Want Your Own??
If you are a serious candy maker, or just want to dabble, I can now offer the Pro Revolation I Tempering Unit for sale here at The Chocolate Memoir! I also have a few molds available; these make some of the shapes you see here in my photos. The tempering units are $335 plus $10 for Fedex shipping. Each unit comes with a one year warranty, and will head your way within a day or two of your order. If you have any questions about the molds, tempering units, or would like to place an order, please email me at: chocolatememoir@yahoo.com with "Chocolate Memoir" in the subject line. I look forward to introducing you to the most fun kitchen item you've seen in years!
Video Showing How to Use the Pro Revolation 1 Unit
I was going to go to the trouble of making a video to show how I use the Pro Revolation 1 Tempering Unit to temper my chocolate. BUT, I'm not one for making work where none is needed, and I have decided just to post a link to a video that has already been made! So, for your viewing pleasure, take a trip over to this page!
Now that you've seen in it action, I'll add a few tips of my own, for those of you who own, or are thinking about purchasing this unit.
Now that you've seen in it action, I'll add a few tips of my own, for those of you who own, or are thinking about purchasing this unit.
- There are two vents. One blows hot hair (this is what heats the bowl to melt the chocolate) and the other blows cool air. I call the former, "the politician", and the latter, "heaven for menopausal women". NEVER aim The Politician at chocolates that are not meant to be melted. The unit is light and easy to move around, so just position The Politician away from anything that might melt or wilt as a result of the heat.
- The unit will temper small amount of chocolate (as little as 4oz according to the manufacturer). BUT, if you add enough cocoa butter to make your chocolate less viscous (ie, more runny where it will settle in the bottom of the bowl) smaller amounts will not reach the little knob that gauges the temperature of your chocolate by piling up against it. Thus, as the family discussing work options for Frump Girl in the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, that "no work". If the unit cannot read the temperature of your chocolate, you have ultimately rendered it useless, for anything other than a cool cooking gadget that can wow your snobbiest of friends. Heck, they won't know if the think is spinning for the fun of it, or actually tempering your chocolate. That is, until you have noticed it is three hours later, and the machine still has not beeped to alert you to add seed chocolate.
- The spatulas do not fit the buffer perfectly. I don't know why this is, but it really does not matter. The little spatulas serve their purpose just fine as is.
- Do not let your chocolate harden in the bowl unless you want to have to re-melt it double-boiler style over a pot of water. The unit will not run unless the buffer is in place and it can read a temperature. If your chocolate hardens sans buffer, you'll not be able to re-insert it. If it hardens with the buffer in place, the bowl will be unable to spin. So, I always have a piece of parchment paper handy to scoop all of my unused chocolate onto when I'm done. It hardens nicely, and is ready for the next run in the machine.
- Although I NEVER put my chocolate molds in my dishwasher, I toss everything but the base of the tempering unit into the top rack of my dishwasher so it is squeaky clean for next time. I do "prime" my bowl and spatula before I run new chocolate through by rubbing a piece of chocolate over each to leave a film of cocoa butter, however.
Because the unit's fan makes a fair amount of noise, I don't use it for entertaining if we have chocolate fondue. I use my All Clad pot (a great Christmas gift from my husband several years ago!) for that, because it is beautiful and silent. For dipping parties, or "make your own confection" get-togethers, the Pro Revolation 1 is what the pastry chef ordered, so to speak.
Gourmet Gifting
In between decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, writing Christmas cards, and shopping, I somehow found the time to break out the milk, dark, and white chocolate to make some very yummy and beautiful gifts for friends and family. I felt like the old piano student lady who gave home made meatballs for payment to her teacher in the movie, "The Wedding Singer" as my recipients opened their little brown boxes of heavenly chocolate. I delight in the admiration of my hard work. And it was hard work. I had to taste all that ganache to make sure it was flavored and textured, just so!
So I want to share a picture of my finished product. I put three different types of chocolates in each box. The white chocolate round ones are filled with a dark chocolate mint ganache. The ovals with checkerboard designs are filled with milk chocolate hazelnut ganache. And the bon bon shaped ones with are also filled with a mint ganache.
I purchased brown candy boxes, candy trays, and candy pads, and tucked it all in over green tissue paper which was folded over the candy before closing the box. It was all tied closed with a silver bow. Tres chic, if you ask me. And everyone thought they were professionally made chocolates!
I altered my technique a little this time and added pure cocoa butter to the tempering unit before the seeding stage in order to thin the chocolate quite a bit. It flowed out of the molds a lot more easily and left a nice, large cavity for filling with that wonderful ganache I made.
The best part, was that I got to eat the "ugly" ones. I started imagining flaws in order to treat myself, because they were all quite beautiful as they popped out of the molds; shiny and smooth, with a wonderful "snap". In the end, I do understand the high price charged for artisinal chocolates. Although they use enrobing machines, and create large batches at a time, there is still quite a bit of effort that goes into creating this edible art. The perks (the fun and the exquisite flavors) make it well worth the work.
Making Bon Bons
Bon Bons are a wonderful treat, and their fillings range from traditional (coconut) to the more casual (cookie dough). They offer the home-crafter a multitude of options.
Taking your fillings for a dip in your favorite chocolate is the finishing touch. To get started, give the following recipe a try:
Taking your fillings for a dip in your favorite chocolate is the finishing touch. To get started, give the following recipe a try:
- 1 Stick butter
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
- 1 lb confectioner's sugar (you may need a bit more)
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts, coconut, finely chopped dried fruit, (optional)
- 6 oz good quality chocolate either Milk or Dark
Mix softened butter, cream cheese, vanilla and sugar together until smooth and uniform. Add in an optional ingredients for variety. Toasted chopped pecans, shredded coconut, and chopped dried pineapple are a few ideas. Mix in enough to suit your own tastes.
Prepare to temper your choice of chocolate. Some recipes call for paraffin wax. This is such a shame, because properly tempered chocolate will be firm enough and glossy without the need for wax. Who wants to eat wax anyway?
For a truly professional look, use a dipping fork for dipping in tempered chocolate. The best one for round bon bons is one that looks like a spiral wired spoon.
Shape 1 oz portions of your filling into little balls, and place them on a cookie sheet. Put the sheets into the refrigerator until the balls have become firm. Remove only enough to dip within a short period of time. If the balls become mushy while you are working, you'll have to replace them in the refrigerator.
Once the chocolate is tempered and the balls are firm, dip them into the chocolate with your dipping fork. Allow excess to drip off, and drop gently onto parchment paper. Repeat until all balls are coated.
If you do different flavors of filling, you may want to mark your cookie sheets, so you don't mix them together. They'll be very hard to tell apart after they are coated. You could garnish each one with a hint(like a sprinkling of plain coconut) of its filling as a way to differentiate between them before the chocolate has set.
Making Professional Chocolates at Home
Beautiful chocolate candies can be made right in your kitchen. There's no need to pay boutique prices either, and in the case of gifts, chocolates made by you will be that much more special. I made the chocolates in this picture myself yesterday, and they are not only beautiful, but they are YUMMY! (If I do say so myself)
Once I decided that tempering chocolate by hand was not my forte, I opted for a professional tempering unit. They can be costly, but I decided I'd save plenty of money over the long haul by avoiding the destruction of expensive ingredients.
The chocolates pictured above, were made with my Revolation I Tempering Unit. I poured the chocolate into oval shaped magnetic molds that hold transfer sheets (for that beautiful swirl design on the tops) in place. These pieces are filled with ganache, and popped out of the mold perfectly shaped, shiny, and smooth!
Tempering Chocolate By Hand
You can temper chocolate in your microwave or in a double-boiler. If you wish to use the double-boiler method, and you don't own a double-boiler, you can use a standard pot, and a metal bowl that can sit inside the pot without falling in. For larger batches, you'll probably have more luck with the double-boiler.
If you opt for the microwave, put chips or chopped chocolate into a microwave safe bowl, and gradually heat the chocolate in increments of about 30 seconds. Remove and stir at each interval. When most, but not all of the chocolate is melted, discontinue microwaving, and stir until all of the chocolate is uniformly melted.
If you choose to use your stove top, you do not want to melt the chocolate directly over the heat. You will scorch the chocolate, and ruin it. Instead, bring your pot of water to a boil, and place the inner pot or bowl over (but not touching) the boiling water. Reduce to a simmer and stir the chocolate as it melts. Beware of steam and condensation near the inner bowl (see "seizing" below).
For both methods: when the chocolate is melted, it needs to be at least 105 degrees F, (41 C). Remove from the heat, and add a block or several chunks of "seed" chocolate. Seed chocolate is room temperature chocolate that has been tempered properly.
Stir the chocolate until the seed chocolate is melted and the mixture falls to tempering range: 88-90 degrees F (31-32 C). The chocolate needs to remain in this range until it is used. Keep in mind, that different temperatures are required for the three different varieties of chocolate. For dark chocolate, the tempering range is 88-90 F (31-32 C), milk chocolate is 86-88 F (30-31 C), and white chocolate is 80-82 F (27-28 C).
If you follow these steps, your candies and coatings should set nicely, and the final product should be properly tempered (and could then be re-used as seed chocolate). If you make a mistake, remelt the chocolate and try again.
Other than scorching your chocolate, there is another pitfall, especially common if you are using a double boiler. Water. You don't want it near your melted chocolate! Though in liquid form, melted chocolate is extremely low in moisture, and you need to keep it that way. If you let a droplet of water fall into your melted chocolate, the cocoa and sugar will readily absorb it, creating a clump. Once the clumps (called "seizing") have formed, there's no way to reverse the process, and your batch of chocolate will no longer be usable for candy making. Hang onto it though, because it can be used in other recipes.
If you opt for the microwave, put chips or chopped chocolate into a microwave safe bowl, and gradually heat the chocolate in increments of about 30 seconds. Remove and stir at each interval. When most, but not all of the chocolate is melted, discontinue microwaving, and stir until all of the chocolate is uniformly melted.
If you choose to use your stove top, you do not want to melt the chocolate directly over the heat. You will scorch the chocolate, and ruin it. Instead, bring your pot of water to a boil, and place the inner pot or bowl over (but not touching) the boiling water. Reduce to a simmer and stir the chocolate as it melts. Beware of steam and condensation near the inner bowl (see "seizing" below).
For both methods: when the chocolate is melted, it needs to be at least 105 degrees F, (41 C). Remove from the heat, and add a block or several chunks of "seed" chocolate. Seed chocolate is room temperature chocolate that has been tempered properly.
Stir the chocolate until the seed chocolate is melted and the mixture falls to tempering range: 88-90 degrees F (31-32 C). The chocolate needs to remain in this range until it is used. Keep in mind, that different temperatures are required for the three different varieties of chocolate. For dark chocolate, the tempering range is 88-90 F (31-32 C), milk chocolate is 86-88 F (30-31 C), and white chocolate is 80-82 F (27-28 C).
If you follow these steps, your candies and coatings should set nicely, and the final product should be properly tempered (and could then be re-used as seed chocolate). If you make a mistake, remelt the chocolate and try again.
Other than scorching your chocolate, there is another pitfall, especially common if you are using a double boiler. Water. You don't want it near your melted chocolate! Though in liquid form, melted chocolate is extremely low in moisture, and you need to keep it that way. If you let a droplet of water fall into your melted chocolate, the cocoa and sugar will readily absorb it, creating a clump. Once the clumps (called "seizing") have formed, there's no way to reverse the process, and your batch of chocolate will no longer be usable for candy making. Hang onto it though, because it can be used in other recipes.
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