New Packaging

The Philadelphia Chocolate and Candy Show is head in Atlantic City twice a year, January and July/August.  Valentine's Day was the focus for much of the show, especially packaging.  Lots of candy hearts!   Two categories of exhibitors - companies who make things for candy makers and candy/chocolates makers themselves.  

Checking out packaging suppliers was my main goal, but I wanted to taste and  price other chocolate wholesalers, too.  I need packaging for my chocolates when they are away from me - like in a retail store.  I have resisted the boxes with plastic windows, but I finally found some that I think are very pretty.  And not crazy expensive, not an easy task.

I am very pleased with the result!  The ribbon is a one-off for a birthday gift, I will use my pink or brown satin.  I'll keep looking for this one from the wholesale ribbon people!

Now I have to add these to the website, which is www.chouquette.us.  And to etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChouquetteShop.

Go shopping!

How to Say Sugar

Sugar, Sucre, Zucker, Azucar, Suiker. But when you heat it to 160 degrees Celsius, it is hot in any language. So hot that it even burns through two sets of gloves. Sugar blisters hurt. really. Then as soon as they start to heal, get back under a heat lamp with more molten sugar and those blisters get blisters. Before you know it, you are impersonating the Michael Jackson band-aids on all fingers look. The worst blisters are the ones near knuckles, since they don't get a chance to heal before they crack and bleed, and bandages will not stay on them. Then since the sugar is so hot, my hands sweat under the rubber gloves and the bandages get soaked and slide off. Gross. I won't post more photos of my blisters, I promise.

Chef D's Sugar Pieces

Most classmates are making something similar to the chef's creations, a poured colored sugar base, with a backdrop and then flowers to decorate it. 

Poured Sugar and Early Petal Attempts

Poured sugar is easy, heat sugar, water and glucose to 150 degrees, color it and at 155 degrees, pour it into the mold. Molds can be anything - for rectangles, squares and triangles, we use steel bars; for circles, we use cake and tart molds. Or go to the hardware store and find something flexible that will withstand heat. My first poured sugar turned out nicely, I mixed some red and white and was happy with the effect. But after that, things went awry. Pulled sugar uses a different recipe, heat the sugar cubes, white, smaller amount of glucose, add coloring and tartaric acid before pouring out on the Silpat. Wait for the edges to start hardening, flick those edges in until a solid mass forms. Move the mass around to cool parts of the marbles, folding in half over and over (similar to kneading bread). When the sugar is dead (cool enough not to ooze out of its shape), starting pulling, folding back on itself, and pulling out again, until it makes a cracking noise. I use different parts of my hand and switch from left to right often, so I don't get 'hot spots' or 'pre-blisters.' Don't pull too much, or too early, or the sugar will crystalize and it hits the trash can. Or try the microwave, but don't hold your breath. Start another batch of sugar, just in case. Work with small pieces, keeping everything under a heat lamp set to 80 degrees (about 175 degrees fahrenheit). Separate a small section from the mass, then pull leaves, petals, and ribbons. It sounds vague, but I don't know any other way to explain the 'pulling part.' It is very specific motion, but it cannot be explained in words, I just watch, and try to recreate it. It is like trying to learn how to ski by watching Bode Miller fly downhill.


My first attempts at white petals are very thick and extremely irregular.

I had a grand plan of making a tree after reading a French fairy tale about the Bee and the Orange Tree. A long gory story with a shipwrecked princess and prince, ogres eating their own children, and a magic wand that gets lost after the princess turns herself into a bee and the prince into an orange tree. I love the imagery and thought an orange tree would be a great thing to make out of sugar.  An umbrella shaped tree, with little oranges and lots of tiny green leaves, large oranges at the base and a honey bee at the top of the tree, with a ribbon around the edge of the base to look like a fence. I can see it im my head, but there have been production issues.


At one practice I was able to make a orange tree stump with oranges and blossoms, and then the next class, I tried a tall tree, but the pulled sugar branches were so brittle that as I added pieces, I broke two off the structure, and the trunk started to lean dangerously, then broke into three pieces. I wanted to cry, but made a nice pile of oranges and blossoms with a very pretty ribbon for height. Of course, now I want to try something else, but it is too late to make too drastic of a change. I'd really like to make a Dutch still life with the oranges and blossoms in a Delft-looking bowl. I just don't know if I have the time to get this to work in the time constraints of the final sugar exam next week. I am happy with my oranges, and blossoms, and the ribbon, but I need to figure out the composition. The chefs are not that impressed with my work, I am not sure if it is because it is different or if it just isn't good. I really wish I had thought of the bowl idea before my last practice. Still Life Idea


I also went to Europain, a huge trade show with a Sugar competition, where I got some great photos of sugar creations, and I can see that the European decorations are very different from what I like. They seem stuck in the 1980s, and some of the color combinations are very odd.

Etsy site is now open!

Check out my new postings on etsy.com, the place for vintage and handmade products.


Chouquette Shop

Jeannie's No-Cake Birthday Concoction

I hate when people say that they don't like cake. Or brownies, or chocolate, or caramel. Really, how can you not like caramel? It never did anything to you, unless you lost a tooth on it. But how can a person not like anything caramel? It is like saying you don't like butter. Uggg.

So imagine going to pastry school for a year, practicing how to make all of the above for another year. Thinking that you are going to make all the cakes for everyone you know for their birthday. Planning extravagant decorations and delicious icing combinations.

First, your mother says she doesn't want a cake, chocolate mousse is more her style.

Then, your nephew announces he doesn't like cake, so you make chocolate chip cookies in the shape of his name.

Then your other nephew declares he doesn't want a cake or even cupcakes, but says you can make him some brownies. So you do that.

So the next birthday is your sister's, and you start thinking of a crazy chocolate cake maybe with some gold leaf, and spun sugar. And then she starts saying that she doesn't even want to have a birthday dinner. What are you going to do?

Make a No-Cake Birthday Cake with a little of everything that she loves:

Cadbury Mini Eggs - check

Ganache Frosting - check

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream - check

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies - check

Layer of Salted Caramel - check

Chocolate Chip Mocha Brownies - check

It looks a little something like this after the demolition.

Don't ask me about the Napoleon I am making today. Please, someone, ask me for a cake - vanilla with chocolate icing, maybe?

My latest TV Appearance

Watch me make caramel sauce with JC Hayward and Howard Bernstein of WUSA Channel 9 News at Noon. 


Link to YouTube Video 


Watch to the end to see the hilarious look on my face when I think the show is over!

Breakfast at Stephanie's

The story behind the chocolate:


In my 20's, I worked as a secretary for a stockbroker, unfortunately, not as glamourous as it sounds. My deskmate was a funny brunette, with a shockingly loud voice.  We shared phone lines, and helped each other out if we needed a break.  We 'backed each other up', which meant only one of us could take the day off, and one of us had to cover the phones while the other was at lunch, in a meeting, or even in the restroom!  


We planned the office Halloween party, I dressed as a naughty Catholic school girl, with requisite hickey and pigtails, and Steph kitted herself out in a very elegant Holly Golightly dress, making her own pillbox hat out of a I Can't Believe It's Not Butter tub.  The next morning we woke with massive hangovers and called to fight over who could call in sick.  As usual, I won and stayed in bed with a damp washcloth on my forehead, and Stephanie made herself a strong pot of coffee, filled a mug halfway, and completed the mixture with Bailey's Irish Cream.  


So in her honor, and her little dog too, and St Patrick's Day, I have made my newest chocolate:


Breakfast at Stephanie's -- 

Bailey's Irish Cream and coffee caramel covered in semi-sweet chocolate.  Creamy, chocolaty with just a jolt of loud coffee.

The twelve chocolates of christmas

Twelve chocolates - i bet they won't make it 12 days of christmas. I don't even know when those days are, but i think something chocolate should be included.

Chouquette Pop-Up Shop December 18th 2-4 PM

Happy Holidays! Are you looking for last minute gifts for your coworkers?  Do you need that perfect little something for a hostess gift?  Do you crave chocolate at 2:00 in the afternoon?  If so, come by Chouquette's Tasting and Pop-Up Shop in between that last minute shopping spree or before stopping off at a holiday party on Saturday afternoon... 

Artisan Chocolates, Caramels, Cookies, and Cupcakes

Chocolates and Chocolate Covered Caramels $1.50

 * Square - Salted Caramel, 

 * Round - Balsamic Caramel, 

 * Column - Mint Chocolate Ganache, 

 * Red Column - Maker's Mark and Gingerbread Spice, 

 * Crown - Caramelized White Chocolate Crunch, 

 * Rock - Crushed Crepes, Dark Chocolate Ganache, Praline Paste, Covered in 58% Dark Chocolate and Praline Pieces

 * Chocolate Candied Grapefruit Peel

Java Chip Cookies $1.00

Red Velvet Cupcakes $2.50 

Macarons $2.00

Brownie Cakes $2.00

Assorted Boxes Available and Special Orders Welcomed

Saturday December 18th 2-4 pm

Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center (Leland Center)

4301 Willow Lane

Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Shop will be in the Community Room - past the front desk and to the right.

Thank you for supporting Chouquette!  

Please share this invitation with family, friends, and co-workers. 

Photos available on Chouquette's Facebook page and Etsy Shop - links below.

  

Link to Chouquette on Facebook

Chouquette Shop on Etsy

A Little Press For My Scary Cake

Although I had never made anything similar, when asked to make a coffin-shaped cake for Going-Away party on Halloween, I said yes, and figured it out.  The invitation was Victorian in style, black and silver.


The 12x18 cake was devil's food (appropriately), with coffee flavor, soft caramel, vanilla buttercream covered with chocolate fondant.  Putting the fondant on the cake was terrifying, I have never covered a cake that large, so I had to MacGuyver it together and cover my mistakes with a large fondant ruffle around the edge.  I have a die-cutting machine (called a Cricut Cake) that I used to make the white flourishes, which I then covered in silver luster dust (like eyeshadow, but food safe).  Around the edges, I stamped silver cobwebs and spiders. 


The guests of honor seemed very happy with the cake, and the reviews were positive.  I have already been contacted by one of the party-goers for another cake.


Here is the link to the article:
Chouquette Coffin Cake

Treats for a rainy day.

Mmmmmmm. Oatmeal raisin cookies warm from the oven. Perfect day for things flavored with cinnamon and cardamom. Just a little job, but who's counting?

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FWD:Happy hour treats.

A dozen macarons for kathleen. vanilla w caramelized white choc. coffee w dark choc ganache. strawberry with vanilla cream. cocoa w cinnamon cayenne ganache. available for all friends who treat @ happy hour.

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Happy hour treats.

A dozen macarons for kathleen. vanilla w caramelized white choc. coffee w dark choc ganache. strawberry with vanilla cream. cocoa w cinnamon cayenne ganache. available for all friends who treat @ happy hour.

Lemon mac shells

Lemon macarons ready to be filled with very tart lemon cream. Sweet sour and delicious. wish i had some with me at the tax office in baltimore. Sales tax is confusing - tax on one cookie, no tax on a dozen cookies. I am not kidding. Eat more cookies.

Chocolate chunk cookies with cinnamon and cayenne pepper

I guess this is like a mexican hot chocolate cookie. it has a nice kick and needs a glass of milk to wash down bc it is so fudgy.

Libby

These two paintings reminded me of my grandmother:  in her 1920's gear, and how she thought she looked at the beach. 


From the Beaux Arts Musee in Lyon - January 2010

It's about time.

Ha! Now boys havta wear spanx too. Ingenious.

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Clean tupperware club.

New concoction - chewy coffee chip Brownies. perfect for breakfast dessert. amy licked the cupcake wrapper. and paid for my breakfast in return. still working on cappuccino frosting.

My new obsession.

Well maybe my new crush, Thomas Keller. Working through the dessert chapter. Yum........

My TV Appearance

WOW!  It was so much fun, here is the link to the cooking segment on Channel 9 WUSA. 


Me on YouTube


My segment starts 40 seconds into the video.

For Jack M. who didn't want a birthday cake.

Happy Birthday. Big smiles when these were glimpsed in the oven. Now i just have to find a way to get candles to stand up in them.

Phew. Just one minute. Bumped by Obama talk.

At least i didnt spill chocolate on my dress until after the broadcast. thanks Channel 9. Next Food Network Star, here I come.

Im no food stylist but i think the set looks good.

Now if i could get lypo and botox in the next 20 minutes. or maybe just a manicure? see you on tv!!!

Gross or yummy? kitchen sink brownies.

Super chocolate brownies with heath bars, peppermint patties, walnuts, marshmallows and topped with potato chips. crazy good. might cure a hangover if i add a little bacon.

Boston Cream Pie Cake

My sister's friend asked me to make a cake for her family's summer birthday party - 12 people have birthday's this season, so they celebrate everyone's together.  We brainstormed about flavors that all the birthday boys and girls would like and she decided on Boston Cream Pie, which is really a cake, that was originally baked in a pie pan.  I think that is the story.  I made a Golden Cake (yellow cake) and cut it into three layers, covered each layer with Pastry Cream (Custard), frosted the cake with chocolate buttercream, and poured dark chocolate ganache over the whole thing and stuck cookies along the outside edge.  

I am not sure if other bakers feel this way, but it was weird to send a cake off knowing that I wouldn't even be able to take a bite of it.  I tasted all the pieces, and made a tiny cake from the scraps to be sure that everything was good, but it just wasn't the same as having a piece of the cake.  I guess I will just have to get myself invited to all events that my desserts are going to attend, so I don't feel so left out.

Magic Macarons

Plain macaron shells with dark chocolate ganache. Tiny but powerful, like Mary Lou Retton. These are much less likely to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated or the Wheaties box.