Thought of the Day

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”—Arthur Schopenhauer Chocolate Morsel of the DayThe Chocolate Melanger can refine more than just your chocolate. You can make praline paste (which I have heard could not be done at home – guess what) , nut butters and even creamed honey. In addition, it can refine other flavors in your chocoalte – coffee beans, dried peppers, cinnamon. If you can eat it and it is dry, you can refine...

“Be who you are and say what you feel because the people who mind don’t matter and the people who matter don’t mind.” —theodor seuss geiselChocolate Morsel of the DayGive some thought to your final molds. Their shape, size, thickness…I am offering a new Leaf mold. I adore the thinness of it. It puts just the right amount of chocolate in your mouth, and bites off with just the right amount of pressure. Some molds I rejected to carry were beautiful, but the resulting chocolate was too thick to bite...

“60% of the time, it works every time” – unknownChocolate Morsel of the DayWhen molding your chocolate, work quickly and efficiently (although, don’t rush). Try not to disturb the chocolate too much or it may streak or bloom.

“Not all things worth counting are countable and not all things that count are worth counting.” – Albert Einstein. Chocolate Morsel of the DayOn that note: Should you use 22.5% cocoa butter or 23.0% cocoa butter to your milk chooclate? Should you roast 20 minutes at 285 F or 25 minutes at 265 F?Did you lose 22% or 23% husk and if it was 23% how much did the chocolate cost? Answer: Don’t get caught up in the numbers. Sure, they are important, but the end result of the chocolate...

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”—Sir Richard Steele Chocolate Morsel of the DayAdding vanilla can be a simple or complex as you desire it. If you chocolate recipe contains extra cocoa butter, try splitting a vanilla bean and “extracting” it in the melted cocoa butter for an hour or so. Then scrape the seeds into the butter, toss the bean and add the extract to your refining chocolate. The seeds will refine and you will have a nice addition of vanilla. The proportion is up...

“Humor is also a way of saying something serious.”—T. S. Eliot Chocolate Morsel of the DayAlthough it is a bit counter intuitive, if you add a little (5-10%) cocoa butter to your chocolate recipe, the chocolate may actually taste richer and more intense. It is because the cocoa butter melts easier and carries the flavors to your mouth quicker.

“In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.” Chocolate Morsel of the DayAt some point I mentioned that milk chocolate required conching of 160 F. I should (and will) clarify that to say that many in the chocolate industry take their milk chocolate to that temperature. I have done a couple elevated temperature tests and where as the chocolate was different, it was by no means better (or worse). Again, you are the chocolate maker. Make the chocolate as you see fit.

“Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.”—AristotleChocolate Morsel of the DayIf you are “just” cooking or baking with your chocolate, there is no need to refine. 12 oz of cocoa liquer and 4 oz of sugar added to your wet ingredients will give you the same as 1 lb of 75% (bittersweet) chocolate.

“Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.”—Sarah BernhardtChocolate Morsel of the DayIf your chocolate is a bit bitter by the end of refining, it may be a sign you over roasted it slightly. Astrigency sometimes indicates under roasting. Both of these assume a cocoa bean with a good track history of good chocolate. There is little chance of making quality chocolate from defective beans.

“Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.”—Albert EinsteinChocolate Morsel of the DayYou can use either the Crankandstein cocoa mill or the Champion juicer (without the screen) to crack cocoa beans into nibs. The trade off is effeciency vs waste. The Mill is slower but you have less waste.

Happy New Year

“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”—Marie CurieChocolate Morsel of the DayThe Santha chocolate Melanger can be used for more than just making Chocolate. You can use it to make nut butters which in itself can be used to make something else I have heard you “can’t make at home” – Praline paste. And praline filled chocolate is to die for.

“Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.” – Vincent Van GoghChocolate Morsel of the DayA little longer today, and probably the last until the holidays are over. There are general types of cocoa beans. Criollo, Forastero, and the hybrid of the two, Trinatario. Many people consider Criollo to be the “holy grail” of cocoa due to it’s delicate flavor and rarity, but a name does not make a chocolate...

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