I am not your customer. And I never will be as you long as you think we're in competition in any way - and continue to frame things in competitive terms.

But what I do think is relevant to your business, albeit in a way that probably has very little actual effect on your sales as your market is pretty much self-limited to Calgary, Alberta and my "market" is a community spanning more than 160 countries. What I do is improve people's awareness and appreciation of fine chocolate, and I do it on a global scale. And I give you the opportunity - at no charge to you (does that make me a bad business person?) - to share your views with my global audience. I invite you in to participate in my business.

You may scoff at that statement, but I have extended global awareness of your brand, your company, and you.

I am sure you have more customers than TheChocolateLife counts members, but we use very different systems to calculate their value to us. We have very different ends, and are pursuing very different means to achieve them.

But what we are not is competitors.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Brad, that is the point that what you are producing and selling to your customers is right for you and them.

But if the general quality is ever going to be uplifted, then it needs something else. Whether we need"professional tasters", can be argued, but so long as the marketing of chocolate iscompletelyin the hands of the mass producers, then things are not going to get muchbetter.

My point is that unless someone such as yourself is prepared to take on that effort, there will be no change, and you are proving me right by saying what you say... a sort of "I am all right Jack".

I am not criticising that I am just stating that that sort of response is what Clay is going to be fighting against, and so his argument becomes circular with no way to break it.

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

Yes Clay, I was just joking about the $100 bar.

However when it comes to the quality of my product for the market I'm selling to, that sir is something I don't joke about. Again, whether you like it or not is irrelevant. You aren't my customer, and the recipes aren't designed for you or other self appointed "professional tasters". They are designed for the general public, who, after buying $2 Million worth of my chocolate in the past couple of yearshas a very different palate(and evidently a very different opinion than yours and Marc's)

I'll tell you what though Clay. When you match what my customers buy I promise to care what youthink. How does that sound?

Cheers

Brad

What the Chocolate Industry Needs is A $100 Bar of Chocolate

Posted in: Opinion

You're probably right. One thing that would tip the scales (and this is unlikely to happen, but...) is if a particular varietal chocolate was found to have unique benefits. It would have to be something special, such as lowering cholesterol better than a medication, boosting libido, curing XYZ condition, etc. and would have to be unique to that particular chocolate. Taste alone, at least at this point, may not be enough of an impetus.