Chocolates & pralines level 3

Sun 18/8/13

Today was the final day of the Chocolates & pralines level 3 class, so I have show & tell. The decoration of the chocolates & pralines revolved around a jungle theme, using techniques such as silk screen printing, piping of patterns within the moulds & spray painting the moulds. The effect is amazing. Not sure if it would be suitable for retail, as was rather time consuming, but as with most things, it's just practice.
So, below you can see the tiger & zebra patterns, which were achieved with the piping & spraying techniques. The bamboo & giraffe decorations were screen printed with cocoa mass, to give the brown colour, then highlighted with green, in the case of the bamboo, & white for the giraffe. The screen printed patterns were then topped with a thin layer of chocolate, & when touch dry, cut into tiles to decorate laminated (layered) chocolates after dipping.

Photo: the display of chocolates & pralines from the level 3 class

 

 

 

 

Photos: the selection of chocolates & pralines produced in class

Front row L-R:

Sesame curry praline

Tiger praline (a biscuit & caramel layer with a butterscotch ganache)

Zulu ( a raspberry/cherry jam with a chocolate ganache)

Nubai ganache (a coconut ganache with a dark chocolate ganache)

Africa (marzipan layered with a coffee ganache)

 

Back row L-R:

Savannah ganache ( a thin praline base with piped honey ganache)

Ivory Coast ( a lemon & lime jelly with a lemon caramel ganache)

Star ruby ( a thin chocolate base topped with ganache & a liqueur candy)

Zebra ( raspberry confit with a balsamic ganache)

Rasta ( a lemon & kalamansi ganache)

 

The processes involved in the production of the liqueur candies was fascinating. A liqueur candy consists of a crusty sugar shell surrounding a liquid alcohol centre. In the Star Ruby chocolate, it was a tiny sphere, but it can also be a filling for a moulded chocolate, much like the Anton Berg alcohol chocolates in the bottle shape. The crusted version involves depositing the sugar & alcohol solution into pockets made in firmly packed starch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, a huge happy birthday to Cooper. Thinking of you buddy & hope you had a wonderful day. Love Aunty Nat xxx

N.B. Glenn tells me that if you click on the first photo in a post, you will get it enlarged & as a slide show.